Been trying to make some big decisions, and not sure what to do. Lacking some tenured pros in my life, figured I’d turn here.<\/p>\n
Advertisement
My passion in IT has always been security, don’t know why… but just has been. My background is a Bachelors in Information Systems and Security. I’ve got several years of desktop, sysadmin, and network experience. Currently I’m working as an IT consultant doing pretty much everything from cabling to system, network, and security implementation and maintenance.<\/p>\n
So on to my actual dilemma, I’ve got pesky school loans I’m paying down as fast as possible. I make decent money, and was recently offered a job as a Server Analyst, doing SysAdmin work. It’s a 20K pay increase, and that would knock my school loans down from 4 years left to 2. However; my biggest concern. How far do I move up the ladder in the Systems Administration field before moving to a security job requires me to take a pay cut. Being that I’ve never had a dedicated security job, my concern is that after working through certifications and wanting to switch to a dedicated Security job it will be like … well you have some security experience not enough here’s an analyst position for 20k less than you make now.<\/p>\n
Hopefully it’s me overthinking things, but input is much appreciated!? Hopefully someone has some insight or experience with similar.<\/p>","upvoteCount":12,"answerCount":12,"datePublished":"2015-06-01T14:58:28.000Z","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"joshsilvestro1601","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/u/joshsilvestro1601"},"acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"
Background as a SysAdmin will only help you in a Security job. And a 20K increase is nothing to sneeze at, especially if you’re still paying student loans. I’d take the job, and start working on some security certs, like Sec +, \u0001CEH, and CISSP.<\/p>","upvoteCount":5,"datePublished":"2015-06-01T15:25:34.000Z","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/t/looking-for-career-advice/408157/4","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"zachkingsr","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/u/zachkingsr"}},"suggestedAnswer":[{"@type":"Answer","text":"
Hey Guys/Gals,<\/p>\n
Been trying to make some big decisions, and not sure what to do. Lacking some tenured pros in my life, figured I’d turn here.<\/p>\n
My passion in IT has always been security, don’t know why… but just has been. My background is a Bachelors in Information Systems and Security. I’ve got several years of desktop, sysadmin, and network experience. Currently I’m working as an IT consultant doing pretty much everything from cabling to system, network, and security implementation and maintenance.<\/p>\n
So on to my actual dilemma, I’ve got pesky school loans I’m paying down as fast as possible. I make decent money, and was recently offered a job as a Server Analyst, doing SysAdmin work. It’s a 20K pay increase, and that would knock my school loans down from 4 years left to 2. However; my biggest concern. How far do I move up the ladder in the Systems Administration field before moving to a security job requires me to take a pay cut. Being that I’ve never had a dedicated security job, my concern is that after working through certifications and wanting to switch to a dedicated Security job it will be like … well you have some security experience not enough here’s an analyst position for 20k less than you make now.<\/p>\n
Hopefully it’s me overthinking things, but input is much appreciated!? Hopefully someone has some insight or experience with similar.<\/p>","upvoteCount":12,"datePublished":"2015-06-01T14:58:28.000Z","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/t/looking-for-career-advice/408157/1","author":{"@type":"Person","name":"joshsilvestro1601","url":"https://community.spiceworks.com/u/joshsilvestro1601"}},{"@type":"Answer","text":"
It’s been posted here before, but this is a really good blog post about the best way to build an Information Security career:<\/p>\n
