Recently, I posted on LI that the US government was changing the policy of adopting "Skills-based" hiring for Federal jobs and for contractors as opposed to the requirement of a college degree in a particular discipline.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/oncd/briefing-room/2024/04/29/press-release-wh-cyber-workforce-convening/
Coincidentally, I saw a post from one of my connections who had achieved the CompTIA Security+ certification.
Though I congratulated the person on the achievement, I have to confess my ignorance of the body of knowledge that current CompTIA "vendor neutral" certifications covered, as my experience with CompTIA certifications was a couple of decades ago.
They have many CompTIA certifications, and, based on his post, I started my research of Security+, A+ and Network+ certifications and the body of knowledge these 3 certifications test for. Reference https://www.comptia.org/certifications
Those that know me know that I am a believer in lifelong learning and am constantly humbled in that the more that I learn, the more I realize how much I DON'T know.
I also appreciate the complexities and dangers of skills assessment, that can cause you to not recognize what you do know (AKA unconscious competence) and knowing a little about a subject and thinking you are an expert, that is VERY dangerous (AKA unconscious incompetenve), also known as the Dunning Krueger Effect. Reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
Though I have a significant amount of knowledge and experience with virtualization, server, storage and networking, I recognize the need to stay current in as cost-effective manner possible as I explore my next career opportunities.
To that end, I started researching what was available on the Internet, and though there are various programs, one trainer that "spoke to me" at the appropriate level was Professor Messer.
Three YT playlist series that I highly recommend are:
How to Pass Your SY0-701 Security+ Exam
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG49S3nxzAnl4QDVqK-hOnoqcSKEIDDuv
How to Pass Your N10-008 Network+ Exam
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG49S3nxzAnlCJiCrOYuRYb6cne864a7G
CompTIA 220-1101 A+ Training Course
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLG49S3nxzAnnOmvg5UGVenB_qQgsh01uC
Whether you plan to actually get CompTIA certifications or not, if you are like me and strive to better yourself and constantly keep your skill-set current, I highly recommend these free YouTube series.
I invite you to post in the comments other free training resources that you feel are worth my followers and connections time.
As I have found them for specific virtualization solutions, I have posted them in the specific communities sections at https://www.virtual-options.com
Thanks,
Bob