Which of these courses would you take?

ChooseLife

If the employer offered to pay for one of these courses, which one would you take and why?

You are welcome to offer other options, just please keep it relevant (Security and/or Linux domains, intermediate to advanced level)

SANS SEC401 (GSEC) ($4700 - $5200)
SANS SEC506 (GCUX) ($4700 - $5200)
Stanford Advanced Computer Security Certificate ($3000)
RedHat RHCE System Administration III ($2800)

ChooseLife

Following the research I did a few months ago, I am trying to decide what course to ask the employer to pay for.

SANS courses are incredibly expensive but also have great reputation and my manager believes in their high value, so I may have a chance there.
Stanford security certificate seems interesting, though there is very little information about it on the net. I'm kind of curious about it.
RedHat course is the one I would probably have least problems convincing my manager about - we use it and I work with Linux servers 90% of my time. OTOH, I could self-study for the exam, it would just take longer.

Decisions, decisions....

swild

Like you said, the reputation of the SANS courses, plus the price, not to mention the fact that I have never heard anything bad about the knowledge level presented in one of their courses, would decide it for me.

Like you said, you can self study for the Linux and you do get daily exposure to the Linux material, so you could learn it much more easily.

This is the first I have heard of the Stanford course and will have to look into it. Do you have any links or reviews of it?

ChooseLife

Alright, how about GSEC vs GCUX then?

Re Standford certificate, information is scarce there:
Advanced Computer Security Certificate | Stanford University Online
http://www.techexams.net/forums/security-certifications/72219-about-stanford-advanced-computer-security-certificate.html

swild

It looks like you already have a decent security background so the GSEC may be a little too introductory for you. You may also be more able to convince your employer of the GCUX since it is slightly more work related.

N2IT

I was one of the Red Hat ones. I admit I don't know much about the others, but at my previous job they really liked the admins have Red Hat experience. I would think experience and the certification would put you in a really good place.

ptilsen

I would do GSEC, but you should do GCUX. The GIAC certs are the best choice simply due to their high value and high cost. The GCUX, from what I've seen, is not a test that can be self-studied for, at least not easily. The GSEC can be self-studied for and challenged more easily The RHCE can also be self-studied for, and it's a less expensive test. The Standford certificate doesn't seem to be a practical or as marketable, despite the Standford name.

ChooseLife

Great, appreciate all responses.

swild wrote: »

It looks like you already have a decent security background so the GSEC may be a little too introductory for you. You may also be more able to convince your employer of the GCUX since it is slightly more work related.

I feel I would most benefit from the GCUX. It has direct relevance to my job and seems to be fairly deep. If the money is spent on a course, I would like it to be as challenging as possible.

On the other hand, and that's the reason for including GSEC in the short-list - having never taken a SANS course before, I am worried about failing such an expensive exam. GSEC could potentially give an introduction to GIAC, that was my thinking. Besides, with GSEC being a far more popular choice, is it possible that it could have more recognition/respect by HR than GCUX? (I hope technical people would know the difference)

N2IT wrote: »

I was one of the Red Hat ones. I admit I don't know much about the others, but at my previous job they really liked the admins have Red Hat experience. I would think experience and the certification would put you in a really good place.

Fair enough, thanks for the comment. I may do RHCE either way.

ptilsen wrote: »

I would do GSEC, but you should do GCUX. The GIAC certs are the best choice simply due to their high value and high cost. The GCUX, from what I've seen, is not a test that can be self-studied for, at least not easily. The GSEC can be self-studied for and challenged more easily The RHCE can also be self-studied for, and it's a less expensive test. The Standford certificate doesn't seem to be a practical or as marketable, despite the Standford name.

Good reasoning, you pretty much convinced me. I'm gonna sleep on it and approach my manager early next week...

ChooseLife

I came back to tell more of the story and share rep - I received some "karma points" recently and it felt nice, but also made me realize I have not been paying attention to doing that myself.


So... I did have a conversation with the manager about the GCUX course. He made no promises, but started making arrangements and things slowly started lining up to the point where I had all quotes ready to present for signing the next day... and then things have suddenly gone sideways at which point bringing up the training subject, IMO, would be inconsiderate of the situation. I let the matter drop and instead of feeling bad focused on learning from the experience, and appreciating things we take for granted until they suddenly change...

Now I will either wait some 12-15 months for the next GCUX class (they are only given once a year) or pick some other training.

JDMurray

ChooseLife wrote: »

SANS courses are incredibly expensive

If your employer sent you to a $5000 SANS security course, and as a result you were able to find one or more security problems that could cost your employer at least $5000 in lost business, I would then say that SANS courses are dirt cheap.

ChooseLife

JDMurray wrote: »

If your employer sent you to a $5000 SANS security course, and as a result you were able to find one or more security problems that could cost your employer at least $5000 in lost business, I would then say that SANS courses are dirt cheap.

Their ROI would be good, but they would still be incredibly expensive.

I understand your point though, and I do agree that SANS training is of great quality. More importantly, and very fortunately, my employer also believes in pursuing the best ROI, so I have my hopes of attending a SANS course one day (and not on taxpayers' money)