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FCKGW posted:Going to be going to WGU in July for BSIT - Security track (the CCNA one). I have an AS in Computer Science that should transfer. If you're wanting to do infosec stuff, I'd say that's the way to go. There are a lot of certs in there that are pretty new/unknown so it's hard to say how much boost you'll get. You DO end up with two certs from Our Lord and Savior ISC2 so that's a pretty decent leg up. Unfortunately thee just aren't a lot of certs for infosec that are both good and respected. I'd say OSCP qualifies but that's fairly niche. Lots are respected but not actually good ( CISSP, CEH). The only place you really get that overlap is with SANS but they're absurdly expensive. I'm finishing the WGU masters right now and unless you have a compelling reason to get a master's, I wouldn't bother. I wanted one to be able to adjunct at the local CC, both otherwise it'd be a waste of time.
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May 5, 2017 10:47
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I finished my WGU BS in IT - Security early last year. Overall a good experience for anyone who likes to dedicate a ton of time to things rather than throttling progress in classes on a week by week basis. I started with an AA and multiple certs (CCNA, Sec+) within the track that I used as credit and I ended up finishing in 1 year for around $6k and no college debt. I haven't yet started on my Masters but I have discussed with some a few schools and haven't met any resistance to brick and mortal ones like Syracuse and Rutgers when discussing their online MS/MBA programs and WGU. No regrets. Diva Cupcake fucked around with this message at 12:18 on May 5, 2017 |
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May 5, 2017 12:16
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Diva Cupcake posted:You're in luck then. My endorsement was official literally the day after I got that same 3 week still processing request email. Soon. Got it today! Woo. Feels good to have that out of the way now.
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May 8, 2017 17:50
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To CCIE's or someone who has passed something with similar study requirements: What the hell did you do to remember all of this? I'm reaching the point where im 150 or so hours in, and the stuff that happened in hours 1-50 has almost fell out of my brain. I did a review test on the stuff I learnt at the start and missed half the questions. So far I've been doing INE video training, stopping the video every now and then to take some brief notes in word on what I think were key points and then resuming. I can't imagine how screwed my brain will be at 600 hours in. Also can anyone recommend some decent practice test engines or material for the CCIE R&S written? The review questions in the INE stuff are good, but once you've done them once then you know the answer so I'm struggling to measure when I'm actually ready. Ahdinko fucked around with this message at 17:56 on May 8, 2017 |
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May 8, 2017 17:54
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Not a CCIE myself, but I know a guy who took everything but the practical while in high school. The truth of it seems to be that you just study over and over and over until it sticks. That's the single hardest test you will ever take in your life; the study for it is going to be one of the highest single peaks of effort you are going to throw at a single Thing. This guy was reading over lunch, reading in other classes, reading walking down the hall. He walked around with the book in his left hand at all times, index and middle fingers on the page he was just interrupted from reading. This and his test environment was his life for a five-month semester. It is probably not alarming that 150 hours isn't enough for you  My advice is hardly expert, but I suspect that it is normal for CCIE test info to overwhelm our puny human brains. Keep at it!
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May 8, 2017 18:19
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Also a WGU grad that went in with an AAS. No regrets, good program.
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May 8, 2017 18:26
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quicksand posted:I did, I went through the BS IT Security degree. Graduated about a year and a half ago. PM incoming. Thanks for your time!
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May 8, 2017 23:01
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Any suggested reading or other prep for a MCSA? Are they comparable at all to the CompTIA exams? Any reason to choose Server 2012 or 2016 if you don't plan on getting both for an MCSE. Or just Windows 10? It's mostly to just trying to find something useful to do between job applications.
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May 9, 2017 00:36
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Ahdinko posted:To CCIE's or someone who has passed something with similar study requirements: Study, understand and apply it on a regular basis. I would consider going through some of INE's lab materials to help cement it in there and even do some science experiments on your own. I believe they offer some VIRL topologies on their github. If your day job involves networking start thinking of problems on a deeper level and maybe try to determine your network's behavior based on the configuration then go validate it with appropriate 'show' commands.
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May 9, 2017 02:48
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Did they fix the CCNA: Security? I signed up today to take it tomorrow because I have to get the NP in Security. Last time I took the NA exam the ASDM sim was broken. It's really dumb they won't let you take a NP exam if you already have another NP unless you have the pipeline NA as well.
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May 10, 2017 19:23
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psydude posted:Did they fix the CCNA: Security? I signed up today to take it tomorrow because I have to get the NP in Security. Last time I took the NA exam the ASDM sim was broken. I passed the CCNA Security earlier this year and didn't get any broken sims as far as I know, they seemed fairly straightforward. Some of the questions I got were really badly worded with a lot of grammatical errors however, so I would be ready for that.
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May 10, 2017 19:47
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BrainMeats posted:Any suggested reading or other prep for a MCSA? Are they comparable at all to the CompTIA exams? Any reason to choose Server 2012 or 2016 if you don't plan on getting both for an MCSE. Or just Windows 10? It's mostly to just trying to find something useful to do between job applications. 2016 has a huge amount of new things. It has few enough seriously major Big Awesome Things that small/medium outfits that aren't involved with web-facing stuff don't care about. 2012 is good to start, wait for there to be a halfway decent prep book and upgrade to 2016. They are not at all comparable to CompTIA, because CompTIA might actually have one correct answer in their list of options, whereas MS exams are usually all about picking the least wrong answer as envisioned by someone who unironically believes Windows Server can be used as a router or switch.
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May 10, 2017 20:42
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MJP posted:2016 has a huge amount of new things. It has few enough seriously major Big Awesome Things that small/medium outfits that aren't involved with web-facing stuff don't care about. 2012 is good to start, wait for there to be a halfway decent prep book and upgrade to 2016. There's a decent book coming out next month. I have the MS Exam Prep for 70-740 and it's... very lacking. https://www.amazon.com/MCSA-Windows-Server-Study-Guide/dp/1119359341
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May 10, 2017 21:23
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FCKGW posted:Going to be going to WGU in July for BSIT - Security track (the CCNA one). I have an AS in Computer Science that should transfer. Whuddup. Just started this on May 1. Only got 14 CUs from all my dicking around in community college :\ It's pretty straightforward and I dig it so far, but I am going to try to knock down something like 110CUs in less than year. Wheeeeeee.
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May 11, 2017 18:33
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Certs will push back hard on that schedule. There's just no way to do them in a few days. The in-house classes can be a total breeze, except the performance objectives. Takes a few days to do the work, then a few days to evaluate, 10 minutes to fix whatever they redline and another three days to approve. I was able to complete three easy classes in five days though so you can make up a ton of time.
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May 11, 2017 20:54
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Judge Schnoopy posted:Certs will push back hard on that schedule. There's just no way to do them in a few days. The in-house classes can be a total breeze, except the performance objectives. Takes a few days to do the work, then a few days to evaluate, 10 minutes to fix whatever they redline and another three days to approve. Well, I am old and of the certs in the program, I have had the CCNA, A+, Network+, & Linux+ before (>10 years ago, tho), so I am hoping I can breeze those pretty fast for the retakes. We'll see.
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May 12, 2017 19:56
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After spending my current work years on optical and backbone networking, I think it's time to jump back into the big leagues. My four year work anniversary just passed. Failed to recert my CCNA because I was too lazy to work on upgrading my CCIP to CCNP:SP. As I look back at all the notes I made and my efforts spent honing concepts, I'm feeling the second wind. I've had a nice year long break post loss, it's time get back on the saddle. Maybe now that VIRL isnt a piece of poo poo (is it still slow as poo poo?) and GNS3 2.0 out, I'm ready to push back to the top and finish my virt server. This is all just review. 1) Get CCNA back by end of the summer. 2). Get CCNP done by fall. 3) Get back on CCNP SP track by end of the year. Let's go champ!
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May 13, 2017 07:55
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Hey all, I come for some advice. I've got a background in institutional finance and I pretty sick and tired of it. I'm pivoting towards IT, hopeful to land in IT at a financial institution. I've got a slew of FINRA exams and a pretty good finance cert. I'm taking the first two A+ exams next week and was wondering if anyone had any advice. I'm probably going to be seeking some kind of entry level IT job. I'm currently in Phoenix, but honestly open to move anywhere, so I'm not going be only looking in the southwest. What kind of job prospects would I be looking at with only the A+ certs and what would be a good path/goal to try to pursue? Any goon in the phoenix area who would want to grab a drink/cigar and talk about it let me know.
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May 15, 2017 05:16
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Junkyard Poodle posted:Hey all, I come for some advice. I've got a background in institutional finance and I pretty sick and tired of it. I'm pivoting towards IT, hopeful to land in IT at a financial institution. I've got a slew of FINRA exams and a pretty good finance cert. I'm taking the first two A+ exams next week and was wondering if anyone had any advice. I'm probably going to be seeking some kind of entry level IT job. I'm currently in Phoenix, but honestly open to move anywhere, so I'm not going be only looking in the southwest. A+ is going to be looking for helpdesk work, yeah. I'm scoping out Phoenix as a place to move within the next year and the IT prospects there are definitely not lacking. As for path/goal, you will want to specialize after a bit in the industry but if you aren't sure what you want to do yet then just get your hands into as much as you can
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May 15, 2017 13:53
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With a finance background, you could do a lot better than entry level by learning SQL and applying around for BSA positions. Microsoft and Oracle both have starter certifications for SQL which nearly anyone should be able to complete.
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May 15, 2017 14:30
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What does a help desk job entail? I thought it was just sitting at a literal desk doing phone tech support all day, but I'm looking at some job postings and they talk about kneeling and lifting and stuff. I would go insanely bored just working a phone but if I could move around and fix stuff sometimes too I think that would be okay.
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May 15, 2017 19:47
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Kibbles n Shits posted:What does a help desk job entail? I thought it was just sitting at a literal desk doing phone tech support all day, but I'm looking at some job postings and they talk about kneeling and lifting and stuff. I would go insanely bored just working a phone but if I could move around and fix stuff sometimes too I think that would be okay. Someone's gotta go set up those computers and make sure all the wires are plugged in when your VP complains that his mouse isn't working.
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May 15, 2017 19:52
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Helpdesk is like saying "customer service". There are a million flavors. Usually you will be answering phones, remoting into PCs, doing basic server work (minor active directory stuff), and walking people through common problems. You will occasionally run into issues with cables or hardware that require you to walk around, crawl under desks, climb on poo poo, and visit the dustiest environments you can imagine. Every job will have a different balance of these things depending on the environment and need. Starting at an MSP, you will do all of it, all the time, in a neverending cycle. It's a great place to start because you experience a year of helpdesk in 3 months. It can also burn you out, so typically after a few years you bail to something more stable after learning what it is you like doing more than anything else.
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May 15, 2017 19:52
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Jeoh posted:There's a decent book coming out next month. I have the MS Exam Prep for 70-740 and it's... very lacking. And its counterpart for the MCSA 2016 upgrade (along with the other normal exams): https://www.amazon.com/Windows-Server-Complete-Study-Guide/dp/1119359147/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1494875792&sr=1-2&keywords=70-743
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May 15, 2017 20:18
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CheeseSpawn posted:Maybe now that VIRL isnt a piece of poo poo (is it still slow as poo poo?) What were you doing with it last time, and on what kind of hardware? I've had no problem using it for three XR hosts, a traffic generator and a switch but I had a lot of cores to work with. From what I know it's based on KVM so I would expect performance to be similar.
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May 16, 2017 00:20
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Junkyard Poodle posted:Hey all, I come for some advice. I've got a background in institutional finance and I pretty sick and tired of it. I'm pivoting towards IT, hopeful to land in IT at a financial institution. I've got a slew of FINRA exams and a pretty good finance cert. I'm taking the first two A+ exams next week and was wondering if anyone had any advice. I'm probably going to be seeking some kind of entry level IT job. I'm currently in Phoenix, but honestly open to move anywhere, so I'm not going be only looking in the southwest. What kind of pay are you looking for? If $20 an hour is okay, there's an opening at a job I worked at before that is IT in a sorta financial institution. You should get Platinum so people can PM you.
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May 16, 2017 04:04
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I am looking at a fairly entry level job of Support Tech, which lists experience with VOIP and SIP trunking. Are there levels of knowledge for SIP trunking? I am doubting it is CCNP for entry level, but the cisco book is 360 pages, so... Which cert would I want to be looking at, or even web videos, or virtual labs?
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May 16, 2017 12:12
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If it's truly entry level, knowledge of SIP trunking involves calling the vendor customer service line and telling them there's a problem. If they want you to log in to a voice gateway and run any show commands, it's not entry level and at minimum you'd want a ccna to be comfortable with the console.
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May 16, 2017 14:02
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Collateral posted:I am looking at a fairly entry level job of Support Tech, which lists experience with VOIP and SIP trunking. Are there levels of knowledge for SIP trunking? I am doubting it is CCNP for entry level, but the cisco book is 360 pages, so... CCNA Collaboration is what you want. But you have to get the CCENT before you can take the Collaboration exams.
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May 16, 2017 14:32
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So I guess Udemy is having a big sale on their courses and I'm thinking of getting the IT Networking Fundamentals and Network+ cert courses. For $20 total it seems hard to go wrong, right? Can anyone vouch for the usefulness of these courses?
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May 16, 2017 15:38
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Kibbles n Shits posted:So I guess Udemy is having a big sale on their courses and I'm thinking of getting the IT Networking Fundamentals and Network+ cert courses. For $20 total it seems hard to go wrong, right? Can anyone vouch for the usefulness of these courses? Can't be helpful as to the quality of the Udemy courses, but as far as I can tell they're basically always having a sale. You should never pay full price for a Udemy course. I feel like I'm starting to sound like a shill but Professor Messer's free Network+ videos got me through the material, along with a book, with no issues. You might look at them and see if they'll work for you before spending cash on the Udemy course, but yeah, $20's not much even if they're not great.
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May 16, 2017 15:41
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Free is good, and I was expecting to purchase some books anyways. I'll give it a look, thanks.
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May 16, 2017 15:44
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Kashuno posted:A+ is going to be looking for helpdesk work, yeah. I'm scoping out Phoenix as a place to move within the next year and the IT prospects there are definitely not lacking. As for path/goal, you will want to specialize after a bit in the industry but if you aren't sure what you want to do yet then just get your hands into as much as you can Thank you MrKatharsis posted:With a finance background, you could do a lot better than entry level by learning SQL and applying around for BSA positions. Microsoft and Oracle both have starter certifications for SQL which nearly anyone should be able to complete. I used a relational database (4d) at a fund company I worked at for a while ago. A SQL cert is probably something I should really look into. What is a BSA position? Dr. Arbitrary posted:What kind of pay are you looking for? I'll pay the lowtax tonight and pm you Junkyard Poodle fucked around with this message at 17:41 on May 16, 2017 |
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May 16, 2017 17:36
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A BSA is a business systems analyst, and they're the link between the business users and the back end developers. It can be a spring board into more advanced administration or development if you're motivated and a good self teacher.
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May 16, 2017 20:58
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I'm one month into my first IT job doing desktop support, and I just finished the Security+ through WGU. Everything's going awesome, except I can't decide what path to go down now. One program takes me through the CCNA and CCNA-Security, and the other through the MCSA Server 2012. Everyone says to just pick the one that is more interesting to me but I don't know yet because I haven't gotten deep enough into either side yet to figure that out. Honestly it seems like I might want to do both eventually, so maybe the question is which one is a better idea for someone in my position?
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May 16, 2017 23:11
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Ccna, though I'm biased towards networking myself. In the job market I think networking knowledge gets you further, because any system admin has Microsoft experience.
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May 16, 2017 23:53
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Someone who understands Microsoft environments poorly to moderately average is a dime a dozen. Someone who has the same in networking is not.
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May 17, 2017 00:01
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Honestly? Do both. But start with Microsoft. e: For what it's worth, I'll leave this here, but I'm wrong. And no that has nothing to do with peer pressure in that the other 4 people have said Cisco. I'm just wrong when I'm wrong. Specifically, the MCSA has changed a lot in the last 10 years. It's no longer the all purpose intro to being a sys admin. I'm still operating from a mid 2000s mindset with Microsoft certs where getting an MCSA or an MCSE was like learning half of everything you'd ever need to know. That's not true anymore. MC Fruit Stripe fucked around with this message at 12:12 on May 17, 2017 |
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May 17, 2017 01:48
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Hot drat! posted:I'm one month into my first IT job doing desktop support, and I just finished the Security+ through WGU. Everything's going awesome, except I can't decide what path to go down now. One program takes me through the CCNA and CCNA-Security, and the other through the MCSA Server 2012. I made this decision like 15 years ago, and if I had to do it over I'd choose networking. backstory: 15 years ago I'm at a community college, time to pick the CCNA track or MCSE track. I go to a job search engine, and search for 'CCNA', only a couple of jobs came back. I searched 'MCSE' and like 40 job results popped up. I chose the MCSE track. I don't regret it, I enjoy working with the Microsoft stack, and I'm really good at it. Career wise though, the CCNA path would have been WAYYY more lucrative. I"d be making probably 30%-50% more money right now with equivalent networking experience as to what I have with the Microsoft stack. Probably dealing with less bullshit too.
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May 17, 2017 05:05
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I think that the knowledge you acquire getting a CCNA is a lot more universal than knowing the exact flags for the powershell command to add a secondary DNS server to a zone or whatever. Everything you ever touch will be connected to a network, understanding how networks work will aide you tremendously in troubleshooting even if you go down the server admin path.
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