What direction should I head?

derrikflork

Hello everyone,

Pretty new here! Quick background and a couple of questions for you all. I'm currently in the military, when I get out(Nov 2019) I will have about 5 years experience in Cybersecurity/Information Assurance. Currently only have my Sec+ but hoping to obtain a few more certs(CISSP is of course the hope) before I join the civilian side of things. I'm also looking at attending WGU and obtaining my BS in their CS&IA program. I know its a relatively new program but the amount of potential certs that you can obtain is crazy. The main trouble I'm having is what I'm going to do. I'd love to get a managerial level position right of the bat but I realize that is unlikely. What are some ways I can make myself more marketable?

Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this!

-The new guy

Ertaz

derrikflork wrote: »

Hello everyone,

Pretty new here! Quick background and a couple of questions for you all. I'm currently in the military, when I get out(Nov 2019) I will have about 5 years experience in Cybersecurity/Information Assurance. Currently only have my Sec+ but hoping to obtain a few more certs(CISSP is of course the hope) before I join the civilian side of things. I'm also looking at attending WGU and obtaining my BS in their CS&IA program. I know its a relatively new program but the amount of potential certs that you can obtain is crazy. The main trouble I'm having is what I'm going to do. I'd love to get a managerial level position right of the bat but I realize that is unlikely. What are some ways I can make myself more marketable?

Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this!

-The new guy

Is there a particular segment of infosec that you like the best? My standard recommendation is to study a flavor and become a ninja at it. Then you’ll have credibility to slide right into management if that’s your long term goal. Are you a NCO now? If so, they might consider that leadership experience and you may be able to get in the door as mgmt right off the bat.

MeanDrunkR2D2

You'll be in a good place when your service is completed and you move into the civilian side. Are you considering working for a government contractor utilizing your clearance? There are many avenues to get out and into a great job right away with your experience and clearance.

You absolutely should get your BS degree when you get out. Now, since you mentioned that you want to be more on the managerial side I'd actually suggest you look more at a MIS type of degree that ties the tech to the business side. A great manager and eventually vp or higher should have a good understanding on the business side and it can be hard to get that education when you get a degree as focused as the one you are considering from WGU.

Also, use the hell out of that GI Bill. Thanks for your service and good luck for your future.

yoba222

If I were you I'd get in touch with WGU now. One and a half years is a lot of time to knock out some college courses to transfer into WGU that I'm assuming wouldn't cost you anything by using tuition assistance. CLEPs at the least.

derrikflork

Ertaz wrote: »

Is there a particular segment of infosec that you like the best? My standard recommendation is to study a flavor and become a ninja at it. Then you’ll have credibility to slide right into management if that’s your long term goal. Are you a NCO now? If so, they might consider that leadership experience and you may be able to get in the door as mgmt right off the bat.

No particular segment that I prefer honestly. I could spend extra time in a specific domain or topic. Not currently an NCO but hopefully will be for a short amount of time before I separate. I'm in charge of my office currently however and managing a small team.

derrikflork

MeanDrunkR2D2 wrote: »

You'll be in a good place when your service is completed and you move into the civilian side. Are you considering working for a government contractor utilizing your clearance? There are many avenues to get out and into a great job right away with your experience and clearance.

You absolutely should get your BS degree when you get out. Now, since you mentioned that you want to be more on the managerial side I'd actually suggest you look more at a MIS type of degree that ties the tech to the business side. A great manager and eventually vp or higher should have a good understanding on the business side and it can be hard to get that education when you get a degree as focused as the one you are considering from WGU.

Also, use the hell out of that GI Bill. Thanks for your service and good luck for your future.

I sure hope I will be in a good spot. I'm considering it, but am also taking into account as many options as possible. I do want to take advantage of whatever marketability that I have .

Hmmmm, that's a good point. I can look into WGUs BS Business in Information Systems Management for more of the integrating IT into business aspect. I'm glad you made that point. Might have saved me from a lot of future headache in my job search. I'm going to attempt to finish as much of my degree before transitioning out and will hopefully be using the majority of my GI Bill for my graduate studies.

I appreciate your support and also wish you luck in whatever your next endeavor is!

derrikflork

yoba222 wrote: »

If I were you I'd get in touch with WGU now. One and a half years is a lot of time to knock out some college courses to transfer into WGU that I'm assuming wouldn't cost you anything by using tuition assistance. CLEPs at the least.

I am currently talking to an enrollment councilor now and in the process of getting all of my transcripts over to them!

MeanDrunkR2D2

derrikflork wrote: »

I sure hope I will be in a good spot. I'm considering it, but am also taking into account as many options as possible. I do want to take advantage of whatever marketability that I have .

Hmmmm, that's a good point. I can look into WGUs BS Business in Information Systems Management for more of the integrating IT into business aspect. I'm glad you made that point. Might have saved me from a lot of future headache in my job search. I'm going to attempt to finish as much of my degree before transitioning out and will hopefully be using the majority of my GI Bill for my graduate studies.

I appreciate your support and also wish you luck in whatever your next endeavor is!

Not a problem at all. You have great experience doing what you are today and a specialized degree in that won't help you get into an even better role doing similar things. Your tech skills are good, you just need to round it out. The bonus is that you know what you want to do and you just need to figure out what will help you out the most to get to that place.

Thanks for the well wishes back.