SANS Work-Study

My contract with my current employer won't be renewed for now.  I may still be hired for future opportunities with my current employer.  It's ok.  I like my job, but sometimes there simply isn't enough work for one to do.  I appreciate the experience that I gained, and that I had an excellent employer.  I look forward to working with my current employer in the future.

I recently received some exciting news.  SANS offers a work-study program.  I signed up for several opportunities.  I've been getting some declined notices.  I did get one acceptance letter.  I'll be a Facilitator for SEC 301 at SANS Security West.  I'm excited and a little nervous.  That's next month.

The Work-Study program is a great resource for people just starting out.  The course is given at a discounted rate($900 at the time of this writing-it will increase to $1,100 after April 1st, 2016-and may increase in the future), in exchange for the person volunteering to assist SANS employees at the conference.  The hours are long, potentially 6:30 AM-7:00 PM, but I think that it's worth it.  Currently, the Facilitator gets the course that they were assigned to-you pick from a list of courses that you're interested in-then SANS tells you which one you get from that list.  The Facilitator also gets the On-Demand version of the course in case they are called out of class for any reason.  The Facilitator may be "required" to sit in a couple of SANS@Night events.  I put required in quotes because I will attend as many as I can, anyway.  The SANS@Night events are interesting, valuable resources.  The Facilitator gets a certification attempt if they stay in the same hotel as the conference.  At the time of this writing-if one lives near the conference or has friends/family that they will be staying with, that requirement to get the certification attempt may be waived.  NetWars may be available for an extra fee, if one is interested in trying NetWars.  Facilitators must pay their own travel expenses, if the conference isn't near their home.  I like the opportunity to network and learn.  Here's the website for more information:  https://www.sans.org/work-study