Information Technology (IT)

[spiderjericho]

You gotta start somewhere.

Without any experience or credentials, help desk might be the only thing you qualify. Definitely work there for at least a few months (I’d recommend at least six months).

CEH does not equal a qualified pen tester. Nor does CCNA equal a qualified network admin. It’s usually experience + qualifications. But you never know. You could get a job somewhere decent. But it’s usually easier with something like a doctor, lawyer, etc.

 

[Top Boy]

Top Boy been reading through your old posts. Good stuff man. I've got no degree/no IT experience. Would I absolutely have to start at a help desk in order to move up? Also how quickly can I move up? Can I do a help desk job for 3-4 months while getting a certification like CEH, CCNA, or the AWS - Associate and just leave for a much higher paying position? I'm honestly just confused and it kind of sucks having to work for 15-16/hr in the beginning at the help desk. Thanks

As far as im aware, there are only two ways to skip the Help Desk phase of IT.

Either you:
A) Go to college and take an internship in your industry of choice, using that internship to secure a full-time position where you're at or using that internship experience to pivot to another business.
B) Networking. If you know someone willing and able to help place you into a jr/entry level position that can make all the difference as 2-3 years of that shows you can thrive at a 'higher' level.

Path A worked for me but if that's not feasible for you either you'll have to utilize B or like you said, take a Help Desk position to lay your foundation while working toward your next step up the ladder while you're there.

If it helps, LinkedIn is amazing in terms of job alerting and being headhunted. You should try to get some professional help drafting a bomb *** resume you can use with minimal editing for every single position you're interested in. Of course, having no IT experience i'd say in my opinion it's best you take a Help Desk position for the time being keeping in mind it's only temporary if you're willing to treat it like a stepping stone.

The Help Desk position will assist in ensuring your resume makes it into the pile instead of being immediately trashed by automation and certifications on top of that experience will help in actually getting the interview.

 

[capital sb]

PRIME There are a bunch of jobs in Crystal City/Rosslyn already. The pentagon is right there all of the govt contractors are surrounding it.

Thanks spiderjericho yeah thats why I wanted both CISSP for the reputation and CASP to get some actual technical skills. I was surprised to see some people on tech exams saying they passed the CISSP in a month.

I don't know what I'll be doing when I come back to work in the states next year but just want to have as many options as possible in the DMV.
Already have my clearances and what not, so shouldn't be too hard.

 

[capital sb]

Oh and LinkedIn is always good money for interviews and open house invites. I'll never delete it, constantly getting messages for jobs even though I'm overseas right now.
I only check my messages and update my current job (job title and location only)

 

[spiderjericho]

I passed the CISSP after a two-week boot camp and no studying (but believe me I have failed exams).

In the DMV area, clearance + qualification are important for the big contractor firms. I’d just take the help desk job. Study up (seriously). Learn. Seriously. Insert yourself into operations and try to soak up information. But don’t think certifications = skill. I have Sec+, CEH, CHFI, CISSP, CISM, CISA, CRISC (and working on Pentest+, GCIH and GPEN). Don’t mean anything. Some random dude in Chile with no certs probably has more computer security skills than me. There is a lot to know. And always new stuff to learn.

I met this 17 year old kid that was hired as part as DDS. Ol Jack is his name. That kid was making money off of bug bounty programs. And got hired off his potential and current skills. Trust me when I say, he was legit (more than me).

 

[PRIME]

PRIME There are a bunch of jobs in Crystal City/Rosslyn already. The pentagon is right there all of the govt contractors are surrounding it.

Thanks spiderjericho yeah thats why I wanted both CISSP for the reputation and CASP to get some actual technical skills. I was surprised to see some people on tech exams saying they passed the CISSP in a month.

I don't know what I'll be doing when I come back to work in the states next year but just want to have as many options as possible in the DMV.
Already have my clearances and what not, so shouldn't be too hard.

Yeah, I used to work in the Del Ray neighborhood right off old town before patomac yard. I’m contracting out in Woodbridge atm, I need clearances though. Most of the work I’m doing is for non profits & private sector. What’s the waiting period for obtaining a govt clearance?

Low key I really just want to work for Amazon

I’ve been working on getting my foot in the door at Capital One, hopefully I can land a gig at their McLean HQ

 

[spiderjericho]

Amazon? I’m not familiar enough with their organization to know the IT support jobs, what technologies they use, etc.

Feel like they’d low ball you.

And TS/SCI takes awhile. Secret would probably take a few months since the scope is different.

 

[Rj4147]

spiderjericho Top Boy thanks for the replies. I actually might have a connect into getting a QA job as a tester, so I'm planning on doing that then getting certifications and hopefully moving on to cloud computing. Going to study some programming languages in the mean time as well.

Im sure QA counts as IT experience, but not as developer/ engineer experience. If Im trying to switch from QA to an engineer (AWS for example) does it make it easier once I actually have an IT job or does it not matter? Are recruiting firms/employment agencies needed for entry level jobs of those types when I dont have experience? Thanks

 

[Stakeholder]

What’s the waiting period for obtaining a govt clearance?

The National Background Investigations Bureau just updated on current clearance processing times for Department of Defense (DoD) industry contractors. The last figure reported at the end of 2017 was 501 days for a Top Secret security clearance – a year and a half to obtain a topic secret security clearance seems like an incredible amount of time – because it is. But the figures reported today show things are getting worse – Top Secret clearance processing times for the first quarter of 2018 were 534 days for Top Secret security clearances, and 221 days for Secret and Confidential security clearances. That means if you’re awaiting a Top Secret security clearance for work as a defense contractor, you’ll wait an additional month for that determination.

https://news.clearancejobs.com/2018/03/13/long-take-get-security-clearance-q1-2018/

 

[PRIME]

Oh that’s trash. What the hell?

Amazon? I’m not familiar enough with their organization to know the IT support jobs, what technologies they use, etc.

Feel like they’d low ball you.

And TS/SCI takes awhile. Secret would probably take a few months since the scope is different.

I’m a software developer, so I guess the fit is a bit different for me. But they are pretty competitive (for this area at least)

 

[riverdale road]

200k? You definitely not within the perimeter.

Naw Im in Henry

 

[Thats My Word]

It's alot of IT jobs here. What you do? Also, yeah you can get a nice crib for about 200k. My house is 2800 sq ft 5 bdrms 3 full baths for 204k.

I do a lot of everything, mostly on the hardware/infrastructure side. Desktops, servers, switches, firewalls, load balancers, huge storage devices, backups, telephony, etc.

I work at a pretty small company (200 employees or so), but the amount of client data we host is astronomical considering our headcount. We have a lot of hipaa, pci, itar, etc type data, so we have A LOT of security measures in place to make sure our client data is secured.

Information Security is where you want to be. A lot of companies out there are just starting to look into infosec.

 

[datznasty]

It better not take a year and a half to upgrade my Secret to TS. I said I'd stay at my current job until they get mine but I can't wait that long. Pay is good and they got the contract for 5 yrs but it's miserable. We literally do nothing all day. Sounds like a great gig but i cant take it. They finally got me a computer account so at least I can make a Cybrary and Coursera account and study and that'll help, but I need them to hurry up and get my ts investigation so I can bounce

 

[PRIME]

It better not take a year and a half to upgrade my Secret to TS. I said I'd stay at my current job until they get mine but I can't wait that long. Pay is good and they got the contract for 5 yrs but it's miserable. We literally do nothing all day. Sounds like a great gig but i cant take it. They finally got me a computer account so at least I can make a Cybrary and Coursera account and study and that'll help, but I need them to hurry up and get my ts investigation so I can bounce

Surf NT and reddit for a year and a half then bounce?

Easy money

 

[John Wick]

It better not take a year and a half to upgrade my Secret to TS. I said I'd stay at my current job until they get mine but I can't wait that long. Pay is good and they got the contract for 5 yrs but it's miserable. We literally do nothing all day. Sounds like a great gig but i cant take it. They finally got me a computer account so at least I can make a Cybrary and Coursera account and study and that'll help, but I need them to hurry up and get my ts investigation so I can bounce

it takes a year easily. Could take longer the older you are as well, especially if you have a past with alot of significant events.

But renewing it is pretty quick and easy

just make sure after you get it you keep working jobs that require it.

 

[datznasty]

Damn. Look for Telos jobs. They getting all these sham contracts and unlike a lot of contractors they are willing to get you your TS or get your's upgraded to TS instead of only pursuing applicants who already have one. I have only had one other company and I forget their name who was willing to get me a TS, because obviously it costs them money I have heard like 60k.

 

[Mark Antony]

Surf NT and reddit for a year and a half then bounce?

Easy money

Yeah sounds like a good time to upskill.

 

[raider5]

Naw Im in Henry

Henry? I can’t even get a 2 bedroom condo for less than $400k in the Bay Area

 

[capital sb]

Yeah, I used to work in the Del Ray neighborhood right off old town before patomac yard. I’m contracting out in Woodbridge atm, I need clearances though. Most of the work I’m doing is for non profits & private sector. What’s the waiting period for obtaining a govt clearance?

Low key I really just want to work for Amazon

I’ve been working on getting my foot in the door at Capital One, hopefully I can land a gig at their McLean HQ

If you need clearances you should be applying to jobs that say "Must have the ability to obtain X clearance" . In the DMV area clearances are the most important and provide longterm job stability. If I didn't have em that would be my top priority. Me not having my TS/SCI is limiting options(have TS SSBI and Secret), so I know it gotta be harder without any.

It took me 2 years exactly to get my TS...my other coworker got his in about 14mo so it really just depends on your investigator fr.

 

[Thats My Word]

Henry? I can’t even get a 2 bedroom condo for less than $400k in the Bay Area

Even for those you gotta qualify and have “low income” which is around $85K/year.

 

[spiderjericho]

Took and passed the Pentest+ exam today. Going to take the CGEIT next then Linux+. Trying to knock out a few certs before I go down the Master's route.

 

[capital sb]

How was the Pentest + ? Worth it?

 

[spiderjericho]

How was the Pentest + ? Worth it?

I’ve only taken two Pentest classes CEH and GPEN. And I self studied the Pentest+. If you were to study CySa+ and Pentest+ back to back. It would be a solid intro to Blue/red. I’d say GPEN material is probably a lil better. But you’re paying for it lol. Pentesting cert tier for professionals is probably CEH>Pentest+>GPEN>eCPPT>OSCP. Expert and exploit writing I don’t know. Obviously you’ll need a strong programming, web assessment and exploit writing background to tackle OCSE, GXPN, and whatever the elearnsecurity one is.

I used the Sybex book. It didn’t cover scripting, web exploits and false/true negatives/positives. I saw there was a Pearson book on Safari but it’s still a rough cut.

 

[johnnyutah]

taking A+ in January. anybody taken it lately?

 

[Stakeholder]

not IT, but clearance related-hypothetical...would you guys consider a conditional offer that is binding if accepted that involves a TS clearance?

on top of the time it would take to get the clearance, you would owe that agency X number of years if you accepted...