Hello Everyone,
I am a 53 year old student just completing a 2 year Networking Program at a technical college, I transfer next semester to a four year polytechnic University, for a IT degree with concentrations in security and networking. I will be 55 years old when I graduate. I would like to work in the security field, I would like to get their as fast as possible. So I am asking those of you out there who may wish to comment, what you think the BEST career path (including certification path) I should travel would be. I expect to be working on campus next year in an IT capacity, and will have a CCNA in the next couple of months, as I am just completing CISCO networking academy. I would love to be a penetration tester, I see myself advancing up the ladder some, but not to far due to my age (running out of time) but I would like to have the funnest most rewarding career possible for as long as I am playing... all tips helpful..Thank you..pS  I have zero IT experience at all at the moment, although I was a military technician both as a Radioman and ET for many years, but got out of the service before Internet kicked in....thanks

StudentGA,

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I like the certs jbush listed. But make sure you have a decent background in the 5 areas JamieR mentioned. I was completely new to IT in April and I tried to learn some pentesting but it was really hard not having a fundamental background in those areas. I would learn them in this order protocols, networking, linux, php, then python