Howdy to all. I've been a "guest" on EH for about 3-4 months now and finally decided I'd regester. I'm just starting my journey into Pen testing, exploitation, and forensics. I've been tinkering with BT since BT4 came out, so not very long lol. My end goal is to become a Pentester/ CEH and I'm really excited to become a sponge for all the knoledge out there. At this point I have a fairly good grasp on Linux (I run Ubuntu and CentOS) and some basic knowledge of SOLARIS. I also have started to learn the wonders of programming with Python.

If there is anyone out there looking to mentor or chat with a newbie and help guide me in the right direction I'd be most grateful. Keep on tinkering

I am currently in the Army where I work on Satallite communacations systems as well as computer/voip networks. I also am certified to do fiber optic cable. I’m going to be getting out in the next year and would like to give myself a leg up before I finish my service. 

Jamie,

Thanks for the warm welcome I'm going to have to wait a few more months before I can do any hands on work with certs as I am currently deployed :/ . Aside from that I have done a good amount of the course work for Sec+ and Net+ and was looking to test for those when I get back to the US. I was also looking to get my CCNA (a buddy and I are going to split the cost of a CCNA lab kit when we get back). I have been looking at Hackingdojo.com as well as the OSWP but I want to see if I can get the military to pay for it as "professional training."

I'll have to look into that, I'm trying not to break the bank as I'll be getting out of the service in about a year and would like to have a bit saved up for when I go to college.

In my previous unit I was an IMO so I do have my Centcom IA and ISSO certs as well as nearly finishing up the Linux+ training (my prefered server OS). I started the C|EH but the program is kinda buggy and my internet connection right now leaves much to be desired.

Don,

 Thank you for the support. I have already gained a lot of knowledge just by going through the forums and the links to other sites. I've also almost finished the army's version of C|EH thanks to some of the information found from those links. I just wish I would have had this drive to learn before I deployed.

@Novice Hacker

this link seems to answer a lot of ur queries
http://www.infiltrated.net/pentesting101.html

and yeah, learning about databases will certainly help a lot, good place to start would be, free classes by Stanford.
http://www.db-class.org/course/auth/welcome

I would recommend to start with TCP/IP Illustrated 2nd edition(Kevin Fall) or any good CCNA book for networking basics.

1.) Certifications vary by the job.  Headhunters look for different things, and even if you get by those, the truly technical folks might expect other certs.  There's no 'right or wrong' list.  If I were to interview you, I'd want to see that you were dedicated to learning (by seeing some of the certs,) but would then question you to see what your true / retained / practical knowledge was.

2.) Any / all languages are good, to at LEAST have base knowledge of.  You don't have to be an 'uber programmer' or anything, but understanding program flow, the stack, and scripting are definitely a plus.  Get familiar with Python, bash and 'some' assembly.  After that, it's a matter of choice / preference (C, Ruby, Perl, others...)

3.) See #2