My brain is not one to sit idle and not allow me to just relax. I have to constantly be learning something or doing anything productive. 🤯 Yes, I know that can lead to burnout. I do make sure to take breaks and force myself to play games, randomly cook a new recipe, draw, take walks, whatever I can to still “stimulate” my brain but also relax me. Anyways….
Immediately after passing the security+, I knew I wanted to jump into gaining another skill set or certification. My first thought was the network+ because, really, you are supposed to take that first. Then, it was the PNPT, then cloud, then more spirals of AI/machine learning, and so on.
I’ve learned since starting my first IT job, you can’t focus on a million things at once. You need to learn to learn, not learn to do. I took at look at what I really wanted to dive into next and it was the PNPT. It’s a pentest exam that’s gaining traction, especially with bigger corporate places (shout out to Mcdonald’s) and the military (NSA).
However, I knew it wasn’t exactly the right step to take. I have a ton of foundational networking knowledge from university (networking I, II, defensive network security, and offensive network security), work experience, also a bunch of lab experience with it and it just makes sense to get it next. It should be something fairly easy for me to study and pass quickly compared to the PNPT, which I’ll need to learn an entirely (mostly) new skill set. Plus, I figured I could couple more python learning with it. 🐍
I know after those two, I’ll be focusing more on cloud and AI/machine learning, even though I’m already cheating a little bit by doing Microsoft’s Learn AI Skills Challenge that’s currently going on 😛
Links to CompTIA and PNPT:
CompTIA: https://www.comptia.org/certifications/network
TCM Security: https://academy.tcm-sec.com/
https://certifications.tcm-sec.com/pnpt/
https://certifications.tcm-sec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/TCMS-PNPT-Training-Overview.pdf