Comp Sci Switch?

Hello everyone. I'm hoping I can get a little bit of advice to define my path forward. I just had the opportunity to separate from the military, and I was given a pretty generous offer ($120k), however, I did not feel my experience level (or my bank account) was in position to take a risk, plus the company (HPE) is being sold/merged and I've read about constant layoffs. I had another offer, but it was for a windows expert, of which I am not. So I re-enlisted to finish up my degree and learn some more.

Anyway, during my various interviews it seemed that I am at about a Jr. level in cyber security. I would have to say my biggest weakness is my foundation. Prior to my current job, I was an aircraft mechanic. A lot times I was asked what my sys admin experience was, or how familiar I am with active directory, etc. I analyze pcap traffic all day. I have never been a sys admin or stood up servers, etc. I have been working on my Comp Sci degree through UMUC, of which I have about 50 credits left.

My question is should I switch to an IT degree, such as UMUC's Networking and Cybersecurity degree or WGU? I don't feel that Com Sci is too difficult, and I do really enjoy programming, but the skills that I was being asked about are not presented in a Comp Sci degree. Would it be wiser to switch to an IT focused degree to get that knowledge?

For reference, the certs I have so far are Sec+, GCIH, and CISSP. I was considering taking CCNA next to get better networking knowledge.

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Comments

jdancer

Finish the Comp Sci degree then get certs.

In the meantime, there's lots of alternate training opportunities at Cybrary. Udacity, Coursera, EdX, etc.

For CCNA, I suggest danscourses.com which is based on Cisco NetAcad curriculum.

yoba222

The IT degree isn't going to provide that missing sysadmin work experience gap. The CCNA is a good idea.

TheFORCE

You should be looking for Infosec positions, not IT operation positions. Your skills and your degree are a better match for Infosec.

zxbane

I agree with the first response which is to stick with CompSci and then get certifications to cover aspects such as Windows administration and CCNA/Networking. CompSci degrees in my opinion provide a much more solid foundation for IT/Cyber and are honestly more difficult as well. From there you can supplement with courses from sites such as Udemy.com to work on learning about operating systems and networking etc. I know where I work, CompSci degrees are respected much more than IT degrees, and as someone who has an IT degree but taken some CompSci courses I can easily understand why. One is significantly more difficult than the other.