Hey all! Nope, I didn’t forget about my blog. I haven’t lost my mind just yet. 😉
I spent a week in northern Virginia attending a CompTIA Security+ certification course the week of March 16-20 — that’s why it’s not listed in the title. I was much too busy for school to take outfit pictures! 😅
The class was more or less the same as it was back when I attended it back in 2018 (wut??? 🤯), which I was grateful for. It was a lot of information being thrown at you, fire hose-style. One advantage I’ve noticed with this time around is that some things have made much more sense, having had some exposure to some of the topics in the course of my work, namely around the risk and security awareness areas. On the flip side of that coin, there are some things that still absolutely confound me, especially around terms like Recovery Point Objective, Recovery Time Objective, and more so with qualitative risk — that stuff wants to make my head explode. 😂
I also have to think about when I want to try and take the test again once I’ve finished the course. I know I’m going to want to take a little bit of time to allow myself to absorb all of the information, so I’m thinking perhaps scheduling the exam in about 3-4 weeks. Fingers crossed! I’m also utilizing Claude AI to help me study, and keep track of my progress and areas of improvement needed with quizzes.
This Got Me Thinking
It’s probably natural that taking this course this week has me reflecting upon my career journey. I’m still thoroughly confused about which path seems best for me. Initial conversations with my director started with him wanting me to take the CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) path. After digging into a bit, I felt that the CISM (Certified Information Security Manager) was more my speed, being that I don’t really have a penchant for the technical side of cybersecurity.
Being wholly unsure of which route to take, I decided to pose the question to my LinkedIn audience. Although I should have seen it coming — which I didn’t — the responses I received were split right down the middle, so that was loads of help. 😂
While I was in class, I chose to take advantage of the instructor’s experience to see what he thought. To my surprise, he also suggested going for the CISSP certification, citing some good points. It’s a more widely-known certification, and would probably open up more doors than a CISM certification. He also said that the exam wasn’t terribly technical either, even remarking that the Security+ course I was taking was more technical. 🤯
I also sat down to have another discussion with my boss about it, and decided that perhaps the CISSP certification is truly the best path for me. All of this is a long way of saying that my boss knows best. 😂
Now, I just have to figure out the work-related portion of earning the certification… 🙃
Finally, here’s a look back at what I wore to work for two of the three weeks of March. I can’t believe that we’ve already arrived at the end of the month. I try not to have such large gaps in my blog posting, but I’ll also confess that I have been utterly uninspired by anything those past few weeks. I’m sure it was partly due to the course, and wanting to focus. Hopefully the future will return my inspiration.
Have a great week!
-Terry
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