What job/salary could I be looking at with Sec+, Net+, and ITIL.

Hello, I'm currently in the military (25B, IT specialist) and will soon be transferring to the civilian sector. My current certifications are Sec+, Net+, and ITIL foundations. I am aware that these are entry level certifications. However, I am curious as to what kind of job/salary I could be looking at when I get out. On a side note i plan on going for my CCNA cert soon. I'd also like any advice as to what certs to go for next. I do not have a degree, should I make that a priority prior to obtaining any more certifications.

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TomkoTech

How many years of experience do you have? What location are you looking to live in when you discharge? Do you have a current security clearance?

TechSgtmartin

I'll have just under 6 years once I'm out. I currently hold a secret clearance. I once I will be looking for Florida or Virginia.

TomkoTech

You should be able to land a pretty cushy gov't job if you are interested. Go check out USAJOBS.gov and check the locations your are interested in.

Depending on your actual experience/knowledge you should be able to qualify for a GS9-12 IT Specialist position. Which would be anywhere from $55-95k

In the civilian world I'm not personal familiar with Virginia or Florida markets, but I would guess the jobs you'd qualify for would be intermediate definitely not entry level. You'd be looking at anywhere from again $55k to 6 figures depending on your actual KSA's and how you sell yourself on your resume/interviews.

TechSgtmartin

Thank you for the quick replies. I've just been on the edge of re-enlisting or not because of my fear of the unknown. However, this makes me feel much better about getting out.

TomkoTech

TechSgtmartin wrote: »

Thank you for the quick replies. I've just been on the edge of re-enlisting or not because of my fear of the unknown. However, this makes me feel much better about getting out.

If you are willing to go work overseas the money could be significantly better. Do a search for overseas jobs on this forum to look for companies to apply through. You could spend 2 years doing that and bank a boatload of cash before looking into Fla/VA to settle down in. Of course this is if you don't have a family to consider.

TechSgtmartin

I am married with 1 son. My wife is pretty adamant about moving near family (prior military as well.) But it I did browse around the forums a bit more and found links to businesses current hiring.

aftereffector

If you would like to work in the defense contracting sphere, you will want to make sure to get a certification that matches your desired role in the DoD 8570 certification matrix. For instance, your Net+ would qualify you to perform as an IAT-I, while your Sec+ would get you IAT-II. There are other certs that fill other roles, but you should be okay with Sec+ for junior and mid-level roles.

I would focus your search on defense contracting companies (NCI, GDIT, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, SAIC, Verizon, and many, many others), especially the ones that operate in the geographic area you are focusing on. An easy way to get an idea of what's out there is to search on a job site like Indeed.com for terms like "cissp" at whatever military base you want to live nearby. Here's an example: Indeed search for "CISSP+secret" around Reston, VA

jeremywatts2005

This is just my suggestion since you say 25B which is Army I would stay in the military and go for Warrant Officer on the Cyber Side. You will get a ton of training and more skills. Retire and then get a great high paying job with all the skills. I wish someone would have told me this when I was in, but they didn't. I went back into the service in 2011 and tried to go Warrant but with my age being in the late 30's they were not overly interested in me. Check it out though. Usually you can get to Cyber Warrant at E-4 or higher. Might need SGT stripes and you may already have them. Check it out though. You will make more doing that then entry level on the civilian side.

ITSpectre

Im in Virginia.... right now the market is good for people with clearances.... you can check out

dice.com
Clearancejobs.gov
Indeed.com
Monster.com
The Pentagon
Quantico
Ft Belvoir
Navy Yard

Most of the places I listed are near northern VA.... search jobs in arlington, alexandria, reston, vienna, chantilly, dulles, fairfax, springfield, and some parts of maryland.... even indian Head MD and Washington DC. Also search with Northdrop grumman, manpower, Lockheed martin, etc... to find cleared jobs in the Virginia area....

ITSpectre

TechSgtmartin wrote: »

I am married with 1 son. My wife is pretty adamant about moving near family (prior military as well.) But it I did browse around the forums a bit more and found links to businesses current hiring.

A happy wife is a happy life.... I would listen to her and move near family.

TheFORCE

Since you mentioned you do not have a degree and are currently looking to get your CCNA, i would suggest you check out WGU Online IT Security Degree | Information Security Degree | WGU College of Information Technology This track will get you the degree and some certificates, one of which is CCNA. You already have 2 certificates that part part of the track, so those will be waived. In the end, you will have the degree + the certs, + the experience + your secret clearance and you are looking for some good jobs paying over 80k. It gets even better, you can start your degree online at any time and study on your own pace. Want more? Your tuition could be paid using your GI Bill. Don't quote on me on any of these though, as i only know these things from participating in the forum here, but you should check it out.

Xavor

The lack of a degree will hurt you in the short term if you go the government contractor route. Having an Associate degree + your 6 years of experience would offset a lot of that, and already having Sec+ and a Secret is a big win on getting jobs.

If you had a BS, Sec +, and Secret or higher I don't see why you couldn't pull in around 85k+ year in the DC area.

TLDR: Degrees are for life, certifications not so much.

TheFORCE

Xavor wrote: »

The lack of a degree will hurt you in the short term if you go the government contractor route. Having an Associate degree + your 6 years of experience would offset a lot of that, and already having Sec+ and a Secret is a big win on getting jobs.

If you had a BS, Sec +, and Secret or higher I don't see why you couldn't pull in around 85k+ year in the DC area.

TLDR: Degrees are for life, certifications not so much.

Careful mentioning anything about degrees or school in this post lol. Apparently i got negative rep for my suggestion on how the OP can improve his job/salary potentials.

Thread: What job/salary could I...
He is asking about jobs. He didn't say crap about enrolling in school. Why are you on his post trying to encourage him to enroll in WGU? You work for WGU? Don't worry about hwo he spends the GI BILL.

First of all I do not work for WGU, nor i have attended WGU. As i explained in my post, the more you have the better you will be prepared in your job search, including a degree since he doesn't have one. Next time, leave your name on the reps so I can educate you on the reason this forum exists and on the reason why most people use this forum to get suggestions and advice on things that they might not have though were possible.

TechGromit

TechSgtmartin wrote: »

I'll have just under 6 years once I'm out. I currently hold a secret clearance. I once I will be looking for Florida or Virginia.

Stick with Virginia that Secret clearance will get you a government contractor position without any problems, it's worth a lot more than all your other certs combined.

TomkoTech wrote: »

Depending on your actual experience/knowledge you should be able to qualify for a GS9-12 IT Specialist position. Which would be anywhere from $55-95k

Do not agree with this statement, there's not lots of vacant Federal government positions just waiting for someone to come along and apply for the job. While you might eventually obtain a government position in several years with some luck and determination, your best bet of getting a government contractor job. With a secret clearance, you'll have lots of choices, most likely you'll be hired for better level positions than you qualify for. There's not a lot of people walking around with an active secret clearance that are unemployed.

dave330i

TomkoTech wrote: »

There are 1,045 IT Specialist job postings in Virginia on USAJOBs. If he was looking in an area without a lot of positions I would agree. They are few and far between. But near bases/gov't installations there always seems to be a plethora of vacant positions.

Many of those job postings are for internal promotion for a specific person.

TomkoTech

My point was simply that there are positions he "could" qualify for currently vacant. Not that there was any sort of guarantee that he'd be able to get them. He asked the question what "could" he be looking at for job/salary. Private sector usually pays better than gov't equivalent. So using job postings in that area to determine what he likely has the skill set for and using that salary as a barometer can help him make his decision of getting out or staying in.

LA2

I think you'll be OK. You have some practical experience in IT from the Army that employers will expect. You'll have a secret clearance which will open up more options. You also have in demand certs that you could use to leverage higher pay. What could hurt you is a lack of a degree. Some companies screen only for candidate with degree (associates/bachelors). One suggestion I would have is to utilize your GI Bill. Have Uncle Sam pay you to go to school and if possible work part time IT. You could also take online courses and get $700ish a month, but I think working part time will allow you to maintain relevant skills.

No_Nerd

Not much , I have the same background with a B.B.A and an M.B.A. I can almost promise you that you can't get a GS 12 position