Career Advice

hadioz2004hadioz2004 Registered Users Posts: 2 ■□□□□□□□□□
Hello Guys,

it's my first post here on this great forum i've been having issue figuring out my certifications and its quite tricky for me to figure it out so let me begin and please bear with me.

I have Comptia A+ and Security + CCNA Routing and Switching my first question:

Q1. Are these certifications enough to apply for a IT Help Desk?

Q2. I actually want to be a security expert/engineer so is it possible to work from the beginning of my career path as a security job without becoming a Help Desk? If yes do i need MCSA server 2012?

Q3. Lets say we have to find a entry level job It Help desk do i still need MCSA server 2012 to become a security Expert or it's just possible to take CCNA Security + CEHv8+ CCNP Security and become a Security Engineer would i need also CCNP Routing and switching to cover for the loss of MCSA 2012 to become a security Engineer?

Q4. Do i need to take RHCSA for Security position?

Note: i hate MCSA curiculumn didnt like it all RHCSA is ok with me thank in advance.:)

Comments

  • stryder144stryder144 Member Posts: 1,684 ■■■■■■■■□□
    Depending on where you live and what the market expects, here are a few answers:

    1. Those certs are usually good enough for a help desk position.

    2. You could start in the SOC but a lot of them seem to want some sort of Active Directory knowledge. If you don't possess experience with Windows Server 2008/2012, then it would probably be a wise move to get the MCSA: Windows Server 2008/2012.

    3. The certs you list should be sufficient but let's take a second to think about something. Why wouldn't you get the CCNP R&S, too? The level of knowledge necessary to pass that would likely be the level of knowledge that a company is looking for when hiring someone with the CCNP Security cert. Personally, I wouldn't want the security knowledge level without also attaining the R&S knowledge level, regardless of CCNA/CCNP/CCIE. Many companies that I've talked to are looking for people who can do more than one thing, so you might be troubleshooting issues with routers and switches one day and implementing firewall solutions the next.

    4. The answer to this question is very company specific. For instance, if you are trying to get a job at a company that only has Windows servers, having the RHCSA wouldn't be as helpful.

    My advice to you is that if security is your goal and the majority of the jobs out there require an MCSA, I'd just look at it as a necessary evil, buckle down, study up, and knockout the certification.

    Cheers and welcome to the forum!
    The easiest thing to be in the world is you. The most difficult thing to be is what other people want you to be. Don't let them put you in that position. ~ Leo Buscaglia

    Connect With Me || My Blog Site || Follow Me
  • JDMurrayJDMurray Admin Posts: 13,023 Admin
    What experience you need fir a job depends entirely on the organization looking to hire you. An organization whose networks runs on mostly Juniper equipment won't be interested in only lots of Cisco experience. A UNIX shop won't care too much about Activity Directory expertise. A purely Microsoft shop likely won't be impressed by all the RH certs.

    For security work it's pretty much the same. You go heavy on the network security cert and you won't find yourself getting hired for Web or database security. You deep dive into secure coding or Malware reverse engineering and you won't have much of a career potential in IT auditing or risk management.

    The bottom line is you need to decide what areas of IT security interest you the most and do the certifications for those technologies. If you plan on securing Microsoft networks then you need the Windows certs. If you have a lot of devices that use Linux then those certs are important too. Cisco, Juniper, VMware, Oracle, etc.

    You can't well secure (or break) something unless you know how it is designed, implemented, and configured. You just need to decided what you are interested in securing (or breaking) and go from there.
  • overthetopoverthetop Banned Posts: 61 ■■□□□□□□□□
    I think that the certs you currently have will get you an interview, if your resume is up to par. I would work at a help desk for at the very least a good solid year to understand the fundamentals of troubleshooting and a network. Granted Help Desks aren't all the same. If you are behind a phone 95% of the day and have a book in front of you and have to escalate the call if not resolved in 5 minutes more/less I wouldn't say you would get a extremely large degree of "experience". Other than that do help desk for a year or so get security related certifications in regards to the future job you desire and move up. If the certification isn't related to the job or the next job I wouldn't waste my time personally studying for it.. that's just me.
Sign In or Register to comment.