Thought Process
I have been thinking about where I want my career to go to in the future. There should be a way to go about accomplishing my ultimate goal. The goal is to become a CTO, CIO or CISO by the time that I am 51, which is the average age of a CTO. By accomplishing my ultimate goal I need to have some mid term goals and that is where the Network Security Engineer role is on this path.
I am not necessarily there at this point but I am trying to aim myself towards this mid term goal. In order to do this I have come up with a strategy of using my yearly goal to pass the CCNA. I will hopefully be able to get a job again as a Network Administrator. For the CCNA, I am done with almost all of the training materials except for the CBT Nuggets CCNA 2024 Course.
Recertifying for the CCNA
In the process of getting a voucher for two attempts for the CCNA which I have until January 5th, 2025 to complete. I did have the CCNA Routing and Switching along with the CCENT which both retired. As a note for this, I did have the CCNP ROUTE exam passed and was in the process of getting the CCNP. I was having some issues around this time with my physical and mental health and it lapsed around April 2015.
Choosing the way to go after the CCNA is one of the ways that I am getting to the mid term role of Network Security Engineer. I still want to get the CISSP and want to get the CCNP Enterprise. This is along with the CCNP Security and the newly called Cisco Certified Cybersecurity Associate (CyberOps) in order to go more into Network Security.
Network Security
I am wanting to do some more work in Network Security as I am developing my career. I am interested in the Cisco Certified in Ethical Hacking designation. Going through the modules for the netacad.com Ethical Hacking course. The second thing to do for this designation is an applied Cisco CTF in order to get the Cisco Certified in Ethical Hacking certification.
Network Security Engineer
As a Network Administrator I will be given some time to develop my skills more and go about getting some more certifications. This is before I transfer into more of a Network Engineer role and then the Network Security Engineer role. For this role I am wanting to develop my skill set mainly in Network Engineering and then more into Firewalls and Cybersecurity.
Conclusion
I’ve been doing some more work on TryHackMe, HacktheBox and Hacker101 and will look into the Cisco CTF platform. I am happy where I am in my career and the main goal is still to get the CCNA and recertify. I do want to update to the Tech+ and pass the CCST: IT Support certifications to help me out in the Helpdesk and Network Technician roles.
