Weekly thread for any and all career, learning and general guidance questions. Thinking of taking a training or going for a cert? Wondering how to level up your career? Wondering what NOT to do? Got other questions? This is the time and place to ask!

  • alex_02
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    1 year ago

    My community college offers two certs. One for security and one for networking. Wondering if I should try to take the security one and see if I can pass the exam which would save me time or if I should sit through all the classes.

    • noUsernamesLef7
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      1 year ago

      If you’re looking at paying for certs I personally would stick with ones from common organizations, like CompTIA, (ISC)^2, SANS, Cisco, etc. I think a lot of the value in the cert (at least for career purposes) comes from the name recognition and trust placed in the organization certifying you. A recruiter looks at a Sec+ credential and knows exactly what that entails, whereas a certification from a lesser known organization or community college doesn’t do much to tell them what you know or have studied.

    • shellsharksOPMA
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      1 year ago

      Not sure I understand the question. The cert is a series of classes or a single class? Are you asking if you should just challenge the exam versus going through the course?

      • alex_02
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        1 year ago

        I don’t want to sit through the class if I can pass the exam, but sitting through class might be helpful.