What do i do with the GCIH Cert once i have it?

I need alittle advice. I have a comptia security + certification. I talked to Info Security Professional at the defense company (BAE systems) who advised me to get the GCIH certification I just recently took the sec504 class which is a bootcamp which prepares a person for the GCIH exam. I also graduate this may. i feel confident that i will pass this exam. Ideally i would like to work for a defense company like BAE systems...because i'm in DC - Maryland-Virginia area and they have a base of operations in virginia.

but my only issue is i don't have alot of experience in the field. WHen i was at the sec504 class there were alot of older men there who work in the security field and their company paid for them to be there i'm just an undergrad guy who not experienced in the field and i paid out of pocket to toake the class and get this cert. but i don't have alot of experience in how to advertise the fact that i have the Security + and a GCIH cert. as an attractive to employers. Because i see lot of varities of jobs in different IT fields of security on job sites....

i just need some advice on what i should do next. i have my resume on monster.com now - with my security plus cert and i get email updates on 'security jobs' in my zipcode but it's just very random stuff. and i'm worried about just going to work for XYZ company - when i could target a better situation that's meant for entry level college students who have some skills and certifications as well.

any advice would help. thanks.

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Khaos1911

bkhayes wrote: »

I need alittle advice. I have a comptia security + certification. I talked to Info Security Professional at the defense company (BAE systems) who advised me to get the GCIH certification I just recently took the sec504 class which is a bootcamp which prepares a person for the GCIH exam. I also graduate this may. i feel confident that i will pass this exam. Ideally i would like to work for a defense company like BAE systems...because i'm in DC - Maryland-Virginia area and they have a base of operations in virginia.

but my only issue is i don't have alot of experience in the field. WHen i was at the sec504 class there were alot of older men there who work in the security field and their company paid for them to be there i'm just an undergrad guy who not experienced in the field and i paid out of pocket to toake the class and get this cert. but i don't have alot of experience in how to advertise the fact that i have the Security + and a GCIH cert. as an attractive to employers. Because i see lot of varities of jobs in different IT fields of security on job sites....

i just need some advice on what i should do next. i have my resume on monster.com now - with my security plus cert and i get email updates on 'security jobs' in my zipcode but it's just very random stuff. and i'm worried about just going to work for XYZ company - when i could target a better situation that's meant for entry level college students who have some skills and certifications as well.

any advice would help. thanks.

You need experience and some of the most valuable experience you could gain could be working at those smaller companies, because they will potentially expose you to so many different technologies and different areas of the field. I wouldn't be as worried about working for a fortune 25 company at the moment, use "XYZ Company" to your advantage and gain those skills and that experience while utilizing your degree/certs to compliment your experience and then I'd bet you'd have a better shot at those big boy companies that you ultimately want to work for.

JasminLandry

If I were you, I'd do what Khaos1911 said. Career wise, it's the best option for you right now I believe. I was in a similar situation last year as you are in now. I actually did work for a big company and I decided to leave as I wasn't working with what I like, I was at the bottom of the ladder. I decided to work for a smaller company and do the kind of work that I love. And now, I get calls and emails everyday from people who work in those big companies and they are now offering me what I wanted to do at first.

docrice

My work experience has been mostly limited to smaller companies (less than 500 employees), although I did a short time at a Fortune 50. Based on my experience/impression, the large, well-established organizations tend to have a lot more resources and funding for projects, but at the same time have heavier bureaucratic overhead internally and your role may be much more limited in scope. Things might work more slowly because of it as well.

At a smaller company, you can potentially own a lot more responsibilities and wear many more hats, but it tends to be chaotic and when you're under pressure, you can learn a lot more (and also fail harder). If you want to get your feet wet and splash in hard, the smaller company route may be the better option. The downside is that you'll have to constantly make do with less and this sort of pace isn't for everyone.

These are very rough generalizations though and exceptions are abound everywhere.

JDMurray

You need to get your resume on more jobs sites, including Dice and LinkedIn. Also upload your resume to large company career sites and to certification vendors that offer job placement services. (I have my current job at Verizon because a hiring manager found my resume on the (ISC)2's Web site.) Through all of these job sites recruiters will engage you for openings they are looking to fill. Even if you are not fully qualified for many of the positions, you should interview if only for the experience. The larger a geographical area you can consider for a job the better.

bkhayes

JDMurray wrote: »

You need to get your resume on more jobs sites, including Dice and LinkedIn. Also upload your resume to large company career sites and to certification vendors that offer job placement services. (I have my current job at Verizon because a hiring manager found my resume on the (ISC)2's Web site.) Through all of these job sites recruiters will engage you for openings they are looking to fill. Even if you are not fully qualified for many of the positions, you should interview if only for the experience. The larger a geographical area you can consider for a job the better.

thank you so much. very good advice.

LionelTeo

Career wise GCIH can net you pretty any entry level security job, especially a company that is from US. Once you had GCIH you are actually someone a little higher than most entry level. Don't misunderstood that GCIH is for incident handling only, the knowledge from the course is also useful in the field for Security Analyst, Penetration Testing, and sometimes forensic and audit. The knowledge from GCIH serve as a good foundation to many IT Security career path, good lucky.

bkhayes

hello everyone.

i just wanted to say i finally passed my exam yesterday

check out my thread where i talked about how i prepared and the mistakes i made in my first 2 attempts.

http://www.techexams.net/forums/sans-institute-giac-certifications/108806-passed-gcih-yesterday-80-score.html

i will return to this thread in the coming weeks to ask questions - but i greatly appreciate the different opinions...

if anybody else here who has passed the test and is working and doing well...please do not hesitate to contribute any addition opinons