What You Need to Know on Your Career Pathway Into Cybersecurity

There is no clear-cut path to success. Regardless of the many formulas that motivation speakers will try to sell on career pathways into cybersecurity. 

What works for you will not necessarily work for another hence the need to try different options until you find one that has desirable results.

Usually, passion plays a critical role in determining the career path we want to take.

If you hear of a data breach and wish there is something you could do, it is time to consider a career pathway in cybersecurity.

Depending on how you want to assist in the fight against cybercrime, there are various career pathways into cybersecurity.

Problem Solvers Tend to Make Good Cybersecurity Specialists 

Although going to school will impart the necessary knowledge needed to carry out your duties as a cybersecurity specialist, some skills cannot be learned in the classroom.

Employers looking to hire someone like an incident responder do not even bother with the technical skills listed on your resume.

They are interested in your problem-solving skills!

Former Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the White House, Theresa Payton, complained about the many graduates who get their education from excellent cybersecurity programs but lack the core skill set of problem-solving.

Troubleshooting is among the many challenges in the IT department.

Without problem-solving proficiency, you will not know how to approach the problem.

Even if you don’t have the technical skills but have an insatiable thirst for solving problems, you are well on your way to making it in the cybersecurity industry.

Such prowess enables you to quickly detect and prevent malware and write custom scripts to alert system users of an impending attack.

If you are confident in your problem-solving skills, you should consider becoming an incident responder. You will use the skills to investigate and respond to threats fast.

You need a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity and three years of relevant experience, so you might want to lay the foundation for your dream career by working as a system administrator first.

Enjoy Imparting Knowledge? A Career in Cybersecurity May be Right for You

If cyber-attacks make you want to educate people on preventing hackers from accessing their system, you should investigate career pathways into becoming a cybersecurity consultant.

It is a mid-level position meaning you will need to have at least five years of experience working in cybersecurity.

Communication skills will be very instrumental in helping you explain the difference between threats and vulnerabilities to people who barely have any technical knowledge.

You can get an associate’s degree to land an entry-level position in the security field.

Then work your way to the top as you pursue a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity.

Even after landing your cybersecurity consultant position, you need to stay ahead of the hackers by keeping abreast of all the tactics they develop to bypass security measures.

Reading websites, security blogs, and even attending workshops will aid you in becoming redundant in an ever-evolving technological world. 

Some of the skills that will come in hand performing your duties include:

• Principles of ethical hacking 
• Coding practice
• Operating systems
• Penetration testing
• Encryption techniques and capabilities

Remember that as a consultant, you need to be well-versed with both the tactics of a defender and attacker to strengthen systems and prevent hackers from exploiting vulnerabilities.

Are You Curious about Evolving Technologies?

To catch a thief, you have to think like one, and that is where a cybersecurity architect comes in to protect systems from cyber-attacks.

As an architect, you are tasked with implementing new security architectures by blending your hardware and software knowledge to identify a system’s weaknesses.

You will use your knowledge to develop solutions aligned with the organizational policies and industry standards.

For this reason, your technical skills are not the only requirements.

Your leadership skills will have to be excellent because you will be tasked with allocating resources and guiding security team members.

Your education requirements will entail an undergraduate degree in information technology or cybersecurity where you can gather all the hacking knowledge needed to beat hackers at their own game.

Since a cybersecurity architect holds an advanced-level position, you are required to have held an entry-level position that paved the way for a mid-level role before finally becoming an architect.

Your experience will range between 5 to 10 years in information security and IT risk management.

There are many career pathways in the cybersecurity field. Once you settle on one, you have to ensure that you get your training from a school aligned with your interests.

With the current hectic schedules, balancing your career while still furthering your education can be tricky.

OJT Supports Career Pathways into Cyber Security

Fortunately, OJT.com is a reputable online training provider with over 20 years of experience offering on-the-job training, apprenticeships, vocational training.

Get started today on your online course in a career pathway into cybersecurity as you prepare to launch or advance your career.