Value of Security+ (Passed Net+ recently)

Oh man! Ad-blocking software has been detected! :'(

This website is run by the community, for the community... and it needs advertisements in order to keep running. Blocking our ads means your killing our stats!
Please disable your ad-block, or become a premium member to hide all advertisements and this notice.

So, I recently passed Net+(with certforum-your help) and I hear Net+ is kind of minimum to have nowadays.

For Security+, do employers want this as well?

I had an impression on 'Security' that, even with the certification, they would not hire those without experience.

I am a graduate student in Networking and want to increase my chances.

Your advice would be great.

Thanks.

 

Oh man! Ad-blocking software has been detected! :'(

This website is run by the community, for the community... and it needs advertisements in order to keep running. Blocking our ads means your killing our stats!
Please disable your ad-block, or become a premium member to hide all advertisements and this notice.

I'm sure you will have many different opinions on this, but unless you specifically want to get into Network Security, then I wouldn't bother!

Even if you did it's arguable that you would be much better served looking towards the CCENT and CCNA. Again, quite subjective but I have never ever seen a job posting mentions the Security+! It's also important however that you don't over qualify yourself! If you have zero IT experience in a professional arena and still looking to break in, then maybe it's worthwhile but for me personally I would still look more towards CCENT etc! You can always specialise into Securtity at a later point within the Cisco structure!

 

Back when I did Security+, it taught me some interesting terms (e.g. Man Trap) and things to consider in a security sense.
The exam per se was very easy (things could have changed over the years) and I passed easily. Whilst the exam wasn't cheap (more expensive than MCP's if I recall), the amount of time I had to put into it (effort wise) and what I got back in knowledge, was a good balance. Basically, it ended up being a rather interesting exam for someone like me, I found the topics quite fascinating.

 

I read a book for two weeks then passed it. So its an easy exam and quite interesting.

Is it worth the money or will it get you a job, unlikely.

The best thing for me was that I used it as my MCSA elective and jobs do ask for the MCSA.

 

Since I'm currently in the job market I've seen the requirement for this exam pop up several times for jobs that deal with government jobs or companies that deal with government or military contracts so if you want to get a job working in a company that deals with such at least in the US a lot of them are requiring the Sercurity+ certification for even the low-end IT jobs since they want you to have at least the basic security understanding even if your job is not going to be dealing with the security aspects of the network.

Since where I live in the US there is quite a few companies that deal with government and military contracts so at some point I will pony up the cash and take the exam so I have a shot of getting a job in one of those companies. If you are not in an area that has a lot of companies such as those it might not be worth going for.

GW

 

Unfortunately here in the UK CompTIA aren't really that well known, I would suggest that the Sec+ is really not that well regarded out here in the UK (Rob1234 can probably answer better as he is in a Security role).

 

It's not something that's going to get you a job imho, but it's not a bad thing to do.

Provides a good overview of Security and the principles etc, I know Morrissons used to send all their IT staff on the course whether they were in a security specific role or not.

Where I am currently it's seen as the first certification step for security people.

 

Just to second the general theme of the thread. CompTIA seems to have some dealings with the US government, meaning that the Sec+ is required/recommended for some roles there within government and military. It thus has better standing in the States.
CompTIA is still making inroads and building up its reputation in the UK.

So on the UK job front, probably not that useful (something Microsoft or Cisco would probably serve better). On the US job front, more useful. Elsewhere, not sure.

On the professional development front, though, it's certainly worthwhile, as it's interesting and can be quite an eye-opener.

 

Yup some US roles require you to be certified at different levels and the CompTIA Sec+ counts for one of those levels.

Certification Information for Government Agencies has some info.