Study plans

So, a little bit about my study methods, goals and history. I have a lifelong interest in all things tech and geeky. I did not have access to many resources growing up. Much of the technology was in it's infancy and too expensive for my family. I started working in the food service industry before moving to private security. I spent time working in customer service and used my ability to make complex technical concepts easy for the average person to understand. I studied accounting and income tax preparation but found the work too seasonal. I got burned out on accounting and maintained focus on security. Now, as I look at the state of the industry and the physical threats that I face everyday at work, I realized that the best option for quality of life improvements for me and my family is to transition fully in to Information Technology. I have reached to the top of my level's earning potential and the only way to earn more is to get back in to management. Unfortunately, that would mean that I would be on call all the time while dealing with short staffs and corporate pressures. I have seen far too much corporate politics and seen far too many skilled people get burned out by the job. My various skills, background and interests all point to a career in cyber security... and the paycheck helps.

I use a free Notion account to organize everything from my study sessions and job applications to personal projects and blog posts. While I am by no means a "Notion Ninja", I have created a few connected databases. I use one master dashboard for top level information and I also have specific boards for each project. Ultimately, each project will automatically feed in to my dashboard but I would rather spend the bulk of my time working on the projects. It took two days to input all the exam domains, objectives and sub-topics for three exams. That's ten hours that I could've used for lectures. The saving grace is that once the database is set up, the rest of the updates flow really quickly.

I am studying for a few CompTIA certifications with a focus on A+ for my foot-in-the-door to IT. I will continue on to the Network+, Security+, Cloud+ and Linux+ but I will probably work on Cisco certifications as well depending on the needs on my employer. Cyber Security is my ultimate goal but the certificates all blend and combine for a solid framework of Information Technology. So far, I have used Coursera, Udemy, ITPro.tv and study guide e-books to prepare for my exams.

I started with the Google IT Support Professional Certificate on Coursera to get a solid foundation of IT support concepts. The program was created by Google to prepare candidates for a career in IT support. The program is broken down in to 5 courses - Technical Support Fundamentals, The Bits and Bytes of Computer Networking, Operating Systems and You: Becoming a Power User, System Administration and IT Infrastructure Services and IT Security; Defense Against the Digital Dark Arts. The whole program is offered on Coursera.com and is self paced. The program includes video lectures created by Google, quizzes, exams, peer reviewed projects and hands on labs using virtual instances of Linux and Windows 10. There forums to provide connections with students all over the world to provide help and encouragement. The complete program takes less than a year to complete...I did it in six months while working a full time job and having a family.

For certificate training, I primarily use ITPro.tv. The platform have numerous labs, video lectures and practice quizzes. I was using the free version but was lucky enough to catch some of the live lectures and received a code for a big discount on the yearly subscription. I only have a few months left on my year but will definitely renew. Hopefully, I will find a coupon code again but the full price is worth it. To supplement, I have some courses on Udemy that I was able to get on sale. Since Udemy runs sales every few days, you can get some really big discounts. These courses are mostly lectures and some only scratch the surface of the subjects but they are nice for a refresher or a different point of view. Sale courses are less than $20 but average around $15. When considering that the average list price is $135, I feel that the sale price is suitable. The full price is much higher than the value of the lectures.

 The last source I use is the e-book version of the study guide. I use the Kindle version due to the discount over the printed books and overall portability. I already have multiple bookshelves packed with books so these huge study guides will require a separate shelving unit. With my phone and headphones, I can study anywhere.

 That's all for now. I might set up a comments section in the future but you can always send an email if you want to contact me.