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Received my CompTIA Security+ certification

Started by Jason, October 15, 2022, 05:08:56 PM

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Jason

I'm now a security expert. ;) No, far from that but this was a hard certification to get and in IT, it's my first one. It took a 16-week intensive online course through NPower Canada to get it. But they prepared me well. I received 787 out of 900 on the exam which I'm told is very good. I'm going to be working on my A+ certification soon, as well.

Now just get that lucrative cybersecurity job. I'll probably have to start with something more mundane like being a technical support analyst first. That sucks and pays little but it's a start.

Just wanted to brag! :) Btw, if anyone is looking into some introductory various certifications, you can't go wrong with NPower Canada. Check them out. There's no cost if you're unemployed and that includes exam vouchers, too. The Ontario government pays for it.
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ssfc72

Excellent, well done Jason. Congratulations on your certification.
I would think you should also be able to remotely, work at a job in IT security, which would allow you to stay in the Peterborough area and yet work for a company that is located elsewhere.
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Jason

Thank you, guys! And Bill, that's my thought exactly. There were already many remote jobs in IT and only more since the dawning of the plague. I've found a lot on job search sites.

But the problem is the usual one; they want people with years of experience, unless it's tech support, and sometimes even a year of experience before doing that. They told us in the NPower program to recognize that many employers are just posting their wish list, not what they actually require or will accept to fill a position.

Leaving Peterborough is highly unlikely and the job would have to be either remote or only part-time, if not, as I'm a caregiver for my wife who has a disability. I don't think I can leave her alone all day.
* Zorin OS 17.1 Core and Windows 11 Pro on a Dell Precision 3630 Tower with an
i5-8600 3.1 GHz 6-core processor, dual 22" displays, 16 GB of RAM, 512 GB Nvme and a Geforce 1060 6 GB card
* Motorola Edge (2022) phone with Android 13

cod3poet

Congrats Jason, I know from first hand experience just how hard the Security+ is but it does pay off in the long run. Many much congrats and good work for sticking with it. If you have any questions or want to diver deeper down the PiHole let me know as I have a vested interest in cybersecurity and love any excuse to tinker.

The A+ in the industry is generally seen as unnecessary HOWEVER the algorithm loves it and it gets you past a lot of automated gates for jobs. As for the remote side I am on year 7+ so yeah.

Don't stop now you have momentum!
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Jason

Thanks, Brian. I should have read this post first since I asked in your other post if you were still working remotely. :)

How did you find your first remote job?

Did you find that a lot of advertised postings asked for years of experience that you didn't have? Or were you already experienced enough it didn't matter?

Regarding the A+, I found out that NPower will pay for my exam without requiring me to take the course now that I'm an alumni. And there are lots of courses online to prepare for the A+ for free. But as you said, the professors were telling me that Security+ is a better cert and that the A+ probably isn't necessary. I'm more interested just because I don't have much IT industry experience. It's mostly hobbyist, doing my own tech stuff and helping friends or family.
* Zorin OS 17.1 Core and Windows 11 Pro on a Dell Precision 3630 Tower with an
i5-8600 3.1 GHz 6-core processor, dual 22" displays, 16 GB of RAM, 512 GB Nvme and a Geforce 1060 6 GB card
* Motorola Edge (2022) phone with Android 13