New to Certifications

ns_frank

Hi guys,

I just joined this wonderful website and I love it already. I am a recent college grad with a computer and information systems degree. I work as a full time network administrator at a school. I am also half way done with my Master's which is in Information Assurance. I want to go in the security filed of I.T and start looking at some certs. I was looking over at the Security+ and wanted to know if that's a good one to start with. If so, what should I use to study? Are paying for classes worth it? ($1000-$2000). I hear about professor Messer. Any thought? Please help. I really want to go into the right direction. Right now, I am 22 and lost.

NetworkNewb

ns_frank wrote: »

I was looking over at the Security+ and wanted to know if that's a good one to start with. If so, what should I use to study? Are paying for classes worth it?

Yes, good one to start with

For study, I recommend Gibson's Security+ book (was my only resource I used when I passed it)

No, classes are definitely not needed for this cert. Can pass by just using the one book imo.

Lexluethar

Congrats and welcome.

For security I would look to start off with Security+, if you are adventurous and daring you could start working towards your CCNA with security.

Classes are generally not worth it and will cost an arm and a leg for the same content you can find in a book (although you have your BS so you are already aware of that )

636-555-3226

Can easily do Security+ without classes. I recommend Darril Gibson's book, it's all I used back in the day and people here still seem to recommend it.

beads

You should be able to certify in most anything without having to resort to most course work, save SANS Institute classes which can be done but probably not worth the effort to "challenge". That is most mortal people I have meet. Somewhere out there some security horse is going to tell us s/he crammed and challenged everything up through the GSE in less than a month before shrugging and causing the very Earth to shudder. (Atlas shrugged).

- b/eads

tedjames

You absolutely do NOT need to take a Security+ course/bootcamp. You can do this strictly through self study using Darril Gibson's book (cheap), Cybrary (free), and Professor Messer (free and paid).

AndersonSmith

It's been a couple years since I've taken the Security+ certification but I feel that it's a great place to start. The only study materials I used for that exam were the Mike Meyers Certification Passport book and the practice questions on the CD that came with it and I was able to pass with a score in the high 800s. Of course I also had previously taken the A+ and Net+ which seemed to help but I don't think they're a necessity. I also had several years of experience by that time. But like I said, that was a previous version of the exam so I'm sure it has changed considerably since then. You definitely don't need to take classes as long as you dedicate yourself to studying enough. Good luck!