Mainevent_7
Pro
how many years of security experience do you have? Do you think I should skip the sscp and just take the CEH?
IT Certifications and Careers (Official Discussion Thread)
- Thread starter fendi_mane
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how many years of security experience do you have? Do you think I should skip the sscp and just take the CEH?
Ice_MF_Mike
Pro
You dont need any per se. ANd just getting a cert doesnt move you up.
Certs gets you through HR screens. Thats it. After that, you need to know your shyt and prove your worth and experience.
Having said that, if you get a higher cert usually the lower ones wont matter. If you have an MCSE, having an A+ as well wont make a bit of difference.
I have no problem learning what's needed just simply don't want to waste time if HR just overlooks my application. I'm guessing MCSE is another low level cert? Got more wisdom to share?
MCSE Is an experienced level cert. A MCSE with no experience looks suspect.
Ice_MF_Mike
Pro
Some HR departments will overlook it and some wont. Again it all depends on where you live and how the job market is. Your best bet is to look at job descriptions for the jobs you want. See what they are looking for. Then, go get what they are looking for. Once you got like at least 30% of that, apply. If you can get to the interview you can talk your way into the job.
And if you have no problem learning whats needed, start doing that. On your own time.
I've got about 5 years IT Security experience. And I wouldn't take the SSCP simply because I hardly see any company's asking for it. The CEH is probably easier to pass and is more well known but does have a bad reputation. Pentesting is mandated annually for lots of Industries so I don't see demand going down any time soon.
Mainevent_7
Pro
My only issue is, I only have 1 year of security experience and they CEH requires 2 years unless you take their boot camp which I'm not trying to pay for. I heard from 2 people that the CEH was super easy to pass. What was actually covered in the book camp?
Ice_MF_Mike
Pro
If you dont have have the experience yet, and dont have say a CCNA those base certs might be worth your time. That stuff will help you when studying security topics.
Mainevent_7
Pro
I have my security+ already and I know networking but my current job really doesn't require it so I haven't had any motivation to take it.
I've never been drug tested.
Ice_MF_Mike
Pro
but do you have your CCNA? That probably will help you more right now then CEH. There arent a ton of entry level security jobs. But there are a ton of jobs asking for CCNA that you could learn some security stuff on.
Mainevent_7
Pro
No I don't. I'm kind of in a weird spot because I have a security analyst job right now doing GRC, SSP, risk assessment, and vulnerability assessment. I'm trying to get a more technical role but not trying to take a drop in pay to do so.
From an employer's perspective, certifications are used to weed out applicants, qualify for vendor discounts, establish knowledge baselines, and meet customer contract requirements. Knowing all of this, you can possibly use this to leverage your way to a job and/or higher salary. If a company is looking for a certain certified employee, it is mostly likely going to be because of one the reasons mentioned above. That is it. No hiring manager is going to be impressed with your certification in and of itself. It is just a checklist item. How it affects your chance of being hired or your salary depends on their ease or difficulty in finding applicants with that certification, or their desire for a particular skill set. Experience really super cedes all. Interviewers spend far more time going over your experiences than what certifications you have. Think of certs in a similar vain as a degree.
As far as interviewing, being able to speak the language of the profession impresses far more than what test you took. If you are also able to convey that you've seen it and done it before, then the job is in the bag. Use certs as a springboard to enhance your experience or knowledge. At the end of the day customers/employers just want you to hold their hand and let them know everything is going to be okay.
Now, if you're trying to get your first job than my advice would be to try to relate whatever knowledge or work/life experience you have to that job (visit forums/speak to people in the profession). Show that it won't take a year and forever for you to get up to speed. It may not be what you want to hear, but that's just how it is.
A lot times it's the "little things" that impresses employers. Talk about SLAs, device info (cost/bugs/upgrades/common difficulties), environments (data center, enterprise, service provider, etc), common troubleshooting techniques, industry trends, etc. Being able to effortlessly discuss the "little things" IMO is what really gives experienced workers an edge. Your mouthpiece is your biggest asset. It's the real moneymaker. Everything else is mostly fuel.
I've also noticed that having dealt with Open Source software, knowing the software and exposure to it is important.
I have a CCNA which expired lol but I have dealt with a lot of Linux. I was going to get a RHCSA/RHCE (literally missed my RHCSA by 14 points and never re took it!) but a lot of the stuff I touch is Ubuntu/SuSE at the moment and I personally use a lot of ArchLinux myself.
With that said it would be nice to have certain certifications, outside of the Saltstack one I have (configuration management) to get more looks.
The biggest thing that is hurting me now is that I haven't been in development roles. I interviewed with IBM and they told me they want someone with more development experience for the role, but the guy I talked to simply talked to me about systems and OpenStack which I worked with for years.
It kind of pissed me off because it was a time waster knowing what they want. She is going to refer me to an Operations role though but I've heard bad things about IBM.
Another thing is that I don't have a degree and that may or may not be a deal breaker for some positions. I have some college at a really good university but stress/depression got the better of me at the time.
Honestly though given my experience I have had Facebook, Google, and LinkedIn contact me for high roles. When I left the web hosting company I was at I was making 70K in Texas. I was making six figures in my last role. The roles I look at I say that figure and they are cool with it.
I know with some roles with certain companies, and especially dealing with Government hardware they require a Degree. I do see some of my white counterparts with fukking history / polysci / and other Liberal Arts degrees though and they get these lucrative roles by working through the ranks. Always as a black person you have to do more.
With that said though I am in my early 30s and been fukking with Linux since I was a teenager so I'm comfortable with my Operating System knowledge and I'm fortunate enough to get the exposure I have had thus far. Once I get established in my next role though I AM going back to school for Data Science.
I'm only two weeks into my job search though and things look promising enough that Indeed is flying me out next week for a Site Reliability Engineer role. Also some other companies are talking to me in the first stage of things. I just hate the process.
I have a CCNA which expired lol but I have dealt with a lot of Linux. I was going to get a RHCSA/RHCE (literally missed my RHCSA by 14 points and never re took it!) but a lot of the stuff I touch is Ubuntu/SuSE at the moment and I personally use a lot of ArchLinux myself.
With that said it would be nice to have certain certifications, outside of the Saltstack one I have (configuration management) to get more looks.
The biggest thing that is hurting me now is that I haven't been in development roles. I interviewed with IBM and they told me they want someone with more development experience for the role, but the guy I talked to simply talked to me about systems and OpenStack which I worked with for years.
It kind of pissed me off because it was a time waster knowing what they want. She is going to refer me to an Operations role though but I've heard bad things about IBM.Another thing is that I don't have a degree and that may or may not be a deal breaker for some positions. I have some college at a really good university but stress/depression got the better of me at the time.
Honestly though given my experience I have had Facebook, Google, and LinkedIn contact me for high roles. When I left the web hosting company I was at I was making 70K in Texas. I was making six figures in my last role. The roles I look at I say that figure and they are cool with it.
I know with some roles with certain companies, and especially dealing with Government hardware they require a Degree. I do see some of my white counterparts with fukking history / polysci / and other Liberal Arts degrees though and they get these lucrative roles by working through the ranks.
Always as a black person you have to do more.With that said though I am in my early 30s and been fukking with Linux since I was a teenager so I'm comfortable with my Operating System knowledge and I'm fortunate enough to get the exposure I have had thus far. Once I get established in my next role though I AM going back to school for Data Science.
I'm only two weeks into my job search though and things look promising enough that Indeed is flying me out next week for a Site Reliability Engineer role. Also some other companies are talking to me in the first stage of things. I just hate the process.
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