Network Security Major

[Dwayne277787]

For someone who is starting to learn Network ,Where should he start,Which Courses or certificate should
he get?I need help on from where to start.Any help and hint .

 

[bliq]

I do university recruiting for one of the top internet companies in the world. I can tell you that security is usually something self taught or taught via certificate programs etc, and honed via experience. I've recruited at the top tech engineering universities in the US and I've seen very little being taught at that level about systems engineering, quality engineering, network engineering, service engineering, or security. I've seen more taught at vocational colleges, but to be honest, you need to find a way to get experience. That's key for these disciplines. Every university only teaches programming and theoretical stuff like complexity. Also they're big with buzzwords, most of which is useless. Big Data, Machine Learning, etc. Most of the kids I talk to cant even explain what those words mean.

 

[Dwayne277787]

i have been suggested to start with Network+ certificate and follow microsoft certificate then move to Cisco because microsoft certificates are easier and better for starters.but i want to know where to start?Is network+ what i need to start with?

 

[bliq]

I'd actually probably start with Linux+ then Network+. I think there's also a Security+ but I actually don't see these certs too often since I mainly do recruiting at university campuses. My company doesn't really work with Microsoft products so that wouldn't be very useful in my company but it's not a bad track. Note I said track- you can go many ways. There is no longer a single MCSE certification- there are many specialties. There's also a Redhat track if you want to focus on Linux. I myself have an RHCE cert (Im actually an engineer that is "loaned" to recruiting team to help evaluate engineering students). But I believe RHCE is also now specialized. Cisco certs and also handy. CCNA, CCNP, and CCIE. Again, there are many CCIE specialties.

I say start with Linux+ because it gives you a background (I assume- I've never actually seen the curriculum for Linux+) in the raw concepts of the OS (as opposed to Windows which can sometimes obscure the concept in the name of "user friendliness"). It'll be valuable as you specialize in more network and security related concepts.