Re: Career Advice

[Brian Seel <brian.seel () gmail com>]

Good advice Allison. In the last few months I have been trying to get more
involved with the security community... its been hard because I have a
reclusive streak to myself but I am working on it.

As for certs, do you have any suggestions? I have not tried to focus on
certs just because my experience with getting my A+ and CISSP has left me
feeling like certs are a joke that cover up for deeper deficiencies... but
I have only attempted the A+ and CISSP. What certs are out there that you
think would make someone stand out.

As a follow up, do you think its worth the time it takes to get a cert (do
you value knowing that someone has a standard level of knowledge)? Or would
you think higher of someone that has job related experience?

Thanks,

Brian

PS: Allison, I never get a chance to watch the podcasts, but whenever I
hear them, I always picture you as Dr
Park<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chi_Park>because you sound almost
exactly like her.

On Sat, Feb 23, 2013 at 8:52 AM, allison nixon <elsakoo () gmail com> wrote:

> My most generic advice is to:
> 1. teach yourself how to do it and then
> 2. convince the right person that you can do it
>
> is your current job related to security or not?  get to know people in the
> field because there is always a huge labor shortage and they will try to
> hire you.
>
> if you're looking for part time pentesting work only, you're going to have
> to get to know a lot of people because very few would be setup to contract
> that stuff out piecemeal, and they would only do it to trusted people they
> know anyways.  very small pentesting companies are your best bet here.
>
> If you dont have any pentesting certs it would be wise to get some, but
> may not be necessary if you have the skills and the right people know that.
>
> you're going to have your best luck getting a full time job.  I know it
> isn't easy to change large aspects of your life, but sometimes it's worth
> it and you'll be a happier person in the long run.
>
> -Allison
>
>
>
> On Sat, Feb 23, 2013 at 12:07 AM, Brian Seel <brian.seel () gmail com> wrote:
>
> > Note: I am trying to keep this email vague so it is generic
> > for posterity's sake. I am trying to not make the question specific to my
> > situation so others can use your advice.
> >
> > =========
> >
> > So long time listener (pre Ep 100) who has been doing computer security
> > related things for the last four years or so since college. I would really
> > like to break into the pentesting arena, but I really like my current day
> > job for a variety of reasons (pay definitely not being one of them).
> >
> > Basically, I would really like to do commercial pentesting on a part time
> > basis, where I take a week or two off from my day job every few months and
> > try to gain experience in the commercial realm and get my feet wet with a
> > different way of approaching computer security. Within the next year I
> > would love to leave my day job and do pentesting full time, but I dont feel
> > confident enough just yet. As a bit of background, right now I am doing
> > some Metasploit dev for my employer, but I am not able to do an end to end
> > pentest.
> >
> > My question is if you have any advice about the best way to try to get a
> > part time pentesting job. I am not under any illusion that trying to do
> > pentesting part time is not going to be an easy sell. I know that, but I
> > think my unique skill set will make *someone* want to take a flier on me.
> > But, considering that most of you are probably pentesters, or in fields
> > closely related, what would make you want to take someone on in a part time
> > basis. Or is there really no case where you would consider that?
> >
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