My Take On Cybersecurity Certifications

Certificates. Certificates. Certificates.

There are so many certificates to consider in the field of cybersecurity. This article serves to explain my point of view on them, which I've achieved after lots of research and reading different viewpoints from professionals, as well as provide a sort of guide for those who are just starting to consider pursuing cybersecurity jobs.

First off, there have been many discussions about whether certificates are needed at all. I believe they aren't needed, but can be a helpful guide for those who don't know what to study or in which order. There's also another discussion about whether a university degree in tech is better than certificates, but this article won't get into that. Feel free to research some other articles if you're debating whether to pursue a cert path or a university path to make the decisions the best suits you.

My Personal Cert Journey

I want to explain my particular journey through IT certifications to help explain what value I can bring to the table. I obtained the following certificates and in the following order; Google's IT Support Professional, CompTIA A+, CompTIA Security+, Splunk 7.x Foundations, Fortinet's NSE 1: Network Security Associate, and Fortinet's NSE 2: Network Security Associate. I've also been studying for both the CompTIA CySA+ and Microsoft Azure Fundamentals (AZ-900).

Before beginning my IT and cybersecurity cert journey, I felt I knew a lot about computers. I had managed my own home network using a SOHO router and was the one who setup our family WI-FI when I was younger. But then I began studying for certificates. I began with the Google IT Support Professional partly because it was the first one I came across, but also because my cousin was in a program that was following the same teachings. That extra bit from my cousin gave me reassurance that it was a worthy first step. It was my first introduction to certificates meant to help people land IT jobs. The training was done through Coursera through video lessons and I quickly learned that I knew very little about computers and networks at the time. What was great, was it gave me direction with their lessons and I learned a lot about basic networks and got introduced to some basic Linux commands along with general IT terminology. The training also covered working with customers from an IT perspective, which proved useful in my eventual first tech job.

As I completed that first certificate, it was a great sense of accomplishment. But with it came a sense of "what's next?" After speaking further with my cousin, I made the decision to study for and take the CompTIA A+ certificate. I didn't know much about what resources were out there, so I took a safe step and bought training materials directly through CompTIA. It was expensive, but I feel it was a good move for me personally as it gave me access to practice tests from the company itself. The training I went through for this gave me lots of in-depth knowledge of computer hardware. It also touched on a bit of computer networks, computer security, and customer service. All great concepts which helped me get an idea of where to go afterwards. I learned a lot from my training for the A+ and it has helped me gain a decent foundation. I may not use all of the hardware knowledge I gained from the A+ while working in cybersecurity, but it's definitely knowledge that I could fall back on if ever needed.

In each of my studies for certificates that followed, I gained more knowledge that I hadn't had before. Security+ training gave me insight into the CIA triad and how important that concept is in security, among many other concepts. The Splunk training acted as a review for using Splunk search terminology as I had encountered some Splunk training elsewhere. And the Fortinet trainings and certs helped review some basic security concepts while introducing me to some of the products that Fortinet has available.

Main Takeaway

I won't go any further in depth of the specific details I learned for each of the certificate trainings, but I just want to draw attention that a lot of knowledge was gained while preparing for each certificate. When pursuing a certificate for your own path, that should be the main goal. Sure, the fancy little paper that says you passed "xyz" certificate is great and certainly feels good achieving it, but focus on the amount of knowledge that can be gained in training for said certificate. Try to choose certificates that can either strengthen or better prepare you for your current or future role. And with that, if you haven't come across this resource yet, definitely check out Paul Jerimy's website showing a huge listing of cybersecurity certificates and the cybersecurity domains they are related to. This roadmap has been super helpful in helping me decide my next path in training, and I hope it proves helpful to some of you.

Final Thought

Keep in mind that having certificates is no guarantee for a job. I know that's what many of certificate pursuers do, as I was one of them. Certificates can help you get noticed by recruiters who pass your resume forward and can lead to interviews. But there's no promise that because you have cert "A" that you'll land job "B." Be sure to be genuine and unique. Find a way to present yourself in a way that shows you can do the job that is being asked. Know the content that was covered in the certificates you chose to get and don't just rely on "I passed it." Continue to seek other knowledge avenues like additional training websites. Read books to learn new concepts. Build a home lab and try out those concepts for real. Hands-on experience in the right place is what employers are looking for and if you can get that and a certificate, you're headed in the right direction!

Best of luck and enjoy the journey! Learning in cybersecurity will be constant, so be sure to pace yourself.