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Aug 28 2022 06:36pm
Hey everyone, So I’m at in the Air Force right now but I’ll be separated come November when my contract ends. Ive got my associates in Emergency management and I just enrolled into a Bachelors of Cybersecurity program but haven’t really gotten started with it yet. I got sick of being so indecisive about what certificate to get so I finally buckled down and just picked Security +.

I’m starting to wonder if that was a mistake because it seems like A+ is more sought after for entry level jobs (even though I know sec + is also entry level) I plan to take my exam sometime next month and just don’t know what to look for when it comes to employment. Any suggestions would be super helpful. In addition, how hard would it be to then go and take network +/A+ after completing sec +? What pay range could I be looking at with/without the additional certs?

Any help would be super appreciated! Or even just tell me about you’re experiences and how you like the field.
Hope you all have a great day!
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Sep 18 2022 08:19am
Little late to the party, but my 2 cents. If you're paying for it out of pocket, stick with sec+. If the AF is paying, take as many as you can on their dime, but don't waste GI Bill money on them after you get out.

I thought A+ was actually harder than sec and net because of the volume of information you need to know, that test covers such a wide breadth of material.

Nobody can help you with pay questions without a ton more detail like geographic locale, industry, and position specifics.
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Sep 22 2022 03:28pm
stay the course with the sec+. learning is learning. like you said, you’re starting somewhere which is what’s most important right now

i’m assuming you’re trying to get into IT with limited IT experience. have you considered working for a defense contractor? your clearance gives you an advantage, and the sec+ will be good for dod8570 / look good on a resume for sure
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Oct 16 2022 11:18pm
Quote (Andrewx222 @ Aug 29 2022 12:36am)
Hey everyone, So I’m at in the Air Force right now but I’ll be separated come November when my contract ends. Ive got my associates in Emergency management and I just enrolled into a Bachelors of Cybersecurity program but haven’t really gotten started with it yet. I got sick of being so indecisive about what certificate to get so I finally buckled down and just picked Security +.

I’m starting to wonder if that was a mistake because it seems like A+ is more sought after for entry level jobs (even though I know sec + is also entry level) I plan to take my exam sometime next month and just don’t know what to look for when it comes to employment. Any suggestions would be super helpful. In addition, how hard would it be to then go and take network +/A+ after completing sec +? What pay range could I be looking at with/without the additional certs?

Any help would be super appreciated! Or even just tell me about you’re experiences and how you like the field.
Hope you all have a great day!


go talk to your chain of command about "correspondence courses" or online degrees from a local collage mil could cover it. ya your leaving zzzzz

i talked to a ssbn guy who "tried" that when he had down time. do not expect down time during your deployment for correspondence courses but on shore leave its "possible" if you can stay awake. sure its offered if you ask but i dont know anyone who actually completed it with the work load given. i dont know how it is in the air force so its just my view on the matter.


cybersecurity is a growing field and that means a lot of people are going to apply for a position and it will get filled quickly. also the complexity of the job is low enough most people with a basic common sense and general systems knowledge of windows / linux can pull it off.

if you still want cybersecurity then there is a nitch that is hard to fill because the job is much harder: network forensics or if you want to work for the government again focus on computer forensics that job is gravytrainomg and pays on the scale of fucktons. that job is never going away because nearly everything is digital and it gives you an opportunity to work directly with the fbi / local police or as a consultant for a alphabet as you should still have an active security clearance making you a better hire, you should already have your usajobs account active by now.

those two subgroups you can self learn there is a lot of free material and the concepts are not hard but will still require official certificates from a university. nearly all education in the IT field is self study that is how you for example learn programming.

take a read its free and safe:
https://www.pdfdrive.com/network-forensics-books.html
https://www.pdfdrive.com/computer-forensics-books.html
see if the field suits you

its just my 2cents take it with a bag of salt
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Oct 31 2022 01:38pm
good luck on your journey ^^
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Oct 31 2022 11:57pm
A+ is for old people and people who have never touched technology in their lives.

Go with Sec+, because it's required for basically any decent DoD/gov tech job, especially if it requires a clearance.

There is no point in getting A+, at least from a job searching perspective.

As far as salary range, with nothing other than Sec+ and a TS/SCI (no "real" experience in the job listing specialty or field), I have seen guys make $100k-$200k. But that was as a contractor in a combat zone.

If you get an "entry" level job CONUS, depends on a lot of factors.

Just look on usajobs or clearancejobs.

I will say, kinda late for you to be trying to figure this stuff out. 1 month out from ETS, you should've had this shit squared away tbh.

GL
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Nov 1 2022 12:01am
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