Originally Posted by TKarrde  Fuck CompTIA
Fuck A+/N+
Fuck MCP
Go to a local community college, take cisco classes there. The actual classes will probably suck dick, and you'll do all of your learning on your own time, but it's much cheaper to just suffer through them for the lab access than it is to buy your own lab equipment.
Next, grab your Security+. CISSP is NOT an option until you have 5~ years of direct IT security experience. And they WILL audit you. Something like 70% of the people who take the test get audited. If they find out you lied about experience, you get your CISSP revoked, and banned from that and any of their other programs.
They have a lower level cert, but it's still much the same thing, except it only takes 2 or 3 years.
Next, check out the MCSA/MCSE program. Some of the portions are easy. Some are hard. With some studying, though, you should be able to tackle them. You don't need a lab, really, since you can just use VMWare and recreate everything yourself.
Security is a great industry. I'd suggest getting your CCNA, Security+, MCSE w/ the Security bit, and start working on your experience. Once you have enough, get your CISSP.
At this point, you're pretty much set. If you're after some more knowledge, versatility, etc, go for your CCSP. It'll be a breeze after learning everything else.
Security clearances are great, if you can get them - but if you didn't get one from military service, it'll be tough to land one. The best way would be to work for a consulting company that gets some military/government contracts. If you prove yourself to be an asset while doing the non clearance work, they will likely sponsor you for TS later on. |