Security Field Questions/Opinions Needed

Hey all

I've been lurking on these forums for the past few years now and love all of the information that everyone gives about the industry. Just a little background here, I have my AS in IT from a local community college and I'm currently working full time doing help desk support for a financial company. Part of the benefits package at the company I work for is that they'll reimburse my tuition/training courses up to a decent amount. My main goal and real interest would be to eventually get a job working for the Government in security and/or forensics. A few questions for you guys if you don't mind...

1. Does ALL government work require a 4-year degree from an accredited university?

https://www.fbijobs.gov/CyberCareers/index.html

If you look at the link above (at least if you apply for an FBI position) they do require the 4-year degree. Is that a common theme for government work? Requiring a 4-year degree regardless of experience and/or what certs you have?

2. I'm hoping most of my credits from my AS degree would transfer over and I've narrowed down my online options (since I work full time it'd have to be online) to Capella and Colorado Tech University. One main reason I would decide to go with either of those two is they're both Centers of Academic Excellence with the NSA...

https://www.nsa.gov/ia/academic_outreach/nat_cae/institutions.shtml

To me this seems like a HUGE deal and would look really nice on the resume. I know WGU is big on this forum but they're not apart of that NSA list.

3. Would it just be better/cheaper for me to go the certification route and forget the 4-year degree all together. Get my Security+, Net+, etc. and then after a year or two start applying for government related security jobs.

4. If I did go the Capella or Colorado Tech route. If you look at Colorado Tech's online degrees. Can someone explain to me the main difference between the Computer Systems Security Option or the Information Assurance option? The rep that I spoke with really didn't have a clue.

Anyway I appreciate all of your insight folks. I know I asked a bunch of questions but this is honestly a huge decision that I'll need to make and just want to get some opinions. Thanks a bunch.

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Comments

Elegyx

Bump to the top.

overthetop

Elegyx wrote: »

Hey all

I've been lurking on these forums for the past few years now and love all of the information that everyone gives about the industry. Just a little background here, I have my AS in IT from a local community college and I'm currently working full time doing help desk support for a financial company. Part of the benefits package at the company I work for is that they'll reimburse my tuition/training courses up to a decent amount. My main goal and real interest would be to eventually get a job working for the Government in security and/or forensics. A few questions for you guys if you don't mind...

1. Does ALL government work require a 4-year degree from an accredited university?

https://www.fbijobs.gov/CyberCareers/index.html

If you look at the link above (at least if you apply for an FBI position) they do require the 4-year degree. Is that a common theme for government work? Requiring a 4-year degree regardless of experience and/or what certs you have?

2. I'm hoping most of my credits from my AS degree would transfer over and I've narrowed down my online options (since I work full time it'd have to be online) to Capella and Colorado Tech University. One main reason I would decide to go with either of those two is they're both Centers of Academic Excellence with the NSA...

https://www.nsa.gov/ia/academic_outreach/nat_cae/institutions.shtml

To me this seems like a HUGE deal and would look really nice on the resume. I know WGU is big on this forum but they're not apart of that NSA list.

3. Would it just be better/cheaper for me to go the certification route and forget the 4-year degree all together. Get my Security+, Net+, etc. and then after a year or two start applying for government related security jobs.

4. If I did go the Capella or Colorado Tech route. If you look at Colorado Tech's online degrees. Can someone explain to me the main difference between the Computer Systems Security Option or the Information Assurance option? The rep that I spoke with really didn't have a clue.

Anyway I appreciate all of your insight folks. I know I asked a bunch of questions but this is honestly a huge decision that I'll need to make and just want to get some opinions. Thanks a bunch.

ha ha ha ha ha that was funny. Did you expect them to be? Just playing. I will say that its a competitive world now a days. Applying for a job with Security+ and Network + is like saying you have on underwear and socks, everyone has on underwear and socks. How will your resume separate yourself from the other 50 people that applied? In my opinion a degree may separate you from some of those 50, depending on the job. You can't look at the FBI, NSA, and CIA and compare those standards to the standards of all government agencies/contractors, the standards they have are higher, which is understandable. You can work Tier 1 Help Desk and work for the Government at a Military Base, so working for the government is like saying you are a Doctor. I would look at the degree requirements and do a side by side, I wouldn't hold it against the rep for not having a clue about the degree, speak to someone in the IT Department. I wouldn't expect a financial aid lady or admissions individual or someone who isn't directly in the IA departmnet to know the ends and outs of the 40+ different degrees that the University offers and the differences between them, Come on have a heart...

smokeyalien

1 - Yes and no. The level of the work (ie the Grade of the job) is based on a certain experience/education number. This is hard set. Meet the requirements or apply to a lower grade and work your way up. And yes, it must be from an accredited university due to people buying there diplomas from "universities" in other countries (aka diploma mills).

2 - The NSA academic center of excellence was supposed to be a big selling point when it came out a few years ago, however many universities found this to be more trouble to maintain than it was worth and even on the government side this isn't looked at as a benefit on the resume. I wouldn't be concerned about this distinction. No one cares in my experience.

3 - Government jobs take knowing someone on the inside or having been prior government service (aka ex-military) in most cases to get in. The reason "cyber" jobs are so hot is because the pay is so much lower than the regular industry and they have trouble finding people willing to take the jobs when they can become contractors and make more money or work for normal industry and make more money and play with better toys and get less bureaucracy. Get the certs you need for the job path you want to take. The xxx+ certs will get you into a low end IT job like helpdesk or desktop, but don't expect them to get you into anything higher without extensive experience and much higher certs.

4 - I haven't looked at either school or attended their classes. I would suggest looking at the class listing and description and deciding what you want to learn and going form there. If their own reps can't differentiate though its not a good sign.

Cyberscum

Apply for anything you are interested in. I have received offers from NSA, FBI and DoD for positions that I thought I was underqualified for. They were unable to meet my salary needs so I declined FBI, NSA and work DoD now. I have seen people that were top notch and people who were right out of school no certs get hired by FBI,NSA,DOD,DIA. Make sure your application and resume is awesome and give it a go.

And from your list the FBI is the only one that requires a degree

msti

Bump....Does anyone have an opinion on Colorado Tech's Cyber Security program? It's the only cyber security program in my home state.

aderon

msti wrote: »

Bump....Does anyone have an opinion on Colorado Tech's Cyber Security program? It's the only cyber security program in my home state.

Unless you're set on a brick and mortar, you could always try an online program. As long as it's regionally accredited and you can learn from reading books and watching CBTs, then it could wind up cheaper and is not location dependent.

rep21

I work in IT Security and my managers don't really care so much about degree specifics (or certifications). For instance, I have a BS in Software development from WGU. Its more important to prove you are really interested in security and have an aptitude to learn fast. So in my opinion, Colorado Tech's program looks as good as any other. Do the one you can learn the most in and/or complete in the quickest amount of time (whichever of the two is more important to you).