Just turned 18, Need advice?

Hello, I registered on this site to study some of the material for the various exams. Certain things in my past cut me off from High School and I just recently took the GED, which I am still awaiting the results, I'm sure I passed.. It was easy stuff. Once I receive the GED I plan on a couple of things, such as going to college for CIT Sec and or certifications, but onto the real question; What should be my priorities in the IT world? I like to think that I have a lot of knowledge and 'self' experience with IT but those two alone won't cut it, I need proof to show that I can handle myself on these subjects. I plan on going to college in the spring, which is around 4-6 months from now; 4-6 months is enough time for a CompTIA certification course at my local college. But should I be trying to get a cert before I step into college for my 2yr in the spring? I'm just a bit confused on the whole thing, and in need of advice. Also, my interest in the IT area is mainly networking and security.

Edit - If it helps, my long term goals are working in the IT Security area, wherever it may be.

Thanks

- Scythe

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Comments

dynamik

Which CompTIA certs are you looking at? You could probably do them in a couple months with only self-study; I really wouldn't pay for CompTIA courses. You might want to start with the Security+ and/or CCNA if those are your interests.

What type of degree are you going to be working on?

Welcome to the forums

ScytheX10

dynamik wrote: »

Which CompTIA certs are you looking at? You could probably do them in a couple months with only self-study; I really wouldn't pay for CompTIA courses. You might want to start with the Security+ and/or CCNA if those are your interests.

What type of degree are you going to be working on?

Welcome to the forums

Are the technotes on this site up to date enough for the current exams? Do you recommend other sources of study?

Well my BASIC plan is to go for my my Associates in IT security at a community college around here and then try for my four year at a University. I try not to plan the details because, well, something I learned from my past is; stuff happens..

dynamik

Which exams are you looking at? Some of the Tech Notes might be a version behind. They're great resources, but they aren't sufficient as a sole source for your studies. Let us know what exams you're considering, and we can suggest resources for those.

Also, make sure the college you're looking at for your four-year degree will accept that two-year degree from the community college. I've seen a lot of colleges refuse to accept technical degrees, so you should definitely verify that in advance. You might end up wasting a lot of time and money.

ScytheX10

dynamik wrote: »

Which exams are you looking at? Some of the Tech Notes might be a version behind. They're great resources, but they aren't sufficient as a sole source for your studies. Let us know what exams you're considering, and we can suggest resources for those.

Also, make sure the college you're looking at for your four-year degree will accept that two-year degree from the community college. I've seen a lot of colleges refuse to accept technical degrees, so you should definitely verify that in advance. You might end up wasting a lot of time and money.

See, that's the thing. I really don't know which exams I SHOULD be looking at, but since my interest lie with networking and security, the two ( CCNA/Security+) you recommended seem like the right choices. The only other thing I forgot to mention is that, I'm looking for a job and I would love to get a job soon so I was thinking of he A+ certification. Like I said, I'm a bit confused on what to do from here.

Also I have confirmed it, the college has direct ties to some of the universities around here for specifically getting 2yr grads into 4yr colleges/uni.

L0gicB0mb508

I guess if you are looking to get into security long term you may want to start looking at the Security+. It's a pretty decent starting point into the security arena. The problem is, security has so many sub roles in it. Do you want to pentest? Do you want to be a firewall/IDS admin? If its more on the networking side of it, maybe start with this path: Security+/Network+ ---> CCNA---->CCNA:Security as far as certifications go.

The degree will for sure help you out in the long term. I know you say you don't want to plan in detail, but I think that's key here. You need to set out a plan with goals to reach. It makes things much easier.

miller811

In the words of Mr T... don't be a fool, stay in school

tpatt100

If you want to get into security I would just worry about getting into IT in general with a "security" mind set. What I mean specializing in security is being sold by these tech schools because it is viewed as a growing field. Problem is without a strong networking background it will be difficult to understand/grasp the security field.

blargoe

tpatt100 wrote: »

If you want to get into security I would just worry about getting into IT in general with a "security" mind set. What I mean specializing in security is being sold by these tech schools because it is viewed as a growing field. Problem is without a strong networking background it will be difficult to understand/grasp the security field.

I agree with this. While you're working on the 2-year get the foundation knowledge down pat. Also, I'd try to get on with a real company in an internship, part-time, or volunteer gig as soon as you can get someone to hire you, even if it's IT helpdesk or some kind of call center, just to have some corporate experience.

Xenz

My community college/state college, whatever the hell it calls itself, has CompTIA A+/Network+/Security+/Linux+ courses involved to prove basic computer literacy skills. I would start with these. I also have a Windows Server course that is suppose to be on the 70-290 test. I took the focus in Cisco Networking so I took some NetAcademy courses. I have my CCENT/CCNA. I had my A+ and took the network+ before the courses to save some money.

If you're interested in security, taking a couple of programming courses may help your cause. I'm going after a second degree with my college in programming. Java/C focused. I may swap out of Java and focus on SQL depending on how I feel about this java course (in the basic course so I can choose to do the advanced java or swap to SQL).

Your best bet is to focus on finding a college you can transfer with a good bit of credits and go for a Bachelors. It's much more respectable and if you attend community college, you will quickly realize it's more amusing than educational.

ScytheX10

All of the responses are great, thank you all.

The community college that I plan on going to, this, helps students transfer to a 4 year college/university, apparently this college has a lot of ties. But no matter what I do plan on getting my Bachelors in computer science, hopefully IT security.

However, I have a couple of questions

What's the real difference between the CCNA and Network+? I take it that CCNA is more towards Cisco system and CompTIA is more towards networking in general, correct?

As for a real specialization I would love to be a pen tester, so how does that change my path?

As for programming, I already self taught with C# and minimal Java. C# was my first (Programming) language, even before I learned HTML and everything else. I chose C# because it's an OOP, and Java and C# are very similar, they are also two of the most widely used languages in the work field ( IMO ).

But anyway, would it be suggested that I start out with the CCNA or Network+/Security+ as certifications? If so, which is the priority?
As I've said before, I like to think I have a good amount of knowledge already on networking. I've taken the CompTIA Network+ practice exam(s) and I did get a 60-70 average without study. But then again, they ARE practice tests

Edit - I just want to throw this out there, If it seems like I barely know how things work in the real world, it's because I really don't. I'm really just shooting in the dark here. I just turned 18 last month and it's like I'm being bombarded with all these options and paths. I'm really just trying to find out the best 'path' if you will.

blargoe

I think you are on the right track if you continue with the AAS in whatever they call the general networking track at your community college. If you feel like you are already at a Network+ level of competency, I'd take the CCNA courses at your college, so at least you get hands-on with real routers.

Network+ and CCENT (the "entry" step into the CCNA) are more foundation level knowledge. The full CCNA is the first step into actual Cisco routing and switching operations.

I'd do the Network+ cert, then CCNA - after you begin your networking courses.

I'd also take a sampling of different host OS courses as well, if you have room for them.

Obviously, any entry level security courses would be good as well, but you can work on your specialization when you transfer to the university.

ScytheX10

blargoe wrote: »

I think you are on the right track if you continue with the AAS in whatever they call the general networking track at your community college. If you feel like you are already at a Network+ level of competency, I'd take the CCNA courses at your college, so at least you get hands-on with real routers.

Network+ and CCENT (the "entry" step into the CCNA) are more foundation level knowledge. The full CCNA is the first step into actual Cisco routing and switching operations.

I'd do the Network+ cert, then CCNA - after you begin your networking courses.

I'd also take a sampling of different host OS courses as well, if you have room for them.

Obviously, any entry level security courses would be good as well, but you can work on your specialization when you transfer to the university.

Sounds great. BTW, the AS I'm going for is more towards networking security. Link to the curriculum.

I go into that in the spring, I was going to go for the fall semester but that would be moving way to fast for my taste, I still have stuff to take care of first.

I'm going to study networking, with a basis towards the Network+ cert. I'll fill in the gaps of whatever I do not know right now then go from there.

Besides this site, is there any recommendations on study material for networking/security? Or other means of 'testing' my competency on the subject(s)?

dynamik

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ipconfig.all

Try and gain some I.T related expereince while you are studying. It would help you in the long run