Here's my 2 cents worth. I have a Bachelors of Science Degree in Physics which I probably did not deserve. I practically begged the university to give me the degree because I think I failed my finals. Upon graduation, I immediately found work, not in any physics lab, but as a computer operator for America's largest oil corporation. Then I became a programmer, an analyst, a team leader, an operating systems programmer, fulltime college instructor (computer information systems certificate program), a systems security analyst and finally, Data Security Officer and Manager. That's over an IT career that spans 27 years since my graduation. I established the security framework for two Canadian banks, was the IT security officer at a national stock exchange company and now, I'm establishing a security framework for the country's largest independent (non-bank owned) stock brokerage house. I also was participant in setting national security standards for the country's shared-ATM network, bank settlement system and other national inter-bank access. I have obtained all the above jobs with no related degree or formal training in Computer Science. However, each of the job descriptions required a minimum of a college certificate or a university degree. I'm not sure, but I think my degree, although non-computer related, helped in meeting some minimum requirements. I agree though, that the important thing is convincing future employers that you can do the job. You have to show that you have the "required experience" and understanding and appreciation of all the issues important in the field. As far as professional certifications, I don't have any except a training certificate from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and a number of vendor specific security training certificates in AS400, Tandem, DEC, IBM mainframe, etc.. I was offered grandfathered certification for CISSP in 1995, but I was too busy traveling around the world as a Senior Technical Instructor for a software company and could not find time to respond. Now, I have to take the exam to get it. However, I've always found a job without this certification. I'm sure it would help a lot, but I think with everything being equal, many companies will still value many years of experience over a piece of paper. Thanks. Manny -----Original Message----- From: Charles England [mailto:cenglandat_private] Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2001 7:15 PM To: SECURITYJOBSat_private Subject: Network Security -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 I have been trying to change my career focus from Jack of all Trades in a high paced service environment to network security. Despite banging on many doors I have up to this point come up empty. I was wondering if anyone had any advice they could give me. I also had two specific questions. I do not have a college degree should obtaining a degree be a high priority, ie am I wasting my time without a degree. Which certifications if any are worth pursuing, I once thought certain certifications would help advance my career however having a CCNP has done nothing except help my current employer achieve a higher standing as a Cisco dealer. Charles England -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: PGPfreeware 7.0.3 for non-commercial use <http://www.pgp.com> iQA/AwUBOueEi3SOBwex5LBDEQJlLQCfaxQmJ9pwDKSdpfbsr3txCoF/vrwAn0V3 ElrhFbXyYbYs7tYCGCaOmFuZ =FNbc -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Thu Apr 26 2001 - 21:10:03 PDT