What kind of Security job should I focus on getting?

kabooterkabooter Member Posts: 115
I have almost two decades of IT experience but mostly in Networking & help desk. The work I do is not deep, hard core IT but is very wide and touches upon several aspects of IT including server administration, Networking, Software testing, OS Installation, Resolving Security related issues, Vulnerability scanning, 2nd and 3rd level Troubleshooting etc. I have never worked with Routers/Switches but have worked on Firewalls, Disaster recovery plans, Auditing and Physical security etc.
I zeroed on InfoSec as my career of choice way back in 2014 and have since acquired some knowledge and certs like CCNA Security, Sec+and CISSP.
I want to start a full fledged Security job this year but am badly confused as to how much preparation I need and how to go about it. Obviously I have lots of questions and can use some help from folks like you who are working in InfoSec. Luckily I am not in a hurry to jump ship so want to use the time I have for solid preparation. Also I dont want to get stuck into a soulless helpdesk type job (again) or in a job that does not pay much. Ideally I want to join a big corporation with a team of security professionals so that I can gain real world security ops knowledge.
I will really appreciate if you can provide me with some direction about following questions:
1. What kind of "first" real security job I should focus on getting into?
2. How much knowledge of Cisco Routers and Switches I should acquire before applying for Security jobs? Is a good overview enough or I must set up home lab and work on it for at least 200 hours or so?

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