1

I’m new out of the military where I spent 5 years as an IT, I’ve got a good job as a system analyst but with the IT community there is ALWAYS room to grow. I think after I get the experience under my belt the certifications need to come. Can anyone give me a good list of what certs have helped them the most and even a list from where to start to where to end up when I’m done based off of least complicated to most complicated? I just need a place to start and I can go from there. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!!

8 Spice ups
2

It really depends on where you want your IT career to go. Even though you’re not new to IT, most people starting out or looking for their first certifications go the CompTIA route with A+, Network+, and Security+. From there, you can get networking certs from Cisco, or Windows administration certs from Microsoft. Those are probably the two biggest tracks most people take.

5 Spice ups
3

I agree with Todd,

CompTIA is a good vendor neutral startup certs to take. With your experience, you should be able to breeze past it.

From there, Cisco or Microsoft are indeed the two most popular tracks.

Good Luck!!!

1 Spice up
4

Start with your goals and look at certs that support those goals rather than looking for certs and determining your career goals based off of the certs that you will get.

1 Spice up
5

Since you have experience in IT, you can definitely skip something like the A+. It’s really going to depend on what career path in IT you see yourself heading. Networking? Windows Server Admin? Linux Server Admin? Security? Project Management?

There are all kinds of avenues in which to approach this, we just need to get a little more info from you before we can start throwing out information in which to direct you.

6

Specifically in regards to your military service/IT what was your MOS/rating? If you enjoyed that kind of stuff in the service, we might be able to help you go from there.

7

I second this suggestion, although my input comes with much less experience behind it! :slight_smile:

That said, I’d stay away from CompTIA. They’re expensive, ridiculously basic exams. The only possible exception I know of is the Linux+ after they partnered with LPI; even then, the exam is still pretty mundane. Unless an employer you really want to work for really wants you to have one of them, I’d focus on more difficult certifications.

8

Definitely skip the A+. YOu have too much experience for that.

2 Spice ups
9

Goals. How do you define them? Especially in a fast changing Tech landscape and uncertain economy.

The generic advise usually is choose something you like to do and then follow the path. What if you choose poorly?

As someone who has lead a quite interesting life so far, i can suggest the following questions to ask yourself.

  1. Where do you want to live?
  2. How much do you want to earn / save in a year on a regular 40 hours/week job?
  3. Do you want to be able to do freelancing work on the side?
  4. Do you mind that you might have to be on call ( support jobs usually require this)?
  5. How much are you worth now and how much value do you want to add to yourself in the next five years? ( like I have used car circa 2008, live in a rented house etc. So in five years i want to own a car which is less than 2 years old, want to be living in my own home paying a mortgage etc)
  6. You are a system analyst. What exactly does a system analyst do? Check related certifications if you like your job, then pursue them.

Good Luck.

1 Spice up
10

Personally I would go through more specific paths like (ISC)2’s SSCP or CISSP to advance my career and move forward. Considering that you probably have clearance pass, it would be wise to think more where do you want to be after 5-10 years. That would help you more in deciding what path you should choose and invest. Comptia’s certs are fine but they are more for entry to mid level professionals. Also it is always good to capitalize on the background (clearance and military) and there are a lot of companies around U.S. (Booz&Allen) that hire roughly 100 pros every month. Mostly all of the hire’s are in Information Security, System Analyst or System Security Professionals and the salaries are very good. You can find more about companies in glassdoor.com

And if you decide to go with SSCP and CISSP here are some advices that helped me pass both exams. Try to learn from any video course provider for SSCP or CISSP. Personally I did use CBT Nuggets. They are good and short. You can complete their Video Course for roughly 12 hours for either SSCP or CISSP. I did run the video course for 4 weekends in a month for SSCP. Additionally you should practice with the Exam Prep’s there are a lot and pretty much all are the same. Personally I did use this app’s from app store called SSCP Systems Security Certified Practitioner - Exam Prep and CISSP Certified Information Systems Security Professional - Exam Prep. It is very convenient and practical to have the practice exam in your hands at all time “I was literally practicing even when I went to the toilet” the benefits of technology this days.

If you apply this military grade-training regime you should be able to pass after all of this and in a timeframe of 3 months but you can always do it in a timeframe of 1 year both of them. Prospects and Possibilities with them will be very beneficial for you. I hope this was helpful enough and thank you for your service.

Serpil

2 Spice ups