Taking a Major Pay Cut to Get Foot into Security

Would you take a pay cut of $20k to get into security? This position will allow you to have hand on experience with some of the latest security tools and will upgrade your clearance to a Top Secret/SCI. The security position is a Security Analyst Tier1 so basically an entry level. I've been in desktop support and networking ever since graduating from college. I'm thinking of taking the pay cut, get experience, get my clearance upgraded, pass the CEH, and then jump ship.
Comments
If you can play the long game and you don't need a ton of money right this second, I say do it if security is where you want to be.
Current: WGU MSCIA - Risk Management, Cyberwarfare, and Cyber Law
Next Up: WGU MSCIA - Other Courses TBD, CHFI, CCNA R&S
However it was painful to get my W-2 from my old job and realize how much more money I made at the old gig.
CWTS, then WireShark
I'm having issues getting into security at the moment because of taking a paycut also. All the jobs that seem super interesting are SOC jobs and they're all 25k-40k a year and I can't take that kind of hit. The others that have a similar salary haven't matched up to my background yet. I'm hoping having a SIEM at home and messing around with a lab will help a little.
Why go backwards?
Security deals with a lot of patching, audit requests etc. etc. Did I mention auditors?
Studying on again, off again...
+1 on this. Security is a hot field, but unless your doing something like pentesting (even then though...) your still not doing technical work most of the time. Doing audits and making sure you are able to pass audits when auditors come around.
i also like auditing, documentation can be great or tedious, depending on what it is
CWTS, then WireShark
Yes, definitely tedious, but I'm good with that.
I know there are times where taking a different path/different trajectory is better for the long haul, but you'll need time to recover from a pay drop, so you'll want to ensure you're building something that's lacking now.
I had 2 options to get into a 100% security job. I could stay at a well known Enterprise level company where I had worked for ~10 years doing various IT and non IT work, and work my way into a Security role. It would take 2-3 years or so. But then an opportunity came up to move to another company, take a 40% pay cut, and go into a 100% security role in a couple months. That was 2.5 years ago. I think I will soon be back at the salary I used to make. Perhaps still a little behind the curve, but well worth it for my situation.
My reasoning was that I predicted sysadmin/engineer type roles are changing, and in the long run didn't seem like an attractive career (for me ) anymore...and I also think security will get bigger.
I didn't get a pay cut, I got a pay raise when I moved to this security role, but my day to day tasks are more entry level than what I'm used to doing it, and it has not been painless.
If I wasn't soo lazy, I would've got some certifications by now, but I haven't; and that's why I'm having hard time getting a better security position
Take the pay cut and try the job out....change is good, specially if you're a young.
~Unknown
What area are you in?