What should I do next?

domn425

Hey guys, today I passed my A+ and as excited as I still am about this, I'm starting to think about what I'm gonna do next. I liked the security section of A+, and I've thought about a security engineer role before, it would be pretty awesome. However I'm also pulled towards Cisco network stuff. Cisco CCENT/CCNA seems like a good way to get into some kind of a junior networking role, because as far as I know, security is something that takes a long time to get into, so right now I probably have no chance.

I was thinking of studying Security+ with CCENT at the same time (and aim for CCNA, for now). What do you guys think? I don't have a college degree and right now I don't think I'll go for that unless I realize I absolutely need it. I have a positive attitude and I personally think I'd make a great tech as I always try to learn more and I've found all of it really interesting since I was a small kid. The job requirements seem a little high for some jobs, even entry roles require more than it's possible to have for someone who just graduated/got their first certification. Not all requirements are like this, I've seen a few where I'd be able to at least try to get in, but they're gone now. There's an extremely wide variety of things they want their applicants to have experience with. Some of those sound scary for someone who just wants to set their foot into the IT world.

Any opinions on what I should study next to get somewhere? Anyone think I could do this without absolutely needing a degree? I just finished A+ and after looking at some of the job requirements I began to feel hopeless after being so optimistic about everything.
I'm planning on moving to Canada some day, but before that happens, I'd like to get some experience and more certificates, and to save up some money while I'm at it.

Thanks in advance everyone!

TheFORCE

If you want to keep on the certificate route and not go for a college degree you will still be ok.

With the A+ you can find a support job either as a helpdesk or a desktop support or field support. You will have more chances though and better opportunities if you have another certification. Certifications is what validates your experience in the IT world.

The path you have now is a good path, i would suggest you do a certification from Microsoft first though and get some windows knowledge. Security and networking can not really be understood correctly if you dont have some knowledge of the OS you are working with. Look at the MTA certifications from Microsoft or any of the other certifications they offer, these will get your resume a few more hits.

Mike R

First off congrats on the pass.

For me I earned my A+ in January, I want to go into network engineering (broad term I know) so after a lot of debate I opted for doing the CCNA over N+. I would suggest doing the CCNA then perhaps the S+ if you want to go into security. I've read a lot on these forums that to get into the security field you need knowledge and at least some networking experience to land a security job.

techtia

First, do the happy dance.


After that, I dno.

Terminator X

Dabble in Linux for a bit. There are many opportunities I see where they want Linux experience

OctalDump

Net+, Sec+ and CCENT are all good options. If you are keen on Cisco, then CCENT makes more sense than Net+. If you use the Foundation Learning Guides for CCENT, then you will cover all the Net+ stuff anyway.The most often recommended into security I see mentioned is NOC -> SOC. But, I'd say that info sec is a broad and diverse area, and there are other options besides Network Security, analyst and incident handling. Security+ is a good option because it gives a bit of a taste of the area and I think is really a baseline of what any IT person should have.If you go the Cisco path, then getting CCNA Security after CCNA Route + Switch isn't much more work, especially if you have Security+ already.Whether you study both CCENT and Sec+ at the same time is really a matter of personal preference. Some people like to focus on one thing and get it out of the way, and then do something else. Some people like to break up their studies so that when they are getting bored of one subject, they can switch to the other. You won't know what works for you until you try.If you are looking for work, then look at lots of job listings and see what skills/certification/experience/etc they are looking for, and use that to plan your path.