First Cert out of the way

TallDarknFugly

Just passed the Security+ exam on Monday, now I feel like I caught the cert bug or something... Already studying for the CCNA. I wonder if it's easier than the Sec+. If it is, that would be more motivation.

If I get that by the end of next month then CISSP, here I come!!

Oh, for studying I used the Sybex book, this forum and CBT nuggets!! Same thing I'll be doing for the CCNA too.

Btw, here's a publication I was looking at this morning. Is this accurate?

shon541

Congrats! Nice one to start out with.

undomiel

I would dare say that it isn't the best guide for these things since people who have the higher certifications will certainly have a few of the lower certifications which will skew things a lot. Unless they have a different criteria for figuring these things. Either way I have my Security+ and I'm making less than half what that figure has quoted!

And congratulations on the pass! That exam is a rather rough one.

dynamik

Not accurate. It doesn't take experience or other certifications into account. There's no way the Security+ is worth more than the MCSE.

Congratulations on the pass

You'll get up there eventually.

Megadeth4168

Congrats!

Don't spend too much time looking at Salary Surveys... The only time I find them useful is when combining them in a report with other supporting data which suggests how much I should be making.

Keep in mind that Many people particiapting in these surveys have several Certifications and list them all. For example, I've seen salary surveys showing that the average for A+ is over 55K per year. I doubt that many people who have only an A+ make even close to that.... But someone with say an MCSE and an A+ might make well over that.

The other thing to keep in mind is that many if not most participants in these surveys have a couple years or more on the job experience which is also a factor left out in a lot of Salary Surveys.

Lastly, cost of living varies from region to region.... Where I live, 60K per year would be considered a darn nice living, and about 50% higher than the average person makes in my area. However, you take that 60K job and go to certain areas of California, then 60K or even 80K per year won't be enough in some areas to get you a house. So I'm sure the pay rate in those areas is higher than the pay rates around where I live.

Just be cautious of salary surveys. Use them as a supporting data when making raise/pay arguments, not as an end all source.

Good luck with the CCNA.

TallDarknFugly

You guys make a lot of sense. Shoulda thought about that. I did think it was odd though. Still wondering if the CCNA is considered tougher than the Sec+ or not...


And thanks again for the Congratulations.

dynamik

TallDarknFugly wrote:

Still wondering if the CCNA is considered tougher than the Sec+ or not...

It's not necessarily more difficult. It covers a lot more material though. I think the most difficult thing is getting your head around subnetting. Everything else is pretty straight-forward, but like I said, there's a lot of it. I'd say each ICND exam is 1-1.5 times as involved as the Security+. It's definitely a worthwhile cert.

TallDarknFugly

dynamik wrote:

TallDarknFugly wrote:

Still wondering if the CCNA is considered tougher than the Sec+ or not...

It's not necessarily more difficult. It covers a lot more material though. I think the most difficult thing is getting your head around subnetting. Everything else is pretty straight-forward, but like I said, there's a lot of it. I'd say each ICND exam is 1-1.5 times as involved as the Security+. It's definitely a worthwhile cert.

I guess I have the hard part down-packed then

I dedicated a whole 2 weeks on subnetting to the point I can look at an IP address and mentally summarize the subnets, etc.

Daniel333

Congrads on Sec+! You can apply that toward and MCSA/E ya know!

And I would think CCNA is a little harder than CCNA. Comptia tests just tend to be easier. That is not to say, you can't spend weeks messing with RAS servers, IDS etc. But the tests are generally easier.

Those charts are never accurate and many are laugable, all are misleading.

If you want accurate pay rates for qualifications, there is no better place to look than the actual job market. Check out Monster.com etc and search there. You can also see the sorts of periphery knowledge they want with those certs.