Help deciding career path...

Gorby

Hey Techexams, I just found this forum and it looks like a great resource of information for help obtaining certifications. Right now I'm trying to decide whether I want to work with Cisco, Microsoft or work with databases. When did some of you guys figure out what you wanted to do with your IT career and how?

lsud00d

A good route that a lot of people go (including myself) is starting out in Help Desk so you get to taste a lot of technologies...as you learn more you may develop an affinity towards a discipline or domain and then pursue that route.

I went from Help Desk to Linux Sys Admin and after participating in a cybersecurity capture the flag exercise I realized my calling is Security, leaning towards netsec/appsec at the moment.

Gorby

I'm in a help desk role right now and I'm leaning towards network security myself too actually. But I figured I would have to get a NOC job first to get my foot in the door. The problem is I like working with databases and I don't mind system admin work either so it's hard for me to choose 1 to focus on.

petedude

Gorby wrote: »

. . .The problem is I like working with databases and I don't mind system admin work either so it's hard for me to choose 1 to focus on.

I'm facing a similar quandary, and I've been at IT longer than I should admit.

lsud00d

Sys admin's can work with databases, sometimes even in a DBA capacity.

There's a lot of ways you can route this and understanding the holistic view is very important in security so it's not necessarily a bad thing casting a wide net.