🎫Securing The Hottest Ticket In Town🔐

Pivoting Into Cybersecurity

I know, I know (I am a couple of days late!). But hopefully not a dollar short.

Late to what, you may be wondering. Well, October is among many dedicated awareness months; it's the one for Cybersecurity.

An industry that is part of my professional identity (pun intended!) as a practitioner, and in the midst of plenty of How to get into Cybersecurity social media noise, I figure I’d add my own two cents.

Before I do, the usual disclaimers: no two people are the same, and the same goes for the journey. Having said that, I will transparently share what worked for me as well as some hindsight 20/20 advice.

1. Block out the 5-9

   Chances are you are currently employed and curious about what the field is like. That is what your post-work hours are for. Cybersecurity itself is a broad field; use this time to explore and narrow your interests in its domains according to CISSP:

   1. Security & Risk Management

   2. Asset security

   3. Security Architecture and Engineering

   4. Communication & Network Security

   5. Identity & Access Management (IAM)

   6. Security Assessment & Testing

   7. Security Operations

   8. Software Development Security

I have deliberately omitted details on each, so go ahead and search for them.

2. Use AI

   Yes, use it. Once you have an idea of the domains you’re interested in, ask it for a learning plan, useful podcasts, publications, people to follow, etc.

3. Get out there (even if just to lurk)

   Another way of using point 1: that 5-9 can also be spent towards in-person cybersecurity events, webinars, Reddit, Discord. Ask people questions, be vocal about your interest; you’ll learn a ton and reset hope for humanity, as most people genuinely want to help.

4. Have a play

   Depending on the domains selected, chances are there are dedicated resources to help you build projects and tackle challenges and, more importantly, to learn. My personal favourite is TryHackMe- an honourable mention, as it was my very first cybersecurity event where I won some swag (pictured)

I am writing this article as we speak with my treasured TryHackMe merch - ignore the wear and tear; you get the gist!

5. Invest in yourself

   Although this is my no.1 value in life, for these action steps, this is the penultimate one for a reason. Once all of the above is complete, for each career pivot, I have no shame in admitting that I paid for a CV and Cover Letter writer. Yes, AI is out there (as are their watermarks). Thus, there is value in an experienced human to help you translate your transferable skills and experiences into your desired role.

   That investment extends to books, the premium version of whatever it is you maximised the value of the free version of.

6. Luck - we all need it

   This one, well, it is mostly out of our control. Though Oprah Winfrey famously said: “Luck is preparation meeting opportunity”.

   Believing this has served me well, except my luck was preparation AND getting over the cringe to post on LinkedIn (it may have hit me again, but that’s beside the point; I have plans to get over it) about my learnings and insights as I went through the five previous steps, a combination of them all and in a random moment - my ticket came through ⬇️

And just like that, I am now writing to you as if I’m the Carrie Bradshaw of Identity Security.

Until next time!