Study/Career Goals over the Next 3 Years

In August I will have been in IT for 4 years. I joined the IT dept of a healthcare provider who needed help with purchasing and logistics, which were strong areas for me coming out of inventory management in a small business. My technical skills were on the "smart home user" level at that time. I had worked tech support in a call center back in high school, and made it through a couple C++ classes in college, but that was it.

Over the last 4 years, I have learned a lot of things. I have worked with Active Directory, Shoretel, MobileIron, Meraki, Trend Micro (FDE and OfficeScan), VMware vSphere, and plenty of other things I'm forgetting about. I realized as I learned these things on the job that I needed to start filling in the gaps in my knowledge, so I started pursuing certifications last year and have earned the A+, Net+, Sec+, and a few others.

The CISSP was next up on my list of goals, but I really wanted to take it once I have the requisite 4 years of experience, rather than becoming an associate and all that. Since my undergrad degree is in Philosophy, I decided a technical Master's degree might be a good idea. I am currently working on a Master's from WGU in the MSCSIA program.

Over the next 3 years, I'd like to tackle two large goals: security and coding/scripting. Security because I like the concepts and it's a growing need. Coding/scripting, because it's a huge weak area for me. I've dabbled with HTML/CSS before (think: Geocities) and can figure out enough to update/maintain my employer's in-house Android apps (very simple apps, so I can just reverse-engineer the code that is there).

With all that said, here's my checklist for the next 3 years. The end goal is to have the skillset that would allow me to leave the "jack of all trades" type of position I am in now, and be able to focus or specialize a bit more (at a higher pay rate, of course). The secondary goal is to have a skillset that can be adapted to different roles, as the tech market here is pretty small and doesn't have all the options of a major metro area.

Those two goals may seem a bit at odds, but to rephrase, I want a skillset that could be adaptable to different roles, technologies, or businesses; but I want to pursue job roles that are more focused than my current job role is.

Goals:

WGU MSCSIA (partially completed)
CISSP
Python Scripting (use this as a doorway to learn about scripting and coding)
Linux training and cert (weak area for me, figure I should strengthen this for both security and scripting purposes)
Software Dev training (optional -- if I want to delve more deeply into coding)
eJPT
eCPPT
OSCP

I'd love feedback on this plan, on my goals, on any of it, really.

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Comments

NOC-Ninja

I think anything is possible with sacrifice, determination and hustle.

higherho

Career goals -Obtain GS15 rank in the next three years and hopefully obtain SES status by the time I'm 42. My dream job is to work a nice / awesome IT job at Disney World

Nothing peaked my interest yet.

Certification goals - Obtain OSCP and keep current with the latest certifications for Pen Testing and IA work

Formal Education goals - Nothing yet, I do not like any of the current Master Degree programs that I see. Although I am looking for a good Master Degree in Cyber Security

hurricane1091

higherho wrote: »

Career goals -Obtain GS15 rank in the next three years and hopefully obtain SES status by the time I'm 42. My dream job is to work a nice / awesome IT job at Disney World Nothing peaked my interest yet.

Certification goals - Obtain OSCP and keep current with the latest certifications for Pen Testing and IA work

Formal Education goals - Nothing yet, I do not like any of the current Master Degree programs that I see. Although I am looking for a good Master Degree in Cyber Security

Disney fired their IT staff and hired H1Bs like a year or two ago, so.

mgeoffriau

Ah, I guess we can use this to discuss everyone else's goals, but I was really looking for advice/feedback/thoughts on my goals.

higherho

Sorry! but yes your goals are very doable. put some time aside and work on them. I get a lot stuff done on my downtime at work.

anhtran35

What is your CAREER goal? Base on your job experience you are a System Administrator.

JoJoCal19

mgeoffriau wrote: »

Goals:
WGU MSCSIA (partially completed)

CISSP

Python Scripting (use this as a doorway to learn about scripting and coding)

Linux training and cert (weak area for me, figure I should strengthen this for both security and scripting purposes)

Software Dev training (optional -- if I want to delve more deeply into coding)

eJPT

eCPPT

OSCP

I'd love feedback on this plan, on my goals, on any of it, really.

Since you already have IT experience and aren't just learning the ropes, given even an average amount of effort I would say your goals are easily achieved.

As a frame of reference in a 3 year span I:

-Finished my BSBA (1 semester)
-CISSP
-Completed the entire WGU MSISA
-CEH
-CHFI
-ITIL F
-GSEC
-GCIA

And that was with relocation and 3 different house moves, taking care of a newborn in addition to spending time with 2 other small children, switching jobs 3 times.

I'd say finish your MSCSIA while working on the certs. CISSP can be done with 4 weeks of intense study or 3 months of moderate study. Python scripting shouldn't take more than a month to learn at a basic level if you work at it every day. Linux is a weak area of mine too but I figure I could read through a Linux book in a month (I have No Starch Press' How Linux Works. LinuxJourney.com is a great resource too). So 1 month to read through a Linux book. I'd say at least 3 months if you want to go for Linux+, up to 6 depending on how much study you put into it each day/week. Software Dev stuff is a wildcard because you can go as deep into it as you want. Can spend a month, few months or a year easily. eJPT can be done in 1-3 months depending on how easy you understand it and how much time you devote. eCPPT can be 3-6 months depending on how much time you put into it. Same with OSCP, but I've seen some people spend 6-9 months on OSCP. I will say if you do the eJPT>eCPPT>OSCP route, each successive cert should be easier than if someone just goes into either eCPPT or OSCP alone so you might be able to do OSCP in 30-60 days depending on how much you've put into the eCPPT.

Ismaeljrp

I think 3 years is a very sensible amount of time for those objectives. You can definitely do this and it seems well thought out.

Good luck!