TAFE Certificate 4 in Cyber Security Recommendation

Tafe is offering certificate 4 in cyber security across the country free of cost. It is a 1 year part time program. As it is online live evening course I would like to enroll somewhere who have best teachers in cyber security.

Which Tafe institute you recommend ?
Thanks in advance.

Comments

  • +3

    All TAFE's follow a national curriculum. If you look into the course code, there is a national course code that defines what areas are covered in general.
    On the same TAFE campus, you can get good teachers for certain subjects and horrible teachers for other subjects.

    different courses have different assignment deadlines, so every two weeks or so you have a deadline for something. If you are single and not working full-time, then this will be OK. However, for parents working full-time, it will be tough. And then if your lecturer is also horrible and picks up spelling errors in the comments section of a Python program and make you repeat the assignment. Then it will be even tougher.

    Having said that, you can still do the course for the learning exercises as they will give you good knowledge and exposure to tools that are used in cyber security.

  • +3

    There is also a paid TAFE bootcamp course here: https://study.iat.nsw.edu.au/courses/security-operations-cen…

  • I have actually applied for this course at my local NSW Tafe, never done a TAFE course so not sure if my application will be accepted or not

  • +3

    TAFE will do some useless topics in that certificate I'm sure. But free is free. If you have the time you should do it. Worst case is you drop out and pay nothing.

    • +1

      Why not do one of the numerous free courses that will actually get them a job? You can't just do unlimited free courses so why waste it on something that is of dubious quality?

      They can later do bachelor of IT/whatever if that's something they wanna pursue. Even at bachelor level, many IT students are using chatgpt/buying their assignments and graduating with no real skills… companies know this and it devalues the degree, a cert 4 would be practically useless.

      • TAFE might actually suit them. I find their topics to be outdated and taught in a convoluted snails pace. But that suits some people.

    • I completed this course whilst doing an internship. All the subjects were relevant to the job. Have you done this course?

      • Cyber security, no. I did web development which wasn't great. Nice to work on some simple projects for practice though.

  • +1

    I have just finished my Cert IV cybersecurity course at Bracken Ridge in QLD . Full time took me 1 year. After six months i have managed to get a job so they allowed me not to attend at the lectures but i had to do all assignment on time like everybody else. It was tough with a full time job but it can be done . Good luck

  • could anyone share the career path after finishing the Cert 4?

    I have someone I know is interested in this or other Tafe IT courses,

    But cert 4 seems to be not that high of a qualification, I wonder how easy is it to find a job competing with the rest of bachelor degree graduates etc.

    • +3

      I've done the Cert4 in CybSec, mainly to get an edu email and free software. Its a very very basic course, i'd be surprised if anyone could get a job out of it.

      Edit: You might be able to get a job doing basic helpdesk at an MSP but not an actual Cyber Security job

    • You just need to luck out with an internship and hope they retain you after the intern period. But depending on the head teacher, they may actually help forward these to alumni to apply for.

    • +1

      I secured a security analyst role via an internship. Some of my classmates are still trying to break into Cyber. Attending networking events can help the chances of finding work.

      • thanks for your reply, where did you find the internship? out in the wild? or was it something offered from tafe? thanks in advance!

        • Was offered through TAFE, however it came around by chance (they only offered it that year to that University)

          • @blueyez: lucky you! hope everything went well in your job.

            could you share a link/place where was it posted? sorry I don't know that much about tafe hence the ask, so I could also take a look and see if it'll help my friend look up further.

            • @OMGJL: It was posted internally at the TAFE, and the teacher needed to recommend you to get your name in. From there it was an intense interview process, at the time it felt more tough than a regular job application.

              I'm not sure where you'd find them advertised, I guess some places might have agreements in place with companies that are willing to offer them. Might be best to ask the TAFE or uni

  • +4

    I am in IT and genuinely curious - is there anyone who found entry level cyber sec jobs with TAFE - or even a cyber sec diploma ?

    Ads I see on seek are only for experienced people - even entry level asks for at least 1 year. Actual cyber sec professionals I have seen are the ones with a general IT / development background and then later moved to cyber.

    • Sure did, with a cert IV

  • +2

    Teaching quality depends on the teachers you have. Some know their stuff, others are so so. What I suggest you do is if you get an opportunity, find out who the head teachers are and have a chat with them and whoever might me your prospective teachers. Get a feel for whether or not they meet your expectations.

    In terms of course material, since it is standardised, TAFEs will assign the same assignments regardless of where you study. However there may be some differences in terms of electives so one college may be more cloud heavy than say one which does their classes on campus who may choose to select more networking electives.

  • +1

    I did one of these at Box Hill TAFE and found the curriculum next to useless. If you've got the discipline you'd get a lot more out of doing some courses that can be found on Udemy or Youtube. I was however coming from a developer background so perhaps the pace was too slow for my liking. Otherwise it does have the benefit of a recognised certificate. TBH though many places when hiring for IT care more about what you can actually do compared to what qualifications you have against your name.
    Good luck.

  • I'm currently doing a Cybersecurity Cert IV @ TAFE and finding it quiet informative. Although you do learn a vast range of IT fundamentals from programming, networking, security and workplace collaborative engagement. I would only recommend it if you are going to continue studying past diploma or even going to university.

    Networking is a big thing in these types of jobs and if you are under qualified you're going to have to definitely rely on you're networking skills to land a job, there's a lot of competition at the moment surrounding "CYBER".

    Honestly I'm achieving above average results and I'm very confident in my abilities verbally but i can't see myself doing diploma. I would love a traineeship that goes into a diploma but studying full time another year without income is unsustainable for me.

  • Ita time for me to buy a new laptop…any idea what i should buy to do this course? Im starting cert 4 in june 25.

    • Check if your provider has minimum requirements for the specs, my uni did but it might be outdated now

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