RE: University Degree or CISSP

From: McKinley, Jackson (Jackson.McKinley_at_team.telstra.com)
Date: 09/01/05

  • Next message: Leif Ericksen: "Re: what to do?" 
    Date: Thu, 1 Sep 2005 10:11:55 +1000
To: <security-basics@securityfocus.com>

     From personal experience Ive found it works both ways. Sure having the
    degree and cert will get you pas the first cut but then it really
    starts. So you impress the managers with your cert and degree's in what
    ever field and you get your second interview. Now what happens?

    Well normally you meet the team leader and his "head" tech. Most of the
    time they wont be all that impressed with your papers and want you to
    prove you have the ability to take what you have learnt in the class
    room to the real world where you don't have access to everything and you
    have the all important and biggest road block to troubleshooting... The
    customer :P ahahha

    Ive seen people that look REAL good on paper and one sticks out from
    them all.. Hired as a lvl3 engineer in a SOC, then we all had to cover
    him for 2 mths till we just gave up and it was plain to the manager and
    he was asked to leave... He had it all, Masters, CCNP, MCSE, etc, etc...
    What he didn't have was a clue about the real world.. Give him a fault
    and he couldn't work it back, just didn't have the "Stuff" you get from
    hands on experience.

    What I guess I'm saying is that its not just about your bits of paper..
    But its more about you. Personally I have a couple and they are
    normally so I can make it past the recruitment companies cutting.. Then
    its all about my work experience, my thirst to learn more and what I
    sell to employers as "My abilities to see things other people don't" :P
    Since this is what I do as a threat analyst..

    Think about where you want to be doing in 5, 10, 15 years... Find what
    you need to do those jobs and start doing it, always making sure you
    are moving, moving sideways or forward never backwards..

    Cheers

    Jack.

    -----Original Message-----
    From: tbost@valocity.com [mailto:tbost@valocity.com]
    Sent: Wednesday, 31 August 2005 10:11 AM
    To: gillettdavid@fhda.edu
    Cc: soumyadipta_das@yahoo.com; security-basics@securityfocus.com
    Subject: RE: University Degree or CISSP

    I agree with you. Its about getting the interview AND getting the job.
    After that, its all about performance. The degree and/or certifications
    mean nothing after that.

    Getting the job is marketing yourself. What can you offer or what have
    you done that makes you stand out in the crowd ? Be different. Get a
    degree AND the certifications. It doesn't have to be either/or.
    More importantly though, let the employers know how passionate you are
    about the field. Go to work extra early. Leave later. Buy books and
    read,read, read outside the scope of getting a degree or certification.

     -T

    > CISSP is likely to be necessary to get to some of the places you
    > might want to go. But you can't get it without experience, so it's
    > not a good answer to your question.
    >
    > At this point, I'd say the degree is most critical. There are too
    > many employers where the HR bureaucracy never heard of any of these
    > certifications -- all they know is that a great way to trim the
    > candidate pool is to chuck out any resume that doesn't include a
    > degree. So without it, you risk never getting to the interviewer who
    > knows the field and the certs and can decide whether you can do the
    > job.
    >
    > David Gillett
    >
    >
    >> -----Original Message-----
    >> From: soumyadipta_das@yahoo.com [mailto:soumyadipta_das@yahoo.com]
    >> Sent: Sunday, August 28, 2005 2:30 AM
    >> To: security-basics@securityfocus.com
    >> Subject: University Degree or CISSP
    >>
    >>
    >> Is it better (in terms of technology and industry
    >> acceptablity) to get a university degree on information security than

    >> certifications such as ccna/ccsp, ceh (or security+) and cissp?
    >>
    >> Soum
    >>
    >
    >
    >

  • Next message: Leif Ericksen: "Re: what to do?"

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