Beyond the Comptia Security+ Exam: Careers and Other Opportunities

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[edit section] After the Security+ Exam

After you pass the exam and thus become Security+ certified, there are a number of career options available to you in general network support and administration as well as the specific information security field. In addition, Security+ certification can be used as credit in some institutions of higher learning and towards additional certifications such as the MCSE Security specialization.

Here are a list of some career paths or certification paths that you may elect to take upon completion of the Security+ certification process (including, of course, passing the exam with flying colors):

• General Network Support and Administration: The Security+ certification, while being a well-recognized and vendor-neutral examination on information security expertise, is not as difficult as the all-inclusive and exhaustively comprehensive CIISP. It does, however, provide you with a great deal of expertise in information security that would be useful to the network admin as a supplementary knowledge base. Holding this certification will allow you to make your own recommendations based on your own knowledge of information security rather than relying on the knowledge of an outside expert.

• Information Security Professional: An information security professional is distinguished from his or her network administration counterparts in that he or she deals specifically with matters regarding information security. A great deal of information security is not managed through the high-tech realm but through education of users and demonstration of good practices. An information security professional also must keep up with the latest developments in information security, including new exploits and attacks, patches, and cracking techniques. Though being an information security professional can be a rewarding and exciting career, it will take the Security+ certified professional more than a simple certification to become a true specialist in the area.

• Credit: Some technical colleges and universities accept Security+ in place of a course credit for advanced standing or early graduation. In addition, the MCSE with Security accepts the Security+ exam in place of a Microsoft elective exam. So, there are some credit opportunities associated with the Security+ certification.

• Personal Knowledge and Expertise: As an information security professional circulate the various message boards and mailing lists associated with the latest and greatest security happenings. It is always good to be well-informed on the issues of the day no matter what field you decide to pursue, and the Security+ exam should help you to stay informed.

[edit section] Some Final Thoughts

It will take more than the Security+ exam alone to advance your career. However, it will give you insight into the basics of information security and cryptography and help you to think in terms of security as a goal of design. Many releases of software today are plagued with security holes and flaws that arise from a lack of awareness by the designers of the software in the process. It is, therefore, essential that any IT professional should have some background in information security.

We hope that you will take this information "to the bank" in the form of registering and studying for the Security+ exam. You can pass the exam and advance your knowledge base, career, and depth of opportunities in the future. We highly encourage you to use all of our resources and the resources available across the web to ace the Security+!

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