Passed Security+, Need Advice for Further Steps

akxshay

I passed the Security+ exam a few hours back!

It was not as easy as I thought. In the middle of the exam, I was almost convinced that I will have to re-appear, but I kept my focus and sailed through!

The following approach worked well for me:

1. I started with the "CompTIA Security+ Get Certified Get Ahead: SY0-501 Study Guide".

2. For the material I found confusing, I looked at Mike Chapple's videos on the LinkedIn Learning platform. I found the explanations very clear, and will surely refer to his materials for any certifications I take in the future.

3. I took the practice exams from Professor Messer. The exams were helpful to revise the topics and the quick references to his videos were really helpful.

I have ~8 years of I.T experience and have just completed my MBA. Security+ was just a way to solidify my basics. Having done the MBA, I feel that I should go for managerial roles, and hence looking to pursue CISSP or CISM.

I will meet the required experience for the CISSP. However, I am confused about whether I should take any other certifications or go for CISSP (or CISM) directly!

Any advice will be much appreciated!

Thanks,
Akshay.

itdept

Where do you want to go? What are your goals or aspirations?

If you have 8 years of IT experience what does that entail and do you think it leads to your "destination"?

LonerVamp

Lots of people will equate CISSP with managerial tracks, and while I get that point of view, it's not one that I share. I have always felt the CISSP has content that applies to most every infosec track; sort of like an unfortunate gatekeeper cert. Is it always actionable information? Oh heck no, but it touches on almost anything you can think of in the infosec world.

Having done the MBA, I assume that means you are heading towards a managerial route, and the CISSP will serve you well to continue to round out your knowledge and acumen, plus get you noticed.

CISA/CISM are useful depending on what you want to do. If you want to stay on the "hard skills" and get into infosec somewhere non-managerial, following the CompTia tracks towards CASP is an option.