So which cert is next??

buff3r0vrfl0w

Hi All,

New to the forum, gota say though, GREAT active community, with loads of quality info. A lil about me, I am a sophomore in college currently pursuing a Net. Admin associates degree , going into infosec... luckily my college reimburses me if I pass any certification they approve.. this past year I got the A+ and Network +. Really wanted to squeeze the security + in there but could't get it done. Anyways I am really in "cert mode" rite now , thinking about still going for sec + in march but wanna know what else I should look into (server+, linux+, ccna??) I am very interested in the VCP and ethical hacker certs.. well what'yall think?

Chris:/*

Stick with the entry level certs like security+ and linux+ then move on to the associate ones before you hit combined knowledge certs like VCP.

Turgon

buff3r0vrfl0w wrote: »

Hi All,

New to the forum, gota say though, GREAT active community, with loads of quality info. A lil about me, I am a sophomore in college currently pursuing a Net. Admin associates degree , going into infosec... luckily my college reimburses me if I pass any certification they approve.. this past year I got the A+ and Network +. Really wanted to squeeze the security + in there but could't get it done. Anyways I am really in "cert mode" rite now , thinking about still going for sec + in march but wanna know what else I should look into (server+, linux+, ccna??) I am very interested in the VCP and ethical hacker certs.. well what'yall think?

You are still in College so I would concentrate on your grades first and foremost. After that consider obtaining some part time experience but not at the expense of your grades.

za3bour

Personaly I don't think it's necessary to get all the CompTIA certs I would pick up one domain I love like Virtualization or Secuirty for example and chose it as my path so if you chose security you can get Security+ then move to something like CCNA-Security.

So first decide what are you gonna do in the future a Network Engineer, System Engineer, VCP ..etc then move on.

buff3r0vrfl0w

Hi All,

thanks for the positive feedback.. I really want to get the sec+ in march so I think I am going too. As far as my grades in school go I managed to get the A+ and Net+ this semester and still pull off a 3.75.. I can do school and certs its not really a issue for me.. CCNA security sounds really good , how exactly does that work , I just take the 640-553 IINS and I am CCNA security certified for 3 years? Question: If I take the CCENT (640-822 ICND1) , to obtain CCNA all I would have to do is take the ICND2 Exam? Sorry questions I just get really confused with M$ and cisco certs pre-reqs and what not..thanks all

ibcritn

buff3r0vrfl0w wrote: »

Hi All,

thanks for the positive feedback.. I really want to get the sec+ in march so I think I am going too. As far as my grades in school go I managed to get the A+ and Net+ this semester and still pull off a 3.75.. I can do school and certs its not really a issue for me.. CCNA security sounds really good , how exactly does that work , I just take the 640-553 IINS and I am CCNA security certified for 3 years? Question: If I take the CCENT (640-822 ICND1) , to obtain CCNA all I would have to do is take the ICND2 Exam? Sorry questions I just get really confused with M$ and cisco certs pre-reqs and what not..thanks all

Pass ICND1 = CCENT
Pass ICND1+ICND2 = CCNA
Have CCNA + Pass (640-553) = CCNA Security

As far as juggling school + cert load understand that A+/Network+ can't really compare to the amount of studying you will have to do for CCENT/CCNA....its a drastically more challenging certification if you ask me.

If your goal is InfoSec you might pay some close attention to DoDD 8570 certifications. A+/Network+/Security+ are on the DoDD 8570 and if you were to pass Security+ and either CCENT, or CCNA you could be compliant at IAT II.

Good Luck.

ehnde

buff3r0vrfl0w wrote: »

Hi All,

thanks for the positive feedback.. I really want to get the sec+ in march so I think I am going too. As far as my grades in school go I managed to get the A+ and Net+ this semester and still pull off a 3.75.. I can do school and certs its not really a issue for me.. CCNA security sounds really good , how exactly does that work , I just take the 640-553 IINS and I am CCNA security certified for 3 years? Question: If I take the CCENT (640-822 ICND1) , to obtain CCNA all I would have to do is take the ICND2 Exam? Sorry questions I just get really confused with M$ and cisco certs pre-reqs and what not..thanks all

You're doing security+ for sure, I'd say 82.7% of us will agree with you on this as your next certification step

After you are done with Security+ I think it's time to specialize. What do you want to do after you graduate? Desktop support and help desk are the most common options available to new grads with no experience at our level. If you're really focused on becoming something like a jr network admin/engineer, (these jobs are harder to get than the help desk/desktop support jobs) you should either try to get the MCITP:SA or CCNA depending on what your focus is. MCITP:SA if you're more interested in managing servers and CCNA if you want to manage networks....just don't expect an employer to hand over the golden key with no experience.

The theme here is where do you see yourself going career wise? These are the certs you should pursue after you are done with Security+.

alan2308

buff3r0vrfl0w wrote: »

luckily my college reimburses me if I pass any certification they approve..

Which school is that, I may transfer.

buff3r0vrfl0w

Ahh..thank you for summing that cisco cert stuff up for me,

and thank you for being so supportive about going for the sec+ . I am taking a net security class next semester that pertains to getting the sec+ , gunna get darrils book and read that along with the course.. oh and I go to a community college in Jersey lol

ibcritn

buff3r0vrfl0w wrote: »

Ahh..thank you for summing that cisco cert stuff up for me,

and thank you for being so supportive about going for the sec+ . I am taking a net security class next semester that pertains to getting the sec+ , gunna get darrils book and read that along with the course.. oh and I go to a community college in Jersey lol

No problem. I did the same thing with Security+ and did it while I was in a college course. I strongly recommend setting up your own lab and testing out anything you learn. A lot of good tools can be found Insecure.Org - Nmap Free Security Scanner, Tools & Hacking resources

buff3r0vrfl0w

oh I frequent that site very often.. I am just getting into pentesting and really enjoy using metasploit ..I've used nmap but want to really indulge myself in it this year.. I am actually setting up a proxmox server tomorrow and thinking about making that my lab/pentest/b!tchbox.. have you ever used this book Amazon.com: Nmap Network Scanning: The Official Nmap Project Guide to Network Discovery and Security Scanning (9780979958717): Gordon Fyodor Lyon: Books ?

Been thinking about buying it soon ..

ibcritn

buff3r0vrfl0w wrote: »

oh I frequent that site very often.. I am just getting into pentesting and really enjoy using metasploit ..I've used nmap but want to really indulge myself in it this year.. I am actually setting up a proxmox server tomorrow and thinking about making that my lab/pentest/b!tchbox.. have you ever used this book Amazon.com: Nmap Network Scanning: The Official Nmap Project Guide to Network Discovery and Security Scanning (9780979958717): Gordon Fyodor Lyon: Books ?

Been thinking about buying it soon ..

Nope never used that book. I have heard good things though.

Good luck.