Looking for general guidance on getting certified in something this year.

Hey guys,

My name is Levi, I'm 24 years old. I have been tinkering with computers and networks since I was 10. I took computer support technology in vocational school and Computer information systems at devry for a year before I had to quit for personal reasons. I'm looking to get back into IT work. I recently started a job with support.com for a remote support technician but I would really like to get certified by september in something. My dream job would be something in networking (even though I feel all the money is going to be in programming apps), maybe Cisco certs? but I really would love to be a pen tester.

I'm going to have to study from home and do it as cheaply as possible. I have plenty of time to put into this and I have a decent all around skill set. I would like to know what Certs I'll need to be a pentester or Network Administator. And what order I should get them, and any good resources you can think of. I'm not even sure if I can get hired doing pentesting in ohio but battelle is here and they have Our Work | National Security | Cyber Innovations | Battelle their cyber innovations group. I was also thinking of doing some free MOOC's? Or those free certs mentioned in the sticky?

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N2IT

It seems like a lot of guys/gals on here get Security + to start off their security career. I think the CCNA is still a really good certification to get. A lot of jobs of all flavors ask for it in my region, including project management and solution architect positions which are normally more business focused and even those still ask for the CCNA (for infrastructure projects). Of course the technology positions love too see it as well normally, even if the position is not directly related to networking.

I always thought the CCNA - CCNA security made sense. Maybe some other posters could chime in but there was one gentlemen who had been in IT security for a long time and he mentioned learning the network side of things first.

Anyway HTH

LeviB

N2IT wrote: »

It seems like a lot of guys/gals on here get Security + to start off their security career. I think the CCNA is still a really good certification to get.... I always thought the CCNA - CCNA security made sense....

Yeah I'll look that up. I really want a Cisco cert but I'm not sure how easy that is to study from home. I know they have the virtual lab simulation software and I could always buy a router. I did really well in CISCO in highschool but that was years ago and it was just basic stuff you would do on a home router really, nothing advanced. Thanks

Dunkers404

The difficulty of getting any Cisco certification usually relies on your persistence and the resources you use and how much you can spend.. I've been self studying for the CCNA for a week now and I'm on Chapter 14 (Analyzing Existing Subnets)..

I have all of the resources necessary to pass the exam.. CBT Nuggets, Wendell Odom book and a personal home lab (looking at my lab it looks like a serious overkill). I intend on taking the exam in 3 weeks time (100-101).. Going to do 3 chapters per day now to get that way I can spend this week getting the Wendell Odom book finished.. Then I'll spend next week watching the CBT Nuggets and then in the final week (or few days) just spend doing the proper practice exams, in preparation for what I have coming

If you really want the cheapest and easiest route then just buy the books for CCENT/CCNA (100-101/200-101).. Then go download GNS3, that'll provide you with the necessary resources to pass the exam.. Even if you learn best visually (videos) then you can always check out INE, they have free videos which you can watch on Youtube. Furthermore I wouldn't recommend the composite route unless you have some serious knowledge.. Most people have the impression that less questions makes it easier, whereas it makes it much more difficult to pass and understand the questions on the exam.. The composite route arguably has some very serious fail rates compared to the 2 exam route. (I done my research), anyway good luck.. I have similar career ambitions.

Skip the CompTIA certs (unless it's CASP).. Yeah they provide you with a very good foundation knowledge, but if you already have a technical qualification from academia then I wouldn't even bother..