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Famethrowa posted:That said, it has been a long path. My career change took 4 years, a lot of work, and determination. It seems to be paying off with an upcoming Internship, but it took a lot of grinding. Wouldn't change it for the world, it's my biggest accomplishment in life, but if you are working full-time it can be brutal. Brutal is the correct word. I'm just finishing an associates and honestly regret it; my certs got me credit for 8 classes and I mostly had to do math to finish the degree. Math that I had taken in high school and since forgotten because I hadn't used it in 18 years. I then had a raise cut because I didn't get Watchguard certed in time; I couldn't handle work, school, certs, and concussion recovery all at once. Granted, I have 3 days left at this job, but if I could redo this last semester I would've dropped out and focused on certs. Only reason I kept going is because tuition was free on the Futures for Frontliners scholarship.
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Apr 27, 2022 15:59
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Oyster posted:Brutal is the correct word. I'm just finishing an associates and honestly regret it; my certs got me credit for 8 classes and I mostly had to do math to finish the degree. Math that I had taken in high school and since forgotten because I hadn't used it in 18 years. I then had a raise cut because I didn't get Watchguard certed in time; I couldn't handle work, school, certs, and concussion recovery all at once. Granted, I have 3 days left at this job, but if I could redo this last semester I would've dropped out and focused on certs. Only reason I kept going is because tuition was free on the Futures for Frontliners scholarship. I will fully cop to being an insane person, and have had no life for 4 years. If I had the GI Bill to cover my rent, I would absolutely have quit my fulltime.
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Apr 27, 2022 16:22
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Devorum posted:Question: is going to school for IT worth it? I have the GI Bill burning a hole in my pocket, and am looking for a career change. Would I go for a CompSci degree, or is there something more suitable? Your calculus is going to be different, since you have the money already, but as a Network Engineer I can say that most of the Networks folks I've worked with have not had related degrees; most of us changed careers and got CCNAs, then other certs as needed. I was going to be a law student, then decided to get my CCNA instead of killing myself trying to get a good LSAT so I could drop six figures of student loans on myself. I know a lot of folks here have reported good outcomes from WGU, they have a lot of IT related degrees, most of which include picking up certifications as well. Their Network Operations B.S. for instance includes a CCNA, some AWS certs, and a mess of CompTIA. A CCNA and a willingness to work odd hours will find you a job in many data centers. A CCNA and a willingness to get cleared again will also get you a job with ease; the feel I get is the cleared job market is so tight right now that companies are a lot more willing to sponsor, especially if it's someone who was cleared before and just lapsed due to time.
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Apr 29, 2022 01:11
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Jedi425 posted:
I've seen WGU, but was wary of it being just an online diploma mill scam. Good to hear people are actually succeeding with their degrees. I think they only offer classes to people stateside, though, and I'm currently overseas.
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Apr 29, 2022 04:19
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Devorum posted:I've seen WGU, but was wary of it being just an online diploma mill scam. Good to hear people are actually succeeding with their degrees. I think they only offer classes to people stateside, though, and I'm currently overseas. They're very well regarded in SH/SC, as far as I can tell.
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Apr 29, 2022 04:32
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Devorum posted:Question: is going to school for IT worth it? I have the GI Bill burning a hole in my pocket, and am looking for a career change. Would I go for a CompSci degree, or is there something more suitable? I went to community college to get my CCNA. Not even a degree program just a cert program. It literally changed my life.
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Apr 29, 2022 04:51
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New job is heavy on Fortinet. I've never touched em, most of my experience has been Watchguard and Meraki. Is NSE's training offerings worth anything? $200 is a bit to drop on an on-demand lab, and I'm familiar with firewall general principals. Charliegrs posted:I went to community college to get my CCNA. Not even a degree program just a cert program. It literally changed my life. I got the CCNA and then went to community college, which is the opposite order I should've. I would recommend it if you don't have the certs.
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May 3, 2022 17:58
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Oyster posted:New job is heavy on Fortinet. I've never touched em, most of my experience has been Watchguard and Meraki. I have no idea regarding the training but you can get a free Fortinet VM trial from them just for registering (doesn't require approval like Palo Alto) if you want to at least familiarize yourself with the interface.
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May 3, 2022 18:07
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If the job is Fortinet heavy then presumably you have some sort of partner status, so can you get an NFR unit to play with? I picked up the basics fairly quickly by just prodding one. If you're the end user and buy through a VAR then see what they can offer you. The training material has no incremental costs for Fortinet once they've produced it so they should be able to throw something your way to sweeten a service renewal.
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May 3, 2022 19:34
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Thanks Ants posted:If the job is Fortinet heavy then presumably you have some sort of partner status, so can you get an NFR unit to play with? I picked up the basics fairly quickly by just prodding one. Likely won't be getting any physical access to anything, the office is 1,227 miles away. I'll push for whatever partner status we have; I'm just starting my 3rd day and have access to the on-call system but that's about it. No ticketing system, no documentation. It's been a fun time of a lot of SA reading and googling documentation of systems I see mentioned on Teams. Edit: just needed to find the right people to talk to. There is an NFR I can get access to. Thanks for the recommendation! Double Edit: lol I was just told I'd be working on Palo Alto's more than anything and to pursue the PCNSE. 90% of my experience has been Watchguard and Meraki with a smattering of Untangle, SonicWall, and ASA, so pivoting from Fortinet studying to Palo Alto shouldn't be a big deal. Oyster fucked around with this message at 19:49 on May 4, 2022 |
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May 4, 2022 13:47
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I have an AWS associate exam coupon that i'm not going to use and it's expiring soon( Jun 3), send me a pm if you want it. You can use it now to schedule up to a year in advance.
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May 5, 2022 08:23
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SlowBloke posted:I have an AWS associate exam coupon that i'm not going to use and it's expiring soon( Jun 3), send me a pm if you want it. You can use it now to schedule up to a year in advance. sent you a PM
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May 5, 2022 14:40
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calusari posted:sent you a PM Code sent, good luck!
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May 5, 2022 16:44
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Devorum posted:I've seen WGU, but was wary of it being just an online diploma mill scam. Good to hear people are actually succeeding with their degrees. I think they only offer classes to people stateside, though, and I'm currently overseas. The nice thing about WGU is that they are a fully accredited University, which means they have to meet the requirements set by the NWCCU. I can't recall the frequency of review, but they are audited every few years to maintain their accreditation status. My father was on the original accreditation board and approved of the school for what its worth. Send them an email and see what they say, you are most likely not the first in this situation.
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May 5, 2022 21:29
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SlowBloke posted:Code sent, good luck! Thanks so much!
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May 6, 2022 14:14
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passed az-900, studying for az-104 now, there is a lot of poo poo covered here currently using this youtube to learn an overview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10PbGbTUSAg will complement it with this youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOod_VNgdJk and will also do all the MS github labs https://microsoftlearning.github.io/AZ-104-MicrosoftAzureAdministrator/ anyone else do anything different? I have an acloudguru account through work but it looks like a lot of people hate it for 104. 900 was stupid easy, passed it after 3 days of study
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May 6, 2022 21:25
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The ESI stuff mentioned upthread has real practice exams that are quite helpful
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May 7, 2022 00:52
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Is there an Oracle DBA certification that is worth looking at, if I want to get my foot in the door in the DBA world? I see Oracle popping up quite a bit in govt job descriptions. My limited experience has been in SQL Server.
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May 12, 2022 01:00
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I passed my SY0-601 yesterday. I have A+ and S+ now. Onward to AWS. 
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May 12, 2022 16:27
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freezingprocess posted:I passed my SY0-601 yesterday. Grats! Just remember to pay the lazy tax of $350 every three years to keep them active (if you care about that). Are they seriously charging $380 for the exam now? The 301 was under $300 IIRC. Cyks fucked around with this message at 16:41 on May 12, 2022 |
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May 12, 2022 16:32
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freezingprocess posted:I passed my SY0-601 yesterday. I just did a module in Amazon's Open World Role Playing AWS Pathway and it's a trip. imgur gallery
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May 12, 2022 16:39
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Cyks posted:Grats! I bought the retake bundle for $550  I passed on the first try.
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May 12, 2022 16:56
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freezingprocess posted:I passed my SY0-601 yesterday. Congrats! I found the SY0-601 to be relatively difficult coming from a data background, and doing a crappy job of preparing. KirbyKhan posted:I just did a module in Amazon's Open World Role Playing AWS Pathway and it's a trip. Maybe that's how Amazon built New World. 
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May 12, 2022 20:47
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Slumpy posted:passed az-900, studying for az-104 now, there is a lot of poo poo covered here Thanks for this. I had just passed the az-900 and was looking at the az-104 next.
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May 13, 2022 03:11
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Cyks posted:Grats! I renewed my Sec+ last year and it was only $200 for the continuing education option. Read a couple chapters of new material and take unlimited tests on that material only, not the full test.
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May 13, 2022 04:44
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FCKGW posted:I renewed my Sec+ last year and it was only $200 for the continuing education option. Read a couple chapters of new material and take unlimited tests on that material only, not the full test. You also have to pay a $50 a year "maintenance" fee or whatever they call it before your 3 years is up, unless they just changed that in the last two years. edit- the fee isn't required if you use the certmaster option... wish I would have noticed that before paying the fee the last (two?) times. Cool. Cyks fucked around with this message at 13:50 on May 13, 2022 |
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May 13, 2022 13:44
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Hughmoris posted:Is there an Oracle DBA certification that is worth looking at, if I want to get my foot in the door in the DBA world? I see Oracle popping up quite a bit in govt job descriptions. They’re all multiple choice exams with plenty of gotcha questions, so in my opinion, no. Also the instructional materials are not that great, like worse than Microsoft. The good news is that in general there are a lot more SQL Server DBA jobs out there than Oracle DBA jobs, though the government and banks do love them some Oracle.
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May 13, 2022 14:06
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Is there a current recommendation for a ccna course on Udemy or the like? I probably don't need one, but it never hurts to be sure before taking the test.
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May 16, 2022 20:55
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Dandywalken posted:is the AWS practitioner cert like Cisco A+ tier? Should it be skipped for Solutions Architect? Sorry for this late reply if you have already decided your path.. I personally feel that practitioner is worth it for the coupon to take an associate exam. In this case, you would get CP + SAA (or SOA/CDA) for 25 USD more than taking the SAA exam standalone. You could study for the SAA and then schedule the CP. Pass it, grab the coupon and immediately schedule for SAA and pass that as well. Of course, professionally it isn't very useful but for the price to slap onto your CV, it isn't bad at all. FCKGW posted:I renewed my Sec+ last year and it was only $200 for the continuing education option. Read a couple chapters of new material and take unlimited tests on that material only, not the full test. I did this too! It renewed my lower level certs as well. Mostly satisfied with not needing to take another exam.
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May 17, 2022 03:36
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the spyder posted:The nice thing about WGU is that they are a fully accredited University, which means they have to meet the requirements set by the NWCCU. I can't recall the frequency of review, but they are audited every few years to maintain their accreditation status. My father was on the original accreditation board and approved of the school for what its worth. I'm probably going to go this route, if I can. They require either work experience or proof of certification to start the program, so I guess I'll have to get A+ or ITF+ first.
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May 17, 2022 06:19
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Devorum posted:I'm probably going to go this route, if I can. They require either work experience or proof of certification to start the program, so I guess I'll have to get A+ or ITF+ first. A+ is too expensive ($250 for each test and requires both 220-1001 and 220-1002) and covers a lot of material to be worth it paying out of pocket. Just go with the AZ-900 using the following: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPEsD6n9A_I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQp1YkB2Tgs https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/learn/paths/az-900-describe-cloud-concepts/ You'll need to be accepted by the 15h to start WGU on the following first of the month, so you'll have a solid four weeks to knock it out and it really shouldn't take you more than one or two at max, and as a bonus it's only $99. I feel like a WGU shill at this point but I regret not learning about them until after I got a bachelors at a state college where I'm still $50k in debt. My college program was terrible but even if it wasn't I really can't see there ever being a justification for a traditional four year program over WGU for an IT centric degree as long as you accelerate and finish around two, even with the difference in MHA between on campus and exclusively online. I'm only rated 60% Post-9/11 GI Bill but it works out to breaking even if I factor in the monthly housing allowance and I'm tempted to burn my remaining 18 months on the cloud computing B.S.
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May 17, 2022 12:49
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ilkhan posted:Is there a current recommendation for a ccna course on Udemy or the like? I probably don't need one, but it never hurts to be sure before taking the test. Years and years ago I used some videos from Chris Bryant on Udemy that I found helpful. Very sparse and to the point which was helpful for me at least.
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May 17, 2022 14:21
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Cyks posted:
Any reason you wouldn't do a master's degree through WGU? I'm also going through them on the GI Bill, starting with tons of credits on the network operations BS.
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May 17, 2022 15:02
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Hotel Kpro posted:Any reason you wouldn't do a master's degree through WGU? I'm also going through them on the GI Bill, starting with tons of credits on the network operations BS. I have a master's degree in business administration (MBA-ITM) from WGU already, actually! Truthfully something in a different field like an accounting program would be a better use of my remaining benefits but I'm currently trying to move from a career in networking to systems and the classes in the cloud computing program just catch my interest and since I'm pretty sure I could complete it in 18 months it'll be free. I'm also really bad about self studying for certifications without some type of external pressure to get it done.
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May 17, 2022 15:52
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Cyks posted:A+ is too expensive ($250 for each test and requires both 220-1001 and 220-1002) and covers a lot of material to be worth it paying out of pocket. Just go with the AZ-900 using the following: How, exactly, does the GI Bill work with self-paced stuff like this? If I knock out the whole thing in two years, let's say, does it only eat 24 months of my GI Bill?
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May 17, 2022 17:31
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Devorum posted:How, exactly, does the GI Bill work with self-paced stuff like this? If I knock out the whole thing in two years, let's say, does it only eat 24 months of my GI Bill? That is exactly how it works. WGU does 6 month terms so it eats 6 months of GI Bill time. What's cool though is that if you feel like the classes are easy to do, you can knock out as many credits as you can within that term and you may only have to use 18 months of GI Bill, maybe even 12. Also you get the 50% average or whatever housing allowance so it ends up being $900 a month they pay you for that.
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May 17, 2022 18:49
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Devorum posted:How, exactly, does the GI Bill work with self-paced stuff like this? If I knock out the whole thing in two years, let's say, does it only eat 24 months of my GI Bill? In simple terms, yes. Each term of WGU is exactly six months starting on the first and will use six months of GI Bill, so you have three continuous years (6 terms) to finish your degree before you'll have to pay/take a loan. If you finish in exactly two years, you'll have 12 months remaining. There are a few catches. Your graduating term is a little different in that the day you pass your final class is the day your school ends and you will be prorated for time used against your benefits and your MHA. This usually means you'll have to pay back some MHA after you graduate since they send the last day of the month as the expected graduation date to the VA and then send a correction after you graduate but you'll also be credited for days/months unused. The VA also considers full-time for undergraduates at 18 CUs due to the longer terms (6 months instead of traditional 4) while WGU considers full-time 12 CUs. What will often happen (since I didn't do an undergrad I didn't experience it myself, just from what I've seen reported) is that you will start as a part-time student at 75% according to the VA and when you start your 18th CU it'll be corrected and receive back compensation. Also worth noting that MHA is half the national average for a completely online only program, which is currently $917/month. Despite that, I think it's worth graduating two years early even if I lose out on some $20k-30k MHA and still have benefits left over to cover a masters, especially for a bachelors in IT.
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May 17, 2022 18:59
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So I might finally have a job that has a training budget and would like to get some certs under my belt. Is there a best practices order on getting certs or is it just get whatever your company will pay for? Currently I have zero as the cost has always been a barrier for me, so finally maybe getting them is amazing. Ideally, I would like to get certified for system administration with a slight focus on cloud infrastructure.
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May 19, 2022 17:41
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Zil posted:So I might finally have a job that has a training budget and would like to get some certs under my belt. Is there a best practices order on getting certs or is it just get whatever your company will pay for? Currently I have zero as the cost has always been a barrier for me, so finally maybe getting them is amazing. Get whatever you think you like or find interesting. Any platforms or clouds you have in mind?
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May 19, 2022 17:52
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Zil posted:So I might finally have a job that has a training budget and would like to get some certs under my belt. Is there a best practices order on getting certs or is it just get whatever your company will pay for? Currently I have zero as the cost has always been a barrier for me, so finally maybe getting them is amazing. Pick one of AWS/GCP/Azure, do their admin/associate engineer certs. Don’t bother with the cloud practitioner ones.
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May 19, 2022 17:54
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Cat Army