Discussion on:

Security pros: Knowing when it's time to move on (and how to do it)

Dominic,
I can relate to this article SO MUCH. I've been working for my current company for over 14 years, the last 11 in IT. About 5 years ago I realized that I had stopped growing at my current position, Comp Sys Analyst (fancy title for Support Specialist although I do networking and InfoPath/SharePoint minor dev work). Although there are many things I could have done earlier to put myself in a better position, I decided to go back to college in 2007 and finish my BS. I finally graduated last year and am now in the process of obtaining certifications that I should have gotten many years ago (as I pointed out earlier I slacked off here).

I tried talking to my boss about expanding my responsibilities etc...in order to get better pay but it never materialized. I have enjoyed my time with my company and have made so many friends but the truth is that sometimes, you just KNOW when it's time to move on. It will be hard when the day comes but I have to grow professionally and in my case (small IT dept.) it will come via another job elsewhere. I do not blame my company, as I mentioned, I could have done more and perhaps made the move earlier but at least I am doing something about it now.

I particularly liked the advice to apply for some jobs even if one does not know how to do everything in the job description. I was recently contact by a company about a Jr. Developer job and because I do not develop InfoPath/SharePoint using code, I was hesitant to apply. I did anyway and they were clear that what they really wanted was InfoPath/SharePoint knowledge.

Hello Dominic,
First of all, thank you very much for the tips.
I'm not sure if here is the right place, but what's the most important certifications in the security field? I'm graduating in Computer Engineering and want to prosper in IT security. I live in Brazil, but if I need I'll travel to another country to study and get some of these important certifications. I'm not too young like you seems to be (I'm 35) but that's what I want.
Thanks again. Best regards.
Marcus.

Hi mvcandido,

I'd say that strictly security certs are Comptia's Security+ and ISC2 CISSP, the latter is much more challenging as you need to already work in IT/Security for at least 4 years if you have a BS and have an endorsement from a CISSP certified individual before you can take the exam.

ISC2 does have other security certifications but my understanding is that CISSP carries the most weight/respect in the industry. Cisco also offers some certs on security, but it is vendor specific, AFAIK.

That being said, I think if you want a solid track to IT Security, I'd start with Comptia's A+, Network+ then Security+ before getting into the other certs. You may also want to go for the CEH, Certified Ethical Hacker. Good luck to you!

http://certification.comptia.org/getCertified/certifications/security.aspx
https://www.isc2.org/
https://cert.eccouncil.org/