[kapilartistry]

In order of appearance of '?', here are my responses

1. Market is pretty hot and you will be get multiple choices to pick from the available offers 2. Certifications have very little to do with the job (Full Disclosure - I am currently maintaining CISSP, CCSP, GWAPT, GMOB certs ) That being said, sometimes HR/recruiter use these for filtering candidates. You can look at security+ certification to get a feel. 3. It will make sense even if its not from SANS because people who have done SANS know that a) SANS is very expensive b) its an open bool exam 3) Does not involve hands-on. For that matter, if you will go after coveted OSCP, then people will understand that you have hands-on skills.

4. You should get equivalent or more pay because the market is hot. Most of the earlier security professionals came from SysAdmin/Dev background. You have a better understanding of how systems/apps, so it will be easier to break them or identify vulnerabilities.

There are several blogs (e.g. https://tisiphone.net/category/security-education/) available to find a learning path for security, so check them out. Self learning is the biggest skill that you will need.

PS - Started my career in Information Security 9 years back, right after coming out of school