How C|CT Certification Advanced My Cybersecurity Career| Peter Westin
In this interview, Peter Westin, a cybersecurity enthusiast, walks us through his cybersecurity journey and how the Certified Cybersecurity Technician (C|CT) certification transformed his career.
With a comprehensive curriculum covering diverse domains, hands-on labs, and engaging CTF-style challenges, the certification course helped Peter gain insights into cybersecurity and made him adept in practical skills crucial for the industry.
Explore why Peter prefers the C|CT certification over other entry-level cybersecurity certifications for a career in cybersecurity.
Is C|CT Worth It?
Has the C|CT certification prepared you well to build your foundational skills in cybersecurity?
C|CT encompasses a wide range of content that covers multiple domains in the cybersecurity field. I was introduced to new concepts and information that were unfamiliar to me. Here’s an example: knowledge of how to protect physical infrastructure at a very fine-tuned level, including selecting and installing fire extinguisher systems for a substantial office building.
In C|CT, you learn about so many cybersecurity domains like ethical hacking, networking, forensics, SoC, threat intelligence etc. How important is learning all these domains, especially during the early stage of your career?
It’s of utmost importance. If you lack knowledge in one of these domains that the C|CT covers, you will lack fundamental knowledge. C|CT curriculum is necessary for a cybersecurity worker to be hired by any business.
Tell us about your experience with C|CT’s labs, the importance of having 80+ labs in an entry-level cybersecurity program, and how these labs have helped you.
The labs were a lot of fun and covered new topics that I had never explored before. I believe that the number of labs was very appropriate. Being a cybersecurity specialist requires you to perform practical work. These labs are carefully selected to give you a foundational, practical knowledge of each domain.
Which part or exercise did you love the most when working with C|CT labs, and why?
I am fond of the Forensic lab kit. There were about three or four labs on Forensics because theoretical knowledge is not worth much, especially in an area like MSD, without practical skills.
How have the CTF style challenges or exercises in the course helped you in the learning curve?
I’m fond of that format. The labs are well-built and aim to teach the material with practical knowledge and a bit of fun.
Have you pursued any other entry-level cybersecurity certifications? If yes, how different have you found C|CT compared to them?
I can mention that many recruiters and organizations prefer the CompTIA Security Plus certification, but C|CT offers a significantly richer and more immersive content experience compared to Security+.
Those who have pursued both C|CT and Security Plus will always say that C|CT is better and will bring more competence to the organization.
What part of the C|CT performance-based exam did you like the most? How was the overall experience of the C|CT exam?
I found a mix of practical and theoretical questions to be enjoyable.
What was your favorite feature of the C|CT program?
Eric Reed is an amazing teacher. He has a unique teaching style, and I’m not convinced that I would have passed the exam without him. You learn for life. You must study C|CT courseware for a long time; if you do, you’ll be able to retain all knowledge, and that requires a method. Eric Reed was very good at teaching and giving advice, which helped me and many others pass both C|CT and other exams.
What has been the immediate impact of the C|CT that you noticed in the job offers and the salary raise that you received?
Passing the exam resulted in a whole new level of respect in the cybersecurity industry, and I noticed that on LinkedIn and similar platforms. I believe that organizational recruiters have begun to comprehend the world of facility certification. I’m at the beginning of building my own business, and I found a lot of value in C|CT—about the plan, security, and all those factors that you need to consider. People were really interested in your opinions regarding security because they knew you had a foundation of very fundamental skills and also very specialized skills, and this made people listen to you.
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What part of the C|CT performance-based exam did you like the most? How was the overall experience of the C|CT exam?
I found a mix of practical and theoretical questions to be enjoyable.