so say i was to go down the uni path , from what i can see from curtin and murdoch the IT courses are very broad. any courses you guys reccommend on doing? trying to get as much info as i can then work out whats best. enrolments for second semester close 17th july, so i have a feew weeks.

Your best bet is to look for something you will enjoy doing. From what i understand with uni you can switch streams if your not enjoying it.

As you mentioned security is definately a growing field and will only get bigger in time. That said there will always be the need for server and network admins as well...

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Osama Bin Hooning
Senior Terrorist Operative
Perth-Wrx

i enjoy the networking admin side and hopefully oneday get into management. that security course does look interesting but not sure if will be as worthwhile.

Im in the same boat as you mate, however im in a different industry. I have 5 years of experience and tafe qualifications but it only gets you so far. I bit the bullet and enrolled part-time in uni so i can still work plenty to gain experience (and so im not a poor uni student) and still be studying away. At this rate its going to take me around 4-5 years to complete a 3 year course, which sounds like heaps longer, but finishing it around the age of 25 doesnt bother me in the slightest as it will mean i will get more money after i finish than some 21 year old with the same degree, but zero experience.

Definitely have a chat to some uni lecturers/course co-ordinators to find out what you will get exemptions from and what other tips they can offer you. Also try contacting a future prospective employer, to see what types of qualifications/experience they might be after so you have a general sense of what it takes.

Im at curtin and find its a great place, but cant speak for any of the other unis in Perth.

Good luck mate.

awesome mate, cheers. yeah well as i said im going to go into murdoch uni on wednesday and see who i can talk to. might pop into curtin after that and see whats there, then decide. i have a few weeks. most likely i would do full time and hopefully work part time on the side. damn wrx costs :P

Yep thats the area i'm working in, and i really enjoy it. I deal mainly with small businesses at the moment, but i've got a couple of larger 200+ user clients.

It's still a pretty broad area that you can specialize in something you like. There's a number of different roles of a Sys Admin, whether it be the role where you deal directly with the users right up to where you have no user interaction and work in a team of specialists designing systems.

The other thing to look at is that once you've got a solid foundation of being a sysadmin common security scenarios are like a second nature. You can then study further if need be to learn the rest.

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Osama Bin Hooning
Senior Terrorist Operative
Perth-Wrx

try and do a degree while your young, you dont want to get to 30 and then be thinking about going back
empolyers will usual employ people with degree for positions of supervision ect down the track

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[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]

thanks everyone for your input and info, has certainly helped. i will head to both murdoch and curtin on wednesday and get some more info/talk to a few people. will let you know what my decision will be.

Ok so i have made a decision to start uni at the start of next year, most likely Curtin doing an Information Technology degree. So this leaves me now with ~6months break till then. Just trying to look for part time work. If anyone has any jobs the know available or ones i should enquire about i would be extremely thankful.