The Ethical Hacker Network - CISSP/Career Advice Needed

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xcircusmusician

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CISSP/Career Advice Needed

« on: August 21, 2011, 02:49:41 PM »

Hello all:
I’m considering obtaining the CISSP Cert, and I'm trying to get ‘realistic’ advice concerning the opportunities/options that the CISSP would provide me.
I’m 48 years old, and I’m asking for any (brutally honest) advice concerning the realistic options that I have for securing a career in I.T. Security. (Probably Entry-Level)
(I’ve been with Comcast for eight years/Four of those on the Senior-Help Desk)
I currently have: Associates (IT) /Network +/Security +/Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) and some experience with the OSCP. I found the OSCP to be very challenging.
Any thoughts/insight on the difficulty of CISSP compared to the OSCP or CEH?
I’m experiencing a sense of ‘urgency’ in securing a career, and am open to any/all options.
I’m willing to relocate/travel 100%/Contract/etc.
I’m looking into options such as: Incident Handler/Loss Prevention/Management/
I’m willing to spend a year (self-study) to obtain a CERT that will put me in the 50K to 70k range

If you have any advice/resources/etc., I would certainly appreciate it.
Thanks in advance,
Michael
And yes, I really am an Ex-Circus Musician (Bass Guitar)


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don

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Re: CISSP/Career Advice Needed

« Reply #1 on: August 25, 2011, 03:22:53 PM »

Based on your age and knowledge, I would say that you are heading towards the front office as opposoed to the tech room. Getting the CISSP will help in the regard. Knowing that you have some experience and certs, being a conduit between upper management and the tech team would be a nice fit for you. This would also get you in the salary range you mention below.

Hope that helps,
Don


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CISSP, MCSE, CSTA, Security+ SME

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Re: CISSP/Career Advice Needed

« Reply #2 on: August 25, 2011, 07:37:38 PM »

Quote

I’m willing to relocate/travel 100%/Contract/etc.

Sounds like CISA might be something you should look into.


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ISC2 Associate, WCNA, CWNA, OSCP, Network+

r2s

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The Artisan

Re: CISSP/Career Advice Needed

« Reply #3 on: October 19, 2011, 08:03:49 PM »

+1 w/Don and WCNA. Since you're 8 years in. I'd grab the CISSP. If you end up taking an auditing role, I'd go for CISA once you hit the infosec job experience requirement.

For Incident Handling, you might want to look into some network and computer forensics material; there's tons of forensics experts on this forum floating around and I'm sure they'll chime in soon. Definitely take a look at the DoD 8570 requirements if you decide to get into government contracting:

http://www.giac.org/certifications/dodd-8570/

Contracting itself is a whole other topic of conversation but if you're looking for a quick fix, it's one thing to consider.

Sil had a great forum post regarding the different types of InfoSec roles and certs he believed had the most impact when it came to actually learning the material:
http://www.ethicalhacker.net/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,54/topic,7836.msg42104/

There's a thread that started a little bit ago about CISSP study strategies:
http://www.ethicalhacker.net/component/option,com_smf/Itemid,54/topic,7863.msg43431/topicseen,1/#new

Hope this all helps