Career path question

alexander77

Hello guys,

I've been reading techforums for a short while and I learned a lot of useful tips about the IT job market and what books to use to study for my certifications. Currently I work in desktop support but I am looking to move out of it because it's getting boring now, so I'm studying for my ccna to get into networking. I looked at getting the CISSP in the future after getting the CCNA, but I wanted to know from you guys with more experience in the field whether that's a viable career path and whether I would be able to land a job if I were to obtain my cissp?

DigitalZeroOne

Landing a job isn't based on your certification, it's based on your experience, your interviewing skills, and a host of other factors. Having a certain certification can get you past the initial line when an employer requests that an individual has certification A or B, but usually a CISSP certification holder is going to have years of experience, and 5 years is what ISC2 requires that someone has before they take the exam anyway. The CCNA, although not a cake walk, is definitely something that is probably attainable much faster than a CISSP. You could always go for the CCNA Security when you achieve the experience.

NetworkVeteran

DigitalZeroOne wrote: »

Landing a job isn't based on your certification, it's based on your experience, your interviewing skills, and a host of other factors. Having a certain certification can get you past the initial line when an employer requests that an individual has certification A or B, but usually a CISSP certification holder is going to have years of experience..

Obtaining a certification helps beyond getting an interview. The knowledge that one must acquire to become certified helps greatly during interviews where they test your knowledge, and the certifications again comes into play when they're deciding on an appropriate compensation rate for the new position. I am so, so glad I worked towards my CCNP before this round of job-searching. I would've never stood a chance against CCIE candidates otherwise.

(Which returns to your point, there's much more to landing a job than certifications, obviously!)

alexander77

Hey guys, thanks for the advice I agree that there are many factors to landing that job and I am preparing myself in all ways such as my communication skills and fixing my resume. I was just curious as to whether it would be worth my time to go for the cissp after the ccna or wait until I find a security job first. I heard many people saw good pay increases and were able to obtain a good security job with it so I was looking into it.