If you’re thinking about starting a career in cyber security, then now is the best time to get into this field. There is actually a huge and growing demand for cyber security professionals along with good salaries and lots of opportunities.
So, in this article, we will be looking at a few guidelines that will help you to start a cyber security career.
What sort of experience is necessary?
It is not necessary to have experience in cyber security in order to get started even though lots of people who usually get into this field have or had jobs that use a similar set of skills such as data analysis, IT administration etc.
Therefore, once you can show how your experience can be relevant to a cyber security job, then you can definitely start your career in this field.
In order to get started, you may need to start at an entry level job and there are lots of these positions open. For example, some entry level cyber security jobs include junior penetration testers, account executives etc. These type of jobs are easy to get into since you don’t need to have much experience to start and you will be able to learn as you work.
With that said, if you have any sort of relevant experience that will give you a huge advantage. Therefore, it is best that you do an internship or even try to volunteer your services if possible. Another option that you can explore is assisting your school’s IT department or even the cyber security department in your current place of work whenever you have some extra time.
Where can you learn more?
Once you’re interested in working in the cyber security industry, you should read as much as possible about it. Thankfully, there are numerous blogs on cyber security read more about how automation is changing cyber security hiring in this blog from Barclay Simpson.
There are many cyber security professionals who are on social media such as Twitter and you should definitely follow them online. They can help you to boost your knowledge significantly as they usually answer questions and discuss hot topics in the industry.
Are connections necessary?
Making connections through meeting and networking with other cyber security professionals will definitely help you to enter this career path and even get a foot in the door at various companies. So, be sure to be active on professional networking sites such as LinkedIn. However, don’t just socialize online but also meet other professionals in person as well. You can do so by attending conferences and there are many of these held in the UK throughout the year.
Lastly, be sure to introduce yourself to the cyber security employees in your current place of work. Now, you don’t need to harass them while they’re at lunch, but a simple introduction and a few key questions can help you greatly. Be sure to also get to know them personally so that you have a good shot of getting a job in that department when a vacancy opens up.
