WGU: Security OR Software?

C_Rex

Which bachelors degree to take at WGU?
IT-Security or IT-Software ?
Which would you pick and why?

IT Security link
Online IT Security Degree | Information Security Degree | WGU College of Information Technology

IT Software link
Bachelor Degree in IT Software | Online IT Degree | College of Information Technology Online

C_Rex

Soooo ya this post is related to my other one, which asks...
What are some entry level IT Security jobs?
here-->http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/65336-what-entry-level-security-jobs.html

So I should probably also ask, what are entry level programming jobs like?

erpadmin

The IT Security emphasis is nothing more than a specialized Network Administrator degree, that emphasizes IT Security. As you are building your network infrastructure from the groundup, what ports and services are you going to harden.

The IT Software emphasis is pretty much a coding/programming affair. You can shoot for an entry level application developer/programmer analyst gig.


What is your background/interest in IT now?

C_Rex

My background... let's see...
I guess I started out in IT mostly as just a savvy computer user. Then I went to a local community/tech college and took some classes; A+, Security+, some MCPs (MCSE didn't finish), a touch of linux, and then I got the CCNA cert.

I had one trade show support job, and then a data center job; both v-dash microsoft vendor jobs that I didn't really love or excel at. I feel like I might have missed my calling, maybe I should go for programing?


On the other hand, security seems really hot and intellectually interesting, but I'm worried that there is no such thing as an entry level IT Security job. I also worry that WGU's program is really all about networking. As far as jobs upon completion go, I'm thinking like, Telco and ISPs NOCs?? I don't want to finish my bachelors and realize I don't want the jobs I'll be qualified for.

I'm leaning towards the programming track, but I want to make the right choice. Security is really sexy, and I could probably redo that CCNA lik-i-ty split! But maybe programming would lead to a better j o b.

erpadmin

C_Rex wrote: »

My background... let's see...
I guess I started out in IT mostly as just a savvy computer user. Then I went to a local community/tech college and took some classes; A+, Security+, some MCPs (MCSE didn't finish), a touch of linux, and then I got the CCNA cert.

I had one trade show support job, and then a data center job; both v-dash microsoft vendor jobs that I didn't really love or excel at. I feel like I might have missed my calling, maybe I should go for programing?


On the other hand, security seems really hot and intellectually interesting, but I'm worried that there is no such thing as an entry level IT Security job. I also worry that WGU's program is really all about networking. As far as jobs upon completion go, I'm thinking like, Telco and ISPs NOCs?? I don't want to finish my bachelors and realize I don't want the jobs I'll be qualified for.

I'm leaning towards the programming track, but I want to make the right choice. Security is really sexy, and I could probably redo that CCNA lik-i-ty split! But maybe programming would lead to a better j o b.

You hit the nail on the head, my friend; in your heart and mind you KNOW you don't want to do a job because it's "HOT" and "SEXY." You do it because you like it. If you want to do security because you see yourself doing it, then by all means, do it. But if you're only doing it because you think it will land you beaucoup bucks right off the gate, then you will find that it might not be all that it's cracked up to be.

I can tell you though that if you have an aptitiude for it, you might find it easier to land an entry-level programming job. If you don't want to sit at a desk for hours typing thousands of line of code though, you might be better off gunning for the Network Admin degree. You can always jump into a security focus later, if that's what you want to do. If your CompTIAs are older than 5 years, you will have to redo them again.

Best of luck in whatever you decide.

Slowhand

As for your degree choices, that'll be up to you and what you decide to do. I can, however, give you a fairly good idea of what an entry-level programmer does, seeing as how I've worked in several coding-shops and seen first-hand new junior-level guys come on-board.

Generally, you'd start off as a junior-level programmer, working in a team under a senior-level lead or other manager. Chances are, you'll start out being assigned (relatively) simple tasks, working on portions of a program that your boss has the lead on. In other cases, you'll find yourself working on fixing bugs and solving issues that have come up in existing code. If you're diligent and you know your stuff, it doesn't take a whole lot to move up the ladder and get tougher assignments with more responsibility, but it does require quite a bit of work.

You'll also be facing down the challenges of learning new programming languages and coding environments as your projects change, or as you change jobs. You might know C/C++, Java, and some dialect of LISP coming out of school, but that dream-job you want may need you to be knowledgeable on C#, Perl, ActionScript, etc., and it'll be your task to learn what you need to know to move forward. This, of course, is no different than working in IT and needing to learn new operating systems or networking equipment as you look for work, since everything changes quickly and there's so much out there to work with.

I'm sure there are programmers, (both currently working and retired,) on this board that can elaborate on what I've said. I hope that gives you a start to what the coding-world looks like. Best of luck with your studies, as well as your job-searching.

JDMurray

Don't they teach "sexy" security stuff on the software development track too? Many InfoSec programs are based around the CISSP certification. Where are all the schools that should be basing their software security curriculum around the CSSLP certification?

C_Rex

Thanks everyone for your knowledgeable replies. I appreciate the quality posts I got from you all.

Your replies in this thread and others helped me make my choice and I'm starting IT-Software at WGU asap. And that secure coding cert, the CSSLP, looks like something I should look into down the line.