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Specialise to survive?
From: irongeek at irongeek.com (Adrian Crenshaw)
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:48:02 -0400
"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." ~Robert A. Heinlein That said, from a career stand point I have no idea, I just love Heinlein. :) Adrian On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 6:42 PM, John Navarro <jnavtx at gmail.com> wrote:
I agree, it depends. I've spent the last 10 years specializing in firewalls and it was an ok gig, but it stops being challenging or interesting eventually (depending on where you work and the responsibilities) . Now I've done a LOT of other things, and been involved in a lot of other aspects of security, but it was hard to break away from that "firewall guy" mentality. If you're specialized, sometimes managers will only see you as capable of doing that one thing, and will try to keep you in that role because they feel nobody else can fill it. At least that's been my experience...but now I do forensic analysis of devorak keyboards for AS/400 systems emulating Apple IIc systems! (j/k) On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 3:55 PM, Michael Douglas <mick at pauldotcom.com>wrote:It all depends on what sort of a career you want to have. If you want to find a job pretty easily and have a great variety in what your day-to-day gig looks like, I think being a generalist is a valid option. However, if you have the inclination and want to focus on just one aspect of InfoSec you can do that too. Be sure to checkout what your local market will pay for each. Sometimes specializing can be very lucrative, unless perhaps you're focusing on something too niche (forensic analysis of devorak keyboards for AS/400 systems emulating Apple IIc systems). Also remember, it's only money... you should view your time as far more important. If you don't believe in your job and really enjoy or find what you're doing interesting, you do need to start looking elsewhere. Do NOT become a cow-orker. We (geeks) make very poor sheeple. <rant> If you really want to get me frothy in the mouth start saying stuff like "jack of all trades, master of none". Why? It's a LIE. Assuming no cognitive impermanent or organic brain damage, one can become really good at any number of computer based skills. I honestly believe the idea that someone HAS to focus on just one thing is a misguided "truth" perpetuated by those who are lacking skills themselves. (also bear in mind two things -- first I'm not professing to be a general know-it-all for computer stuff. Second, I've had too much caffeine. Again. So this answer should be read as 30% less ranty) </rant> Maybe we should have an InfoSec career round-table on the show sometime soon. Any votes on this? If you like the idea, please send some questions our way! - Mick On Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 10:52 AM, Robert Portvliet<robert.portvliet at gmail.com> wrote:What do you guys think of this article? http://darkreading.com/blog/archives/2009/08/specialization.html Do you feel it's better to study different areas of infosec (incident handling AND penetration testing, for instance) or do you think it's best to pick one area & focus all your efforts on learning everything you can about it? _______________________________________________ Pauldotcom mailing list Pauldotcom at mail.pauldotcom.com http://mail.pauldotcom.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pauldotcom Main Web Site: http://pauldotcom.com_______________________________________________ Pauldotcom mailing list Pauldotcom at mail.pauldotcom.com http://mail.pauldotcom.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pauldotcom Main Web Site: http://pauldotcom.com_______________________________________________ Pauldotcom mailing list Pauldotcom at mail.pauldotcom.com http://mail.pauldotcom.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/pauldotcom Main Web Site: http://pauldotcom.com
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Current thread:
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