Career change from business to IT Security or related field
I am trying to change careers from a field with no apparent relation to the IT or Comp. Sci industry. I have a 4 year degree but it also has nothing to do with IT, nor is it a hard science. I have roughly 5 years professional experience working in a field related to light financial analysis.
I would like to work towards working in the IT Security field, however I have a few things holding me back. Current life circumstances prevent me from going back to school and getting a related degree. The price of online degrees are also cost prohibitive at this point.
The only solution that I can come up with for breaking into the IT industry is to pursue an aggressive self-education and to work on certifications. My concern with this is that I will end up getting an entry level help desk type job with an A+ certification resulting in a significant pay cut, but I would hopefully be able to work my way up from there. Am I wrong to believe that it will be difficult to do this any other way?
hi myliptonite
you want to get your mcdst Microsoft certified desktop support technician.
http://www.microsoft.com/learning/en/us/certification/mcdst.aspx
you want this as this will get you into an entry level desktop support working in a call centre, then progress from there. IT is one of the hardest subjects to learn as A) its constantly changing and B) Not everyone understands it.
As for getting into security………..you have lots to learn start of by learning some HTMl, PHP, MySQL etc google w3schools good luck
Im currently at university studying computer security and forensics and still dont get most of the challenges on this im also self teaching myself PHP
Instead of looking at online schools, you might want to check out what your local community college has to offer. I know the ones near me offer a number of career retraining programs. They offer certificate programs in various IT fields that are meant for people like you with a 4 year degrees in another area who are looking for a career change. These certificates only take a few semesters to complete. Most of the courses are offered online, and the price point should be significantly lower than most online schools. Community colleges also should have job placement programs in your area to help you get an entry level position once you finish the program.
Obviously putting in work studying on your own and gaining industry certs can help your chances, but most jobs will want you to have some sort of formal training.
You don't have to start with A+. If you were going to get into computer/laptop repair then I would say go for an A+. Security people like to have a lot of certifications though, so having the cert can not hurt you at all. And you don't need to look into a Microsoft-anything. Seriously, who uses that stuff anyways?
You should look into the Security+ cert. You'll need at least 2 years of IT work experience to apply, which you have, and it is very basic stuff. It's essentially a vocabulary test, from what I've seen. I know there are training videos for it on thepiratebay and demonoid.
I would recommend community college too. I like mine a lot. Usually it's $1,500 for 15 credits + labs, the teachers are good, and classes are usually 1 night a week per class. About 80% of the people in my classes are over 30 too.
maug wrote: You don't have to start with A+. If you were going to get into computer/laptop repair then I would say go for an A+. Security people like to have a lot of certifications though, so having the cert can not hurt you at all. And you don't need to look into a Microsoft-anything. Seriously, who uses that stuff anyways?
You should look into the Security+ cert. You'll need at least 2 years of IT work experience to apply, which you have, and it is very basic stuff. It's essentially a vocabulary test, from what I've seen. I know there are training videos for it on thepiratebay and demonoid.
I would recommend community college too. I like mine a lot. Usually it's $1,500 for 15 credits + labs, the teachers are good, and classes are usually 1 night a week per class. About 80% of the people in my classes are over 30 too.
Thanks for the info. Sorry if i miscommunicated, but my current line of work has nothing to do with IT. How much does this affect your opinion above?
Yeah, check your local 2yr schools.
I was told by a few people to stay away from ITT Tech though. I myself haven't had any classes with them, so can't judge the validity.
You will need to have the fundamentals of networking down before the security stuff though. You can get simulated test books for CCNA, Network+, Security+,ect… and software to help you study. Some offer test assessment that explains in depth the answers you got wrong.
its a good thing that your thinking of doing something like that, any way, before starting anything related to security, try to set your mind on a starting point, as security is a huge thing, it could be servers/OS security or web applications security, applications security, networks security and so on, so your starting point will set what you need to know, for example (networks security) you will need to learn about the layers and the network protocols, data encryption, routers, switches hubs and how they work, wireless networks and the encryptions they use …. while for web applications security you will need to learn about php/asp mysql, mssql server, oracle, http protocol, javascript, html, and even some perl and python ….
try looking into those stuff and see wither you are a programming oriented person or not, if not your only field is networks security, otherwise web applications security is a fun to learn and provides good payouts, as you can also code your own apps/websites when you have a good knowledge base.
:) :) :)
I dont know why you guys want to get him away from Microsoft cert. if you dont have any other relations to the IT field, and he says he doesnt. One or more microsoft cert. will get you in to an IT field.
And since you dont have time/money for buying the big cert's with training, microsoft is the way to go.
Im from Denmark, so this is where i get my information from. But I have taken several microsoft cert's, by running though the tests at home, and then paying around 200$ in exam fees.
And if you want the training, then download some online courses. Trainsignal have some petty good videos.
Studying Microsoft material is like studying a giant advertisement. It's painful, it's degrading, time-consuming, mind-numbing, over-priced, they can't admit they ever made a mistake, and it's 100% avoidable.
I misread the part regarding your experience. How will not having IT experience affect you: well, you're going to need to start from the beginning.
+You're going to need to be able to open up a computer case, and know what you're looking at. +Be comfortable with CLI and batch. +Recognize and trouble shoot basic software and hardware problems. +Set up and trouble-shoot a network. +Set up LAMP or WAMP, or Windows Server and IIS. +And then you can get into the fun stuff.
You could probably skip ahead an entire class if you learn about DOS/CLI. That takes a whole 50 pages of reading, and some YouTube videos… You will thank yourself if you can get out of the more basic classes. If you can use microsoft word/excel/ppt/access you can probably get out of another class.
2 other things you'll want to do are install linux and learn to program. You may find classes on these at a college, or you may not.
I agree with the comments about microsoft certs, I've never done one. Just had to work my way up from a skivy to systems engineer :)
Next step for me is into security.
I plan on learning it all myself like i've done so far. a Cert doesn't mean you know what your doing, it only means you know how to answer some questions.
Ive got BT4 installed in the lab at work and am just slowly learning things as and when i can. Obviously you wont have the luxury of a Lab but it's easy enough to make one in your house. VirtualBox is your friend :)
Install that on a half decent computer, run a few diffrent OS's on there and get playing!
Although thats mainly to do with OS/Network security so if you plan on taking a diffrent specialism feel free to ignore all i've said :happy: