Black man goes from 37k to 6 figures 6 certs in two years

[Originalman]

Got into IT through the Military. Best decision I ever made

God bless this breh

For brehs interested in the path to IT through the Military, send me a message. This is a field black men can dominate EASILY if we just have the knowledge early on. If you are trapped working a shytty dead end job, or if you have a degree you ain't using with tens of thousands in debt and fear what the future holds, or if you arent where you want to be in life and want to make that career change to IT but you're too broke or undisciplined...send me a dm

^ Yall better listen to this man and believe every word he says....IT/Cyber security ain't going no where in military, government and DoD work. shyt is national security and foreign entities are always trying to steal government secrets.

As I mentioned on here I worked for a well known DoD company years ago and someone hacked into the network and stole tons of highly classified documents from their system in a security breach.

shyt had to be reported all the way to the department of defense.

Anyway they tracked where the security breach / hackers came from and the traced it back to China.

 

[TheAnointedOne]

What community is he referring to?

PG County specifically Rosaryville, MD near Upper Marlboro

Yeah not sure why he left out that information it's kinda important. Many people believe that if you're a successful black person your only choices to live are in the hood or a rich white neighborhood where you're dealing with racist neighbors 24/7. Some people aren't aware that there are rich black neighborhoods you can live in.

 

[StretfordRed]

I haven’t read this thread completely, but I have a similar story, but I’m won’t explain it all

I started in IT in 2009, had no certs until 2013 and as of 2020 I’m going for my 7th.

I am 6 figures in $ and almost in £ (live in the U.K.). But my 6 cents essentially cost and average of $6000 as they’re SANS certs. Added onto this I am BSc and MSc too.

I’ve worked at the largest banks in the US and UK securing their networks and now currently roaming until I find something more specific to me.

One thing to mention, do not think that getting a certificate is the be-all and end-all. Everyone is getting a cert. I’ve rejected people who have more certs than me when in interviews because they’re just “paper certs”. You need to know your subject and what you have learnt and apply it for years before you can start climbing the ladder and earning proper cash. I have about 30 tabs open between 2 devices with articles or PDFs about cyber security topics e.g. process injection, dead box forensics, web exploits, etc. - the learning NEVER stops.

A small piece of advice, in an interview they will, 8/10 times ask you: what is the latest threat/exploit/report you know about and tell us. It’s literally to find out if you are keeping up to date with things.

If you’re wanting to get into IT and cyber. Build a PC, put VMware into it and build a network and go from there. You’ll be found out in an interview or in the first week of a new job otherwise.

 

[Bushmaster69]

U hit 6?

Yeah man. I worked hard to start pulling in that type of money. Changed careers, invested in real estate and index stocks.

 

[buzzkill]

Any brehs want to get into Web Development DM me me and my mentor are starting a mentorship program pretty soon

Just do your research first and make sure you really want to learn programming because you're going to have to dedicate a lot of time to learning... the learning curve is steep but once u get to the promised land

 

[patscorpio]

As a breh in IT with certs I would still definitely tell young ppl to get the four year. Certs expire and need to be renewed degrees dont. The networks you build in college are worth the price a lot of the times. My advice knock out electives and prerequisites at a community then transfer to a four year for the degree. If they can get scholarships or cheap tuition then go straight to the four year.

This..honestly sometimes I feel I'm the minority because I have the degrees rather than the certs. But my degrees do open those doors though

 

[JLova]

I been to Montreal and been to their IT facilities. I can't lie, I loved Montreal but their IT diversity ain't it. It's better in America but it depends where you work. The lower the overall pay, the more Blacks you see. I seen in when I was in the non-profit world.

Bruh IT is good to Indians, Chinese, Persians.....white folk for higher positions. That's about it. You already know black are getting no chances in this field. Makes you wonder if you're better off not including your photo in your linked in profile if you're a breh. That shyt is sad.

 

[JLova]

This..honestly sometimes I feel I'm the minority because I have the degrees rather than the certs. But my degrees do open those doors though

You're not moving up into management with CERTs. All Certs to is help you get your foot in the door for specialized shyt. You need the Cert and experience. With the degree you are already ahead. It shortens the amount of time you need to grind. You can leap frog the Cert cats. Would always encourage going for the degree. It provides a much higher ceiling and floor.

 

[Carlton Banks]

You're not moving up into management with CERTs. All Certs to is help you get your foot in the door for specialized shyt. You need the Cert and experience. With the degree you are already ahead. It shortens the amount of time you need to grind. You can leap frog the Cert cats. Would always encourage going for the degree. It provides a much higher ceiling and floor.

That's why imo programming and development is way better. Most employers base their assessment on you by your portfolio and projects (and experience of course).

 

[Coli Bot]

Yup. Black America is capable of so much, yet all we do is use excuses saying the system is against us

Truth. Not low quality posting at all.

 

[num123]

You're not moving up into management with CERTs. All Certs to is help you get your foot in the door for specialized shyt. You need the Cert and experience. With the degree you are already ahead. It shortens the amount of time you need to grind. You can leap frog the Cert cats. Would always encourage going for the degree. It provides a much higher ceiling and floor.

I do not know about most companies but if you are an experienced engineer you should be making close if not more than a manager. One of the reasons i was sought out to be converted from a contractor an employee at my current company was that me and a few others we making 30k+ over our senior manager, not even our direct manager. Maybe some of you guys like management but i do not and most of the engineers i have worked with are the same way. It is way easier for me to work on the actual technologies than having your whole day going from meeting to meeting. Plus i am more safe than management since i actually do the work that is needed on the project, and it is hard to find good people. Also if you have a good setup with your current work (and if your job allows it, especially if you are a contractor) you can easily work two or more jobs at the same time

 

[JLova]

That's why imo programming and development is way better. Most employers base their assessment on you by your portfolio and projects (and experience of course).

Yep. Also there's such a need for developers it's not even funny. You can write your own ticket.

 

[havoc]

I'm kinda jealous of Cert Gang. All that money and cheap school, and I bet work be cruise control. I have no interest in sitting behind a computer screen, I'm going back to school for Construction Management and thinking about a minors in Business

Salute ...Stick with your trade and you will you prosper.

I'm happy to see brothers in here are being constructive. I wish you all great success.

 

[Ahadi]

You're just getting the success stories. They're not worthless, but they're not necessarily a ticket to economic freedom/independence/whatever either.

The typical cert chaser is stuck in help desk (which may be fine depending on one's ambition). Certs are good if you want a stable $30-45K job.

I tried taking the typical shortcut approach and I got the typical results. Although results vary, the best bet to get into IT is through the long, boring process of getting a degree.

Yeah throughout reading, you can’t exactly skip steps with just certs. It may be possible, but you’ll have to get a degree at the end of the day. Especially if you’re a black man.

 

[Ahadi]

Do you need the same formula to become a developer?