GSEC...Am I reading this right?

Its obvious from looking at their website that SANS would rather you go to their bootcamps, and to be honest I would rather do that. That being said I have 2 things keeping me from doing that. 1)Money 2)Time off from work. My company does not see it fit to send me there and I can't afford it. I was looking for a cheaper alternative when I ran across the "self study" program. The problem is unless I am reading it wrong it costs the same as the full bootcamp. I guess the big question is is there really no savings by doing self study with their materials vs going to their boot camp?

Also, i know a number of people have mentioned the $700 program where you work the event. This would be an amazing deal that I would jump all over, but my employer is forcing me to use my personal vacation days for this and I only have 6 days left for the year.

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JDMurray

You neglected to mention that just to take any SANS cert exam without any of the workshops or self-study courses is $900 in itself.

pheonixace_7

I completely forgot about that. In all honesty I saw that option a week ago and perked up for half a second until I read some reviews that said if you do that there is virtually no way you can ever pass. Apparently, SANS puts numerous questions on their tests that you could really only ever know if you have their book to look through (which of course you don't get if you take that route).

The more and more I look over this the more I'm afraid I may have to wait for some other employer to pay for me to take this test. I think the GSEC would be a great cert to have, but not if I have to pay for it :-/.

On a side note. What are some other peoples opinions on SANS? Is it worth the money? Do you feel like you get the knowledge and a worthwhile certification to warrant spending that kind of money?

JDMurray

The workshop classes are very fast-paced and intense. They are like cram classes designed to help you pass the cert exam. You really need to study as much of the cert's objectives as you can before taking the workshop to have the best chance of absorbing the material and retaining it afterwords. I've never taken a SANS workshop, and I wouldn't turn down the opportunity either, but I know two former SANS instructors who were burned-out by teaching several of the cert workshops--including GSEC.

Paul Boz

Yeah, your best bet is to get an employer who will pay for it. A guy I work with has put himself out of pocket for SANS training prior to working at my company and I don't care how much you make, $8000 for two classes, out of pocket, is steep.

I am doing the GPEN with self-study because I would rather take my time than go to a six-day boot camp. I am enjoying it so far. I took off this entire week to go through the books and MP3s just like the bootcamp would do, only I can pause it and work on the lawn if I have to clear my head

Like JD said, if you work with the stuff its not that bad but it will burn you out if you don't.

unsupported

When looking at the different SANS options you have the little extra costs which need to be considered. If you do live SANS training, then there is the cost of flights, hotel, food, and subsequent test (although it is discounted). For the work study you you still have flight, hotel, food, but no test and it is cheaper out of pocket. For self paced study you do not have flight, hotel, food, and get a discount on the test. You are not forced to take their training, but it looks prohibitively difficult without it.

Good luck with whatever you are deciding. I have chosen to do complete self-study of my own chosen materials for the GCIH, while having my company pay for the certification attempt. We will see how that works out within the next two months.

pheonixace_7

Ya, the more I look at it the more I think I'm just going to have to wait until I work for an employer that actually cares about employee advancement. I appreciate all of the insight into the SANS world. I do eventually want to take a couple of their classes, but it looks like that will be waiting at least a year or two. And good luck to the previous poster on the seld study. Sounds like that is definitely a difficult and noble option.

Hallucinate

Paul Boz wrote: »

Yeah, your best bet is to get an employer who will pay for it. A guy I work with has put himself out of pocket for SANS training prior to working at my company and I don't care how much you make, $8000 for two classes, out of pocket, is steep.

I am doing the GPEN with self-study because I would rather take my time than go to a six-day boot camp. I am enjoying it so far. I took off this entire week to go through the books and MP3s just like the bootcamp would do, only I can pause it and work on the lawn if I have to clear my head

Like JD said, if you work with the stuff its not that bad but it will burn you out if you don't.

What study materials are you using?

Paul Boz

Hallucinate wrote: »

What study materials are you using?

Self mentoring program through SANS. My employer pays for SANS training. Three of my co workers are also working on the GPEN and one of them already has it.