Okay…I'm 39. I have been in the business world most of my life, and am looking for a change perhaps. The computer forensic world fascinates me, but here is where I'm at. I work for a college that offers this degree, and I can get it at a substantial discount off of tuition. My problem is that, again, I'm 39, married, with 3 kids. My current salary is around $60,000. At my age, should I follow this two year degree in computer forensics, or because of my background go for a business degree? Would my income be okay after I graduate, and would anyone hire me in the forensics field if I'm in my 40's, and starting out?
Please help! And thank you in advance!
Business world? Exactly what kind of work do you currently do?
If it's at all related to…
- Law Enforcement or Workplace Investigations
- Military
- Anything IT/Computer Related
Then with the addition of a computer forensics degree, you may be able to find something which pays that. If you have no experience in any of the above and are completely changing career fields to get into computer forensics, I wouldn't expect to maintain your current standard of living without any hitches.
As with any other career in life, you can't go from one to another without going back down a few rungs unless you've got some really special skills or engage in nepotism.
Depending on your business experience, you could always team up with an already skilled/certified/licensed forensic examiner and manage the business-side of the company or get a job with one of the big 4 auditing companies as a business analyst. You wouldn't really be doing the fun forensic work yourself, then. However, it might give you the chance to keep your same salary and then make a lateral move over to a more ops-related job down the road.
As far as the, "would anyone hire me in the forensics field if I'm in my 40's" There are lots of former LE folks who put in 20 years with a PD or sheriff's office and then start out doing computer investigations. They usually have the benefit of having at least some investigative experience, if not directly computer-forensic related, though.
Jeff
I should also add that I personally believe that having a job you enjoy doing is one of the most important things in life which makes us happy. So if you think you'd like a career in computer forensics, then you should find a way to make it happen.
But seeing as how I have no wife or kids, I can't really give you perfect advice.
Okay…I'm 39. I have been in the business world most of my life, and am looking for a change perhaps. The computer forensic world fascinates me, but here is where I'm at. I work for a college that offers this degree, and I can get it at a substantial discount off of tuition. My problem is that, again, I'm 39, married, with 3 kids. My current salary is around $60,000. At my age, should I follow this two year degree in computer forensics, or because of my background go for a business degree? Would my income be okay after I graduate, and would anyone hire me in the forensics field if I'm in my 40's, and starting out?
Please help! And thank you in advance!
Training is great and certification is better but experience is going to get you a better salary, especially if you have been qualifed as an expert in court. On the positive side, the field is definitely growing although with the development of automated eDiscovery solutions, you may find that a lot of the bread and butter work will disappear. PDA forensics is becoming much more important, but then so are techniques for obfuscating what a user did.
I agree with Jeff that there are more important things to a career than salary. I would also state that by and large the times are past when a particular degree guarantees you a starting income or even a guaranteed income after X years. Your past experiences may make your degree more attractive, but a lot of that depends upon the state of the market for your services.
If you are going to take the plunge understand that the degree is the starting point and there will be a lot of grunge work between the completion of formal studies and the attainment of a senior position in forensic IT. Also understand that the market is becoming more competitive especially with the number of college-based courses/tracks, so expect that you'll have a lot of competition for entry level jobs in the near future.
I don't mean for you to be discouraged but I do think that it is important to have reasonable expectations.
Thank you so much for the information thus far. It is helping me big time. I just am hesitant, but hopefully I will overcome that.