Sugestion for career choice

pgchelseapgchelsea Registered Users Posts: 3 ■□□□□□□□□□
in Other Security Certifications
hii guys,I am new to this forum...

I'm a student of b.Tech 2nd year, Information Technology in Kolkata,India.
I am really really interested in internet security and wish to become an Internet Security Manager someday...I'm still very young thought(19 :P)
Anyways this is the time when we apply for coaching classes for MBA and stuff...so I was wondering if I wish to have a career in internet security what will be my best option??
MBA ( IT ) or M.tech and then some security courses...
I have read about this CISSP exam...I don't have much idea though...any suggestions would be very useful...

Thank you :D
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  • CISPhDCISPhD Member Posts: 114
    Welcome to TE, pgchelsea. icon_lol.gif

    If you're focused specifically on security, be prepared for what is called a "dynamic" career. That is to say, like most careers in IT, that you are committing to a life long career of learning. Hope you're ready? :) Take the following feedback for what it's worth, and take heart in knowing that only a few years ago, I was right where you are now. It's possible to accelerate quickly in this field, but you have to be dedicated to your work for the better side of a decade to get there.

    With regards to higher education, again focusing on information security, my personal experiences would push you towards a technical graduate degree such as a MSc in IS management. There are several routes you can take here, but if you're focused on technical based management, an MBA may not be the best approach. I personally pursued both an MBA and MISM degree, but I would say that is certainly above and beyond and speaks to my sycophantic obsession with being an over achiever. Furthermore, I took it a step further in pursuing a PhD in Computer and Information Security. Giving myself that much more of an edge when I'm shooting for those EVP and CSO roles sometime around 2015/2020.

    On the certification front, there's a general cert path that most people follow. I don't have too much information on what your focus within information security aims to be, but here's some general advice. Start with basic certifications such as the Security+ exam offered by CompTIA, or the more involved CCNA with the subsequent "Security" add on classification. Once you can land yourself a security job, and get a few years under your belt, I'd encourage you to start going after some of the more complex certs such as the SSCP or CISSP, along with the CCNP:Security, MCSA:SE. Following those technical based certs, you can pursue some of the management style certifications such as as the CISM, CISSP:ISSMP, PMP, etc...

    That's the crash course in an IS career. If you want to provide some more detail, myself and other individuals on this thread can provide you some more detailed advice.

    Once again, welcome to TE!
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  • pgchelseapgchelsea Registered Users Posts: 3 ■□□□□□□□□□
    CISPhD wrote: »
    Welcome to TE, pgchelsea. icon_lol.gif

    If you're focused specifically on security, be prepared for what is called a "dynamic" career. That is to say, like most careers in IT, that you are committing to a life long career of learning. Hope you're ready? :) Take the following feedback for what it's worth, and take heart in knowing that only a few years ago, I was right where you are now. It's possible to accelerate quickly in this field, but you have to be dedicated to your work for the better side of a decade to get there.

    With regards to higher education, again focusing on information security, my personal experiences would push you towards a technical graduate degree such as a MSc in IS management. There are several routes you can take here, but if you're focused on technical based management, an MBA may not be the best approach. I personally pursued both an MBA and MISM degree, but I would say that is certainly above and beyond and speaks to my sycophantic obsession with being an over achiever. Furthermore, I took it a step further in pursuing a PhD in Computer and Information Security. Giving myself that much more of an edge when I'm shooting for those EVP and CSO roles sometime around 2015/2020.

    On the certification front, there's a general cert path that most people follow. I don't have too much information on what your focus within information security aims to be, but here's some general advice. Start with basic certifications such as the Security+ exam offered by CompTIA, or the more involved CCNA with the subsequent "Security" add on classification. Once you can land yourself a security job, and get a few years under your belt, I'd encourage you to start going after some of the more complex certs such as the SSCP or CISSP, along with the CCNP:Security, MCSA:SE. Following those technical based certs, you can pursue some of the management style certifications such as as the CISM, CISSP:ISSMP, PMP, etc...

    That's the crash course in an IS career. If you want to provide some more detail, myself and other individuals on this thread can provide you some more detailed advice.

    Once again, welcome to TE!


    so i can do this...complete my B.Tech (2 more years),then MBA(IT) around 2 years...then i give the CCNA exam which is I guess is just an exam,like not a 1 year course or something...then a job,pack some experience and then the CISSP exam??

    Correct me if I'm wrong :)
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  • CISPhDCISPhD Member Posts: 114
    pgchelsea wrote: »
    so i can do this...complete my B.Tech (2 more years),then MBA(IT) around 2 years...then i give the CCNA exam which is I guess is just an exam,like not a 1 year course or something...then a job,pack some experience and then the CISSP exam??

    Correct me if I'm wrong :)

    Ha... if you want to over simplify what I'm saying... Sure. Keep in mind that life can throw a wrench in your works at any time. Take a look at the advice I've provided in this alternate thread regarding MBAs within an IT career (Post #9).

    http://www.techexams.net/forums/jobs-degrees/83626-seeking-masters-degree-looking-advice.html

    Additionally, without getting greater detail around what it is exactly that you want to do within your IT career, I can't provide explicit feedback on a valid cert path... You saying you want to work in IT is like someone saying they want to be an engineer. What kind of engineer? Public or private sector? etc...

    A final note/disclaimer here... I'm am a forum post. Take my career/certification advice for what it's worth; that of advice from a complete stranger who knows nothing about you, your preferences, your culture, or anything else about you for that matter. :)

    Sorry if that was a bit deflating, but you seem to have taken my advice as the word of the Lord. It was intended to merely guide you to make educated research pursuits, not necessarily serve as a mandate. :P
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  • pgchelseapgchelsea Registered Users Posts: 3 ■□□□□□□□□□
    haha...naah I was jus curious...chill...I'll prolly go for the MBA coachings then...thanks man :)

    it's like there is more money after MBA,I'm more interested in enjoying my job...but I'm definitely interested in money also...thus...
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  • paul78paul78 Member Posts: 3,016 ■■■■■■■■■■
    @pgchelsea - welcome to TE. I would expect that the observations that @CISPhD provided is relevant in most parts of the world. I would only caution you to not assume that just because you have an MBA, that would qualify you for a higher paying job.

    I am not familiar with career progression in Kolkata and eastern India. But I do work with many colleagues in southern and western India. The career progression in those part of India appear similar to the US (at least from my limited exposure). And generally, having an MBA without any practical commercial or professional experience is not very useful.

    As for your interest in security manager - that's great to learn. There is a booming demand in India. But Infosec is a discipline that is extremely broad and all infosec managers start in an IT discipline and then broaden their scope of knowledge. Within my own professional network, all infosec managers that I know started their careers in software development. But I suspect that's because of my own career progression.
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  • CISPhDCISPhD Member Posts: 114
    paul78 wrote: »
    Within my own professional network, all infosec managers that I know started their careers in software development. But I suspect that's because of my own career progression.

    IS Managers tend to stem from many different facets of the technical industry. In working with ISACA and ISC2, I've seen IS managers come from a wide variety of technologies including server administration, UNIX/AIX engineering, audit, etc... We're all a hodge podge of skills! :)

    @pgchelsea: I'm right on foot with paul78 here... An MBA does not guarentee a better paying job, or even a job at all. This is particularly true for an MBA from a non-top 30 school. The MBA market was very fierce in the late 90s to early 00s. Without being filed among the creme of the crop, you shiny new MBA is just as useful as the BA you retrieved 2 years earlier. The only difference now is that you have another $40,000 in student loan debt. ;)

    Buyer beware! :)
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