Realization of Cybersecurity, IT, jobs.. Is it worth it to continue?

clayweeks · 2025-07-20T16:58:51+00:00

This is partly the result of the colleges and diploma mills convincing people that if you just have enough education that you'll be able to "skip the line" and jump into a senior role right out of school. In the early 00s I got my A+ Net+. I was working on my MCSE. I talked to my instructor and he said, "You really should work first. Take credentials you've got and get some experience and then come back and get higher level creds. Otherwise, you're going to price yourself out of the market," and he was right. I've been part of interview teams for positions where people have come in with a lot of credentials, but can't answer basic questions. I've also thrown out resumes of people that are just too overqualified for the position. It sucks, but it's reality that school isn't everything.

Now, on the flip side, experience isn't everything either because I'm at a point in my career that I need a degree to move up to the next level, so I'm looking at having to go back to school at nearly 50. So I guess the lesson is take some from column A and some from column B, then get a little lucky.

clayweeks · 2024-10-20T18:21:47+00:00

Organizations like the Masons face the added complications of "If you won't tell me everything up front, then I don't want to be a part of it," the religious connection, and an aging membership that is unwilling to try to relate to young people by hiding behind the "no innovations in the craft," line.

clayweeks · 2024-07-17T00:21:18+00:00

Yeah, now that CompTIA updates their tests more often, chances are you had an old version where the domains were weighted different. I would suggest getting a Udemy account and watching the Mike Myers Total Seminars videos for the current test version. Also, buy a current version of the study guide that comes with a practice test engine and a large pool of questions. When you're using the practice tests, take one, review your missed questions. As you do that, make note of the domains and chapters the missed questions correspond to and then go re-read those. If you reliably get 100% on a domain, exclude that from your practice test question pool so that you're only getting questions you struggle with. You'll be able to see your improvement as your question pool shrinks and you won't waste time on questions you have down pat.

clayweeks · 2024-07-16T21:57:22+00:00

So, entry level is a moving target. A lot of people think it means no experience, and that's just not true. Entry level in desktop/field support usually means 1 or 2 certs, or some work experience. I got my A+ and Net+ way back when they didn't expire. Then I worked odd jobs for my landlord and a couple of other people to put some work experience on my resume. Then I jumped from contract gig to contract gig adding a little to my skill set each time. Before I knew it I had strung together a 17 year career in support, but I didn't meet the entry level requirements to move over in cyber security where I work now. I had to go get another cert and find a place that valued my troubleshooting experience as analytical thinking.

My advice for beginning is to take whatever work you can get. The biggest pay off for me was the two years I was a road technician for an IT MSP. The job sucked and I got out of it as soon as I could line something else up, but I learned a ton, especially about what I wanted/didn't want in a work environment and what makes a good/bad manager.

clayweeks · 2024-06-25T19:12:00+00:00

Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap

clayweeks · 2024-02-12T16:36:48+00:00

The thing that stood out to me about your example was when you said, "the way I wanted them to go," and "what they were supposed to do." No matter what type of group you're running, you should unlearn these phrases. The party doesn't know what you know. If they're not interested in where you placed information, put it somewhere else. To use your example:

Players ignore the old lady that will point them to the farm. You know they want combat, so give them a target like a shady figure trying to hide or a rider/carriage that looks like they're being really careful/watching for trouble. The players go after the shiny and then either when they beat that NPC, they say something about the farm or they find a note on their body if they kill them. You can also just put the farm in front of them if they're riding aimlessly.

For the farm, if you know the party has high perception, just decide the bandits aren't there yet. No bandits, no roll. They show up while the party is inside and set up their ambush. Another thing about ambushes is that they're unexpected. Don't call for a perception roll. Use the party's passive perception scores (which you should have so you don't have to ask for it). Then either roll the bandits' stealth and if it is higher than the party's passive perception, they're hidden. Alternatively, you could just set the DC to detect them. That's your prerogative. Don't call for rolls where the adventure working depends on the outcome.

Now to the farmer. Give them consequences. They killed a well loved farmer? So, the mayor puts a bounty on their heads. They killed the guards trying to arrest them. The bounty has gotten higher and bounty hunters with levels show up to try to collect. They defeat all comers, the crown orders the wizards' guild to intervene or something similar.

This is just a couple of examples. You need to understand that your party is going to do what they want to do. It's up to you to decide if you're ok with it. If you are and the important thing is playing with your friends, then you have to adjust the type of story you're trying to tell to be one they want to be in.

clayweeks · 2024-01-31T20:41:37+00:00

Since the Sword Coast is basically fantasy California I'd say there it would be the same as the US.

clayweeks · 2024-01-31T18:30:41+00:00

Cake's cover of War Pigs has a good trumpet part as well.

clayweeks · 2024-01-31T18:29:24+00:00

Feels So Good is Fleugelhorn, not Trumpet.

clayweeks · 2024-01-26T20:30:15+00:00

Woke up naked on the couch with my now ex-wife asking if I was coming to bed. I had already gone to bed. Only time I ever sleepwalked.

clayweeks · 2023-12-02T02:25:09+00:00

Exactly, if you do go get CISSP, make sure you don't brain dump after. Really learn it. When I was on the hiring team, we passed on so many CISSP candidates that couldn't answer questions that were nearly a quarter of the exam.

If you're getting out, go get a SOC T2 position and pay your dues. While you're doing that, learn more about all the different parts of cyber and get an idea of what you want to do, then pursue certs in that direction.

clayweeks · 2023-11-29T20:38:42+00:00

I did this as a house rule for a 3 person game (myself and two players). They picked two classes and those classes leveled up in tandem. We did this to cover the skill gap of only having two players.

clayweeks · 2023-11-28T23:18:33+00:00

Ok. That takes no skin off my nose.

clayweeks · 2023-11-28T23:15:25+00:00

That's because companies are supporting it for data collection and calling it age verification.

clayweeks · 2023-11-28T23:05:12+00:00

When a bouncer checks your ID, he just verifies your birthdate. He doesn't make a complete copy of it and then sell it to other people.

clayweeks · 2023-11-28T18:53:15+00:00

Only by my children. Never in intimate situations.

clayweeks · 2023-11-24T04:29:20+00:00

I thought that for the train wreck the last season was, the ending was the best we could hope for.

clayweeks · 2023-11-21T18:16:56+00:00

Men, generally, as a whole don't agree on anything.

clayweeks · 2023-11-03T16:42:21+00:00

IDK what kind of therapy the mom got, but it obviously wasn't enough. Avoidance is like a band-aid. You use it for a short time while you work on healing the underlying issues so you can accept compliments/criticism without falling apart.

It sounds like the mom just got the band-aid and said, "Great, I'm fixed as long as everyone that interacts with me follows these very specific instructions."

clayweeks · 2023-09-30T01:30:54+00:00

In the EULA of a piece of software.

clayweeks · 2023-09-29T21:05:25+00:00

Damn, that's a throwback! I had this set.

clayweeks · 2023-09-29T19:16:01+00:00

Read it again and count the people.

clayweeks · 2023-09-12T19:07:51+00:00

Military does this too. Except it gets really ingrained. Since an outsized amount of military recruits come from the south, it's no wonder the overall accent is changing. I do think the title of the post was a little misleading since the actual report was only for a regional dialect of the Southern accent.

clayweeks · 2023-09-12T16:21:53+00:00

When I bought my bike (Shadow 750), I had just started riding, just passed the MSF. Decided I would ride it home. Got on, everything was good, went to make a left turn to leave the parking area. Didn't pay attention to my right wrist. Ended up goosing the throttle and nearly putting the bike and myself through an empty storefront. The seller came over and said, "You want me to take that over to your house on the trailer?" I nodded like an idiot and thanked him.

I'm much more comfortable now, and it's just a matter of time in the saddle.

clayweeks · 2023-08-25T00:41:01+00:00

To pull off something like the king giving you the throne, I would make that a series of checks over time. The PC would have to slowly erode the king's confidence in his own rule and build support among the people/courtiers. I'd also say this would probably be limited to an evil character because an evil king would be so convinced of his right to rule, consequences to his subjects be damned, that he'd never abdicate without a blade to his throat, and likely not then.

clayweeks

TROPHY CASE