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  1. #1
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    To be a sys admin/security specialist

    I'm curious, in order to be eligable for most jobs as a system admin, or 10 years down the road be a security specialist, what do companies look for?

    My plans are to get a BS in Computer Science and get certficates in Cisco, Comptia A+, I was thinking of getting one for Oracle but I'm not sure.

    Is there anything Im missing or should get before I attempt to get a job in the industry?

  2. #2
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    Depends on the company. if you have a boss who doesn't know anything about computers, they look for a college degree. If you have a boss who knows about computers, he looks for experience.

    Make computers a hobby on the side of your education. This may be terrible advice, but get you should get addicted to something that is only accessable via the internet. A lot of kids go for an education in computers when they really don't love them.

    The best system administrators are the ones who have a lot of experience. The guys who go to college only know what the books teach them. You need to think outside of the box.

    While computer security may seem like a sweet job, it's really not. You are going to be on call all the time. You are going to recieve calls at 4 in the morning from your boss, complaining that he is recieving a "page can not be displayed" error when he tries to go to the company website. You are going to have to deal with angry, computer illiterate rednecks who just think you are a loser who lives in his mom's basement.

    Consider the worst case scenario before you sign onto this gig.

  3. #3
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    I do love computers, I always have. I'm thinking of a career in software engineering, game dev or system administration.

    Thing about game dev and software engineering is that they require you to be on the job for huge amounts of time. Growing up my dad wasn't around much because he had a job like that, and I know what that can do to a kids so I either need to find a game dev company that will allow you to work regular hours and rarely overtime/weekends. Or I need to work as a sys admin for some company that won't need me to be on call 24/7 (or at least will need me to be, but wont call me in to often). I dont mind working weekends a few times a year during crunch time and whatnot, or even going in early in the morning saturday and leaving around noon.

    But I'd really rather not have a job that requires me to be "on the job" nearly 24/7, no matter what it pays.

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zaitech
    I do love computers, I always have. I'm thinking of a career in software engineering, game dev or system administration.

    Thing about game dev and software engineering is that they require you to be on the job for huge amounts of time. Growing up my dad wasn't around much because he had a job like that, and I know what that can do to a kids so I either need to find a game dev company that will allow you to work regular hours and rarely overtime/weekends. Or I need to work as a sys admin for some company that won't need me to be on call 24/7 (or at least will need me to be, but wont call me in to often). I dont mind working weekends a few times a year during crunch time and whatnot, or even going in early in the morning saturday and leaving around noon.

    But I'd really rather not have a job that requires me to be "on the job" nearly 24/7, no matter what it pays.
    dunno how old you are, but reading between the lines im gonna make some assumptions...

    unless you're a talented coder, or have the potential to be, ignore the software engineering/game dev route (not least because the level of turnover in gaming dev is v. high). its not as glamourous as it sounds

    im reasonably well qualified to comment on the sysadmin route - its what i do now at a decent level (solaris + linux, with a bit of aix). i dont have a degree - im mostly self taught and i got a break after first doing some consulting for a company who then offered me a job. using my experience and knowledge i was able to move on to where i am now, and ive doubled my salary in 2 years.. to get here ive read a *lot* of books (security, sysadmin, coding), spent a *lot* of time helping people out for free, and made a *lot* of mistakes.

    at the base level sysadmin'ing and security are similar - host security, firewalls etc. however if you look at any decent sized company, you have sysadmins, a security team and in our place we have unix engineers too. the security guys do things like cisco or checkpoint, and the unix guys of us do *nix - people do things like rhce's, and the equivalent solaris + aix courses. id ignore the comptia stuff, i dont know anyone thats got it or has used it, and become an expert at unix - a proper expert.

    1 last thing - dont ignore the jobs that have overtime/oncall - everyone has to start somewhere, and noone starts at the top. most companies have to offer 24/7, its a service industry in essence and someone has to do it... its a great way to get experience, and it looks good on the cv for the next job..

  5. #5
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    I'm 20 years old, and attending college for computer science. Im a decent programmer.. programmed websites and php/perl for a long time now but I don't think Im "best" material right now (that might change).

    I LOVE interacting with servers, setting them up, the competition (Yes, its a competition) of having a hacker try to get into a server your protecting. I have limited us of linux, rhel, centos, etc but I want to learn and the little i"ve done so far I've loved doing.

    After 5-6 years of being a system admin though, do thinks get less "on call" and more stable or is it that same call-you-in-at-4am thing like people have told me?

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by Zaitech
    I'm 20 years old, and attending college for computer science. Im a decent programmer.. programmed websites and php/perl for a long time now but I don't think Im "best" material right now (that might change).

    I LOVE interacting with servers, setting them up, the competition (Yes, its a competition) of having a hacker try to get into a server your protecting. I have limited us of linux, rhel, centos, etc but I want to learn and the little i"ve done so far I've loved doing.

    After 5-6 years of being a system admin though, do thinks get less "on call" and more stable or is it that same call-you-in-at-4am thing like people have told me?
    well with 5-6 years of experience you'll be able to pick and choose a bit better. with 1-2 years you'd have to take whats there a bit more... i picked a company that make me do oncall because of the nature of the role, the very good name of the company and the contract, and the experiences i know ill pick up (sans/emc, cisco, solaris, linux, aix + more experience of 2nd/3rd line support)

    php/perl + web programming isnt particularly proper programming in my eyes. to be a decent coder for something like game programming, you'll have to know about the computers themselves - ie how the memory works, how the cpu works, the registers and stuff like that - for that it takes university as its just too wide to be able to be current and get the right info on the right stuff

  7. #7
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    I LOVE interacting with servers, setting them up, the competition (Yes, its a competition) of having a hacker try to get into a server your protecting. I have limited us of linux, rhel, centos, etc but I want to learn and the little i"ve done so far I've loved doing.
    Do you engage in root wars or anything like that?

  8. #8
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    Lol. Not what I meant by competition. Although root wars might be interesting...

  9. #9
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    After 5-6 years of being a system admin though, do thinks get less "on call" and more stable or is it that same call-you-in-at-4am thing like people have told me?
    Nothing is ever stable. sysadmin requires you to be on-call 24x7 if ever needed.
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  10. #10
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    I know, Im going to college for computer science and engineering so I could always go into game dev/software engineering if I'm good but ideally I think I would like to be a sys admin. The only downside I can see to it is the 24/7 oncall that most companies would require.

  11. #11
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    we do 1 in 5, its not all that bad tbh and you get used to it

  12. #12
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    You get called in early 1/5 days a week? As in 4 days a month? Thats not bad, do you work weekends? What average time do you get off at?

  13. #13
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    1 week in 5

  14. #14
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    To be a security specialist you need to know the ins and outs of the operating system you are using. This unfortunetly cannot be learned through schooling to the point you need to be. It needs to be experience. example, im personally looking for a possible full time job and i have found there are two types of companys ones that need degrees and believe everything you say and those that say show me. the ones that say show me are likely better off.
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  15. #15
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    most of the interviews ive done have included a technical interview - the current one lasted 45 minutes for a paper interview, and then a further 45 mins grilling by 2 pretty damn good people..

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