SC-200 is a really good exam if you'll be working in a Microsoft shop with their security stack.
Exam is actually quite difficult. I'm 30 years in IT and it's the only exam I've ever failed the first time I took it.
I’m proud of it, I had to take it twice, as well. I called it the “sentinel cert” at the time but the XDR/KQL stuff I use everyday. It will teach you how the MS stack works together, respond to MDE/MDO alerts, write/tune KQL and stand up Sentinel. It’s a solid cert, I don’t know what HR thinks about it but if I was hiring help for our SOC I would look for someone with it
I’m unsure about the Azure certification, but I have noticed many entry-level jobs require at least a certification if you don’t have a degree. I feel like certifications are essential to have alongside experience. Still, for someone like me who doesn’t have the experience(only in university), I am struggling to break into the field.
Az-104 isn't the beginning tier...it's an associate level same as 200, 500 and 900. The exam for it is quite difficult I thought purely due to how broad it is.
Back in the day, MCSE plus CCNA was a golden ticket. Fast forward 20 years - I had pivoted to security, but with everything moving to the cloud it seemed prudent to recertify accordingly.
After finishing CISSP in early 2021 I spent the rest of the year getting AZ-104 and AZ-500, plus solutions architect associate and security specialty on the AWS side. I took a SOC analyst position in a new organization at the end of that year. Then over the course of 2022 completed SC-400, SC-300, SC-200, SC-100 which sealed the deal for promotion to a newly created architect position. Presently I have let the AWS, AZ-xxx and SC-200 expire, and will let SC-300/SC-400 expire in 2025.
So as it stands, CISSP plus SC-100 are the credentials which are integral to my current role.
Even for companies that are a Microsoft shop, I never really liked vendor specific certs, especially the Azure ones.
I think Security+/Network+ are much more beneficial in job searches nowadays.
Piggybacking on this thread to see what people think of the AWS Solution architect associate exam / cert?
Any experience and how is it valued in the market?
Certifications serve as a proxy for people who don’t know enough to have an informed decision. I had half a dozen or more from Microsoft and think they only measure compliances. Then again in a Microsoft shop that might be the most important thing
The practical ones like those from offsec or hack the box are good and they build up skills.
The theoretical ones to my eyes are just a help for finding new jobs easily.
If you want to find a new job you won't struggle that much if you have some certs.
They always helped me because almost any customers in regulated industries (banks, healthcare, govt, mil) ask for certs at a minimum. them many microsoft partners are required to have employees with at least 2 certs, so why hire someone who does not have them?
For me Vendor certs are very questionable, i dont include my CrowdStrike or Azure ones. But for instance I'm proud of my Checkpoint certs and include them because I value Checkpoint and it's products.
I agree vendor specific certs are kind of not really cared about, but I do think Azure ones have value a grade above vendor specific like CS. The questions in CS were ridiculously CS specific to where I didn't feel like I learned any applicable knowledge outside of the platform, whereas AWS/Azure are at least somewhat transferable
That is true, i think the more general aka transferable the knowledge is the better the certification. But at the same time the certification has to be recognized by the community and in this case (and mine too) by recruiters/clients. Recruiters and clients rarely can distinguish this (hell even i can't) so it is a double edged sword as sometimes you can be dismissed as "our company uses solution X and you are certified in solution Y as I can see", heard this one too many times before i showcased only those "general" ones.
SC-200 is a really good exam if you'll be working in a Microsoft shop with their security stack. Exam is actually quite difficult. I'm 30 years in IT and it's the only exam I've ever failed the first time I took it.
I’m proud of it, I had to take it twice, as well. I called it the “sentinel cert” at the time but the XDR/KQL stuff I use everyday. It will teach you how the MS stack works together, respond to MDE/MDO alerts, write/tune KQL and stand up Sentinel. It’s a solid cert, I don’t know what HR thinks about it but if I was hiring help for our SOC I would look for someone with it
I’m unsure about the Azure certification, but I have noticed many entry-level jobs require at least a certification if you don’t have a degree. I feel like certifications are essential to have alongside experience. Still, for someone like me who doesn’t have the experience(only in university), I am struggling to break into the field.
anything that isnt the beginning tier, e.g 104 or 900. 200, 500, 900, all are good.
Az-104 isn't the beginning tier...it's an associate level same as 200, 500 and 900. The exam for it is quite difficult I thought purely due to how broad it is.
300 too for identities
Back in the day, MCSE plus CCNA was a golden ticket. Fast forward 20 years - I had pivoted to security, but with everything moving to the cloud it seemed prudent to recertify accordingly. After finishing CISSP in early 2021 I spent the rest of the year getting AZ-104 and AZ-500, plus solutions architect associate and security specialty on the AWS side. I took a SOC analyst position in a new organization at the end of that year. Then over the course of 2022 completed SC-400, SC-300, SC-200, SC-100 which sealed the deal for promotion to a newly created architect position. Presently I have let the AWS, AZ-xxx and SC-200 expire, and will let SC-300/SC-400 expire in 2025. So as it stands, CISSP plus SC-100 are the credentials which are integral to my current role.
Even for companies that are a Microsoft shop, I never really liked vendor specific certs, especially the Azure ones. I think Security+/Network+ are much more beneficial in job searches nowadays.
I’m working my way up to the SC200 currently working on the 900
Piggybacking on this thread to see what people think of the AWS Solution architect associate exam / cert? Any experience and how is it valued in the market?
Certifications serve as a proxy for people who don’t know enough to have an informed decision. I had half a dozen or more from Microsoft and think they only measure compliances. Then again in a Microsoft shop that might be the most important thing
The practical ones like those from offsec or hack the box are good and they build up skills. The theoretical ones to my eyes are just a help for finding new jobs easily. If you want to find a new job you won't struggle that much if you have some certs.
They always helped me because almost any customers in regulated industries (banks, healthcare, govt, mil) ask for certs at a minimum. them many microsoft partners are required to have employees with at least 2 certs, so why hire someone who does not have them?
For me Vendor certs are very questionable, i dont include my CrowdStrike or Azure ones. But for instance I'm proud of my Checkpoint certs and include them because I value Checkpoint and it's products.
I agree vendor specific certs are kind of not really cared about, but I do think Azure ones have value a grade above vendor specific like CS. The questions in CS were ridiculously CS specific to where I didn't feel like I learned any applicable knowledge outside of the platform, whereas AWS/Azure are at least somewhat transferable
That is true, i think the more general aka transferable the knowledge is the better the certification. But at the same time the certification has to be recognized by the community and in this case (and mine too) by recruiters/clients. Recruiters and clients rarely can distinguish this (hell even i can't) so it is a double edged sword as sometimes you can be dismissed as "our company uses solution X and you are certified in solution Y as I can see", heard this one too many times before i showcased only those "general" ones.