Unix Adminstrator/PM Should I take CISSP

a_saksena

Hi Everyone,

I have around 9 years of Unix (Solaris 8,9 and 10) administration experience and then i moved on to management roles for two years managing UNIX teams. I decided to take Project Management to understand the various processes, but in 6 months only I feel that I am not enjoying project management, majorly because of the timelines/deadlines pressure. I enjoy R&D kind of jobs (UNIX was more like it). I wanted to understand from the experts here, how about taking CISSP exams?

What kind of roles/responsibilities are offered?
What salary package is offered?
What companies offer jobs?

I am currently in permanent night shifts and also looking for permanent day shift job?Health is also taking a toll here along with the mental tensions.

Please help and provide your suggestions, so that I can decide quickly. I can not keep on changing the domains so quickly.

Essendon

The CISSP is an entirely different beast from what I've heard. I presume you know that the CISSP is about security? Does security interest you? Have you got the 5 years (could be 4) of security related experience you need to have for the ISC2 to award the CISSP?

If you do have the prerequisites for the CISSP, perhaps pick up the Shon Harris CISSP book, flip through some of the pages and see if the material interests you.

For the kind of roles/responsibilities, check here

SEEK - CISSP Senior Security Consultant Job in Sydney

and here >

SEEK - Information Security Architect Job in Sydney.

Should give you an idea of the kind of work a CISSP might do. While I expect a CISSP to be remunerated well, I'd think that the job would be high-profile and the employer would expect a lot from you. The CISSP is a respected certification.

One of our moderators, JDMurray is a CISSP and a trainer, he's sure to have some good tips for ya.

Good luck and welcome to the forums!

JDMurray

The CISSP exam is an advanced Information Security certification intended for security professionals to demonstrate their knowledge and professional experience with the many fields of InfoSec. Someone new to the field of InfoSec should first look at the entry-level Security+ cert.

To understand what kind of jobs a specific type of education, skills, or certification will get you, search the popular job boards (dice.com, monster.com, etc.) for postings listing what you are looking for.

a_saksena

Thanks a lot for the replies and guidance.

I do not have any specific security related experience. I do have technical certifications like MCSE 2000, SCSA9, Veritas Storage Foundation 4.0, Veritas Cluster server 4.0, ITIL v3.0 Foundation.

I will go through the recommended book and see if CISSP interests me. I have also downloaded the Candidate Information Bulletin to understand what CISSP is all about.

I will get back to you guys once i am done with my research, may be by next weekend.

thanks again for your responses.Appreciate all your help.

afcyung

I would follow JD's advice and look at security + first. The CISSP covers a wide range of material and if you are "new" to security it will be overwhelming.