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A common question that often appears, is “How do I start a career in Cyber Security?”.
While there isn’t any one route to start a career, and there are plenty of niches within cybersecurity for people to work in, there can be some common topics that are useful to learn and some free resources that can help you take the first steps on your career path.
Target Your Education Around Job Requirements
If you already have a dream job in mind for where you want to end up in cybersecurity it can be useful to search through job advertisements early on.
These job listings will detail the type of knowledge, qualifications, and experience that are expected from applicants.
While you will likely need to work through some junior positions initially to gain experience, you can start learning the skills necessary to apply for the jobs you want.
Begin Learning Through Free Online Resources
There are a range of free online resources for you to start teaching yourself the necessary skills and foundational topics for a career in cybersecurity.
Some of the core skills that many careers in cybersecurity can benefit from are the following, which each has educational material available to help get you started.
Learn Practical Skills With Free Online Platforms
After learning some of the core skills and theory behind cybersecurity, it can be useful to work on your practical skills.
The following resources each have free tiers available that can help you get started with training and putting skills into practice.
Continue Your Education With Certifications
While there are many free resources available online, some cybersecurity jobs will require certifications to either get started on your career path or to progress into more senior positions.
The specific qualifications requested can change depending on individual job listings, but some commonly sought-after certifications can be from CompTIA.
CompTIA has a certification route that has been developed to allow you to progress your skills from having limited IT experience into a qualified cybersecurity professional.
Other certifications that may be of interest can also be the GIAC certifications, OSCP and if you live in the UK, CREST is also a commonly requested qualification.
Apply For Junior Roles In Cyber Security
If you have learned some of the fundamentals of cybersecurity or have achieved your certifications, you’ll be in a great position to start applying for your first junior role.
Cyber Security is considered a growing industry and there is a reported skills gap within cyber security, but there can still be competition for junior roles, and it can be useful to stand out from the crowd.
Thankfully, there are still some extra steps that can be taken to help differentiate yourself from other applicants.
- Bug Bounties can be useful for practicing your skills in cyber security and can provide some interesting talking points where you do find vulnerabilities.
- Cyber Security Conferences occur throughout the year and can provide an opportunity to talk with people who already work in the industry, ask about how they get started, and express your own interest in applying for career opportunities.
- CV Templates and CV Review options are available online to improve your job applications and give you the best opportunity to stand out from a stack of applicants.
- Where you have received an opportunity to interview, online resources can also help with interview preparation, presentation, and questions to ask.
Working In Cyber Security
Cyber Security can be a great career path with plenty of opportunities, niche areas to specialize in, and a high average salary.
Although there can be a bit of a learning curve when you first start out if you’re interested in the subject and enjoy the learning process, cybersecurity can provide a great career option for anyone with some time and patience to get started.
Andrew Lugsden
Security Consultant at Forge Secure Limited
https://forgesecure.com/
Working within the Cyber Security industry for over ten years to provide consultancy, security testing, and compliance services.