from your working experience as a pentester,
should I work as a system admin or a network admin to gain experience then shifting to penetration testing? or starting directly as a pentester?
please answer from the point of view of work environment.
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1 Answer
Hey there and welcome to interesting world of pentesting!
I will first tell you how I ended up in this area. After my BSc in Computer Science, I worked for several years as a sys admin. However, I tried to take open responsibilities when it comes to security. For example, I pushed forward a new HIDS system and reviewed the hardening guides. It's always good to have some "security" to put on your CV at this stage. Then I found the opportunity to join a smaller pentesting firm. This gave me the opportunity to learn, as they had time and were eager to teach me their methodology.
As you see from sys admin to pentester, that works. Now for the other routes, I would not join pentesting directly without any experience. Keep in mind, you need to consult your clients not just hack them. You would lack in this area and this can lead to some awkward situations. However, again if you find a pentesting firm that would take you on and train you accordingly, that's certainly an opportunity I would go for! Just keep that other issue in mind.
When it comes to net admin, I would say your chances are equal to the sys admin. Again, make sure you already get into the security area of your work and learn the stuff in detail.
Either way, I wish you good luck and welcome to the community. Oh and if you ever happen to come across certifications do some research before you spend money (Without naming any one negatively, but there are some which are considered a joke)
