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This note provides actionable steps and realistic insights into landing your first cybersecurity role, written from the perspective of someone currently in the field, not a hiring manager. It emphasizes practical skills, demonstrating passion, and effectively showcasing value through continuous learning.

Q. Are you in school - High School or University?

  1. Consider grabbing an entry level job and get experience in the industry while you're younger with less overhead

Q. Are you in IT or another industry?

Network / Professional Relationship building

  • LinkedIn - like and comment but, ask questions and engage positively
  • More importantly, Attend Conferences, meetups, seminars, town halls, etc
  • Relationship building more than networking. get to know people. what they do, who they are, etc

Self study, Certificate, college/university

  • Focus on 1 or 2 subject areas to avoid losing traction on too many
  • Budget yourself time daily/weekly
  • 30min to whatever available time you have
  • Cert study, THM, HTB, CTF's, overthewire.org
  • note taking obsidian, notion, cherry tree
  • To-do list and a master to-do list- and swap out when done with item from to-do

GitHub, Website, Blog

  • Showing employers/hiring managers that you can do what you say you can do
  • Add what projects/code you have already
  • Create
  • Contribute
  • This shows that you can start projects and increment to completion

Browse NICCS/ National Institute for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies

  • https://niccs.cisa.gov/workforce-development/nice-framework

Browse

  • https://www.ukcybersecuritycouncil.org.uk/careers-and-learning/cyber-career-framework/

  • https://roadmap.sh/cyber-security

  • Go on interviews

    1. Just go on interviews, get comfortable hearing 'no' and start respectfully asking why?
    2. You have 2 gatekeepers to pass.
      1. First is HR or an algorithm and second are the interviewers themselves.
    3. Take notes - bring a small notebook
      1. Discover what they are looking for and learn it. I took notes on what interviewers were looking for over 4 years. My search was longer due to covid.
      2. I felt confident before my first interview and absolutely devastated after. I didn't know answers to basic questions they asking - OSI model, white list vs black list, XXS, sql injection, ets.  So, I took notes on the back of paperwork they gave me. I don't advise that.
      3. If you don't know something they are asking you, ask them if it is ok (I never had anyone tell me 'no') to jot it down, and learn it for the next interview.
    4. Hiring manager insight
      1. Here’s my overarching, critical message for understanding what you need to communicate with your resume to me as a hiring manager: 1) I care most about what you have done 2) I care a little about what you’re capable of doing but haven’t done 3) I could care less about what you know how to do if you aren’t capable of turning that knowledge into action.
  • Don't compare yourself to where others
    1. In their journey
    2. In their career
    3. you are miles ahead of the people who are too scared to start
    4. or who have search paralysis
  • Resume - add it all to your resume
    1. Github
    2. THM, HTB, codewars rank
    3. home lab specs
    4. coding languages
    5. OS
    6. skills
    7. projects
    8. Continuing education
    9. content creation
    10. AOwenDev Writing a résumé or curriculum vitae
  • Other twitch creators
    1. 0xtib3rius - mentorship mondays
    2. alh4zr3d - Newbie Tuesdays
    3. KrisNova - Industry professional and DevOps Sensei
    4. nahamsec - bug bounties and hacking
    5. Garr_7 - webapp hacking and career advice
    6. msec - industry professional, hacking and dev
    7. T3GOR4 - industry professional and network hacking
    8. overgrowncarrot1 - Windows hacking guru
    9. morehouse_hacks - network hacking and industry professional
    10. Security_Live - Industry Professional and DevSecOps
    11. TrshPuppy - Dev and hacking
    12. Producerwolf - Purple Team and Dev
    13. endingwithali - Dev master
    14. seclic - hacking, World of Haiku, THM
    15. shenetworks - Networks, hacking, THM
    16. mttaggart - Blue Team Guru
    17. gerald_auger_simplycyber - Industry Professional, Host SimplyCyber, News, Career advice
    18. het_tanis - Industry Professional, Linux Networkd Admin
    19. chadb_n00b - Industry Professional, Red Teamer, Co-working
    20. h8handles - Industry professional, studying for oscp
    21. GoProSlowYo - Industry Professional, docker expert