Quite literally the only way to get Cybersecurity job without years of working in non-Cybersecurity IT jobs is to graduate from Cybersecurity college. So, if you're lucky enough to be in a position to attend one, it's absolutely no-brainer.
As a graduate in cyber that only experienced success applying only after getting my foot in the door with a general help desk job, I don't personally find a cyber degree worth it. Get a couple certs, work in help desk for a year or so, then apply for a jr Soc position. You'll likely find the same amount of success as a graduate that will likely have to get their foot in the door anyway with help desk. Escaping the barrier to entry is much more rare than what people say. At least nowa days.
@@boshy2376 Maybe it's that way in US. I'm from Europe. In Europe, getting Cybersecurity job with 1 year of work experience as Helpdesk? That's not happening.
I took the Comptia A+ after finding your channel. I now have several years of general IT experience and am enrolled to WGU for cybersecurity. Thank you for this channel
I’m in a cyber security graduate program now and I recommend it. Got my Sec+ this morning too! Last we spoke I had just snagged a position without a degree. Glad you are still doing these Zach!
As someone who just finished a Cybersecurity degree the biggest thing I think is beneficial about a degree is the internship opportunities that you are now open too once you are pursuing a degree. I was able to leverage an internship into a full time offer at my dream company without any certs. If you have the opportunities to go to college for a cybersecurity degree or related IT degree it is totally worth it if you leverage the advantages of being in a 4 year program like that. The degree alone isn't going to get you a job, but the opportunities that arise because you are pursuing a degree is where the value is imo.
Since coming out of the pandemic, we started doing something very similar in schools in NYC. Im happy to see its gaining traction in other parts of the country.
Any bachelor degree will open the door to work in tech. i have no degree and been applying for entry level level tech jobs for the last ten years. Only thing I get is rejection emails. I have certs as well. In my case, certs mean nothing at all sadly. Im so tired of this argument. Please put it to rest...
Exactly! Regardless what these bs techinfluencers say, GO TO COLLEGE and GET CERTIFICATIONS! Seriously though it makes it a whole lot easier to get in by standing out from the competition. DO NOT listen to these companies that will come out and say that degrees are no longer a requirement to get into the industry because they will say exactly that and do the opposite in reality. Formal education, with leading industry certifications with some personal home lab projects for your portfolio will set you miles ahead of everyone else. I'm tired of the misinformation and horrendously terrible advice as well on how to proceed to get your start in this insanely competitive field. Oh yeah, for the day dreamers out there smoking the seriously wack bs, Cyber Security is NOT ENTRY LEVEL!!! You will 99% more likely than not start a security role that is NOT 6 figs and NOT fully remote and no bs bootcamp will make you an SME in a mere 3-6 months or guarantee you a role upon finishing when professionals who have devoted/dedicated years to the profession to be SMEs!!!
man i was in the same boat. Experience and projects. If you don't create a github page and build some projects focused on the role you want. Use packet tracer to build a virtual network, build some virtual servers, setup a wepage, do some malware analysis or create malware.Create customer made scripts that do work related things. I was helpdesk at my college my hobby is cyber security so i got my Sec+ and CySA in 1 year and 1.6 month of experience but i have done most of these and in the interview i come off really well. Also these projects help you get the padding needed. I also had a IT page were i was doing cheap or free work to build experience.
Exactly! Love how my original post was removed lmfao for actually saying it like it is. GO TO FKN SCHOOL AND GET YOUR DEGREE AND CERTS!!!. Shit money grabbing bootcamps/bs tech-influencers selling hiliarious pipe dream of GUARANTEED 1ST TIME SECURITY ROLE THAT IS WFH AND 6 FIGS ARE FKN CLOWNS!!! Formal education (degree), certs, lab projects (portfolio) and networking with professionals in the field is HOW you get in MUCH easier!!! NOT clowns saying "get the trifecta to get into 6 fig security role" and DEFINITELY NOT hilariously shitty price-gouging/highway robbery bootcamps that promise or guarantees 100% job placement rate all for material that you could teach yourself or just maybe GO TO SCHOOL FOR with a better ROI. Of course, the delusional snowflake(s) that can't stand the reality of todays nightmarish job market/economy will be the same one to convince themselves the world is only full of sunshine, rainbows and unicorns with everything in perfect harmony will also report/flag/remove my comment yet again.
It sounds like you've been through a lot, it sucks that you haven't found any success yet. I'll still stand by saying there's no set path for everyone. Some things will work for others while they will not work at all for some.
I heard about this competition last year and thought it was really interesting. But I never expected that they would require contestants to sign an NDA and have a soc team in the competition. Amazing.
As one of the SOC guys that helps set up all the monitoring stuff, I can confirm it's legitimately one of the coolest setups you can have from a Blue Team perspective 😄
As a former competitor, it also bums me out that I can't compete anymore. I've lightly thrown the idea out about making a competition for non-collegiate folks/professionals as well, the only problem is that it would be something I (and a lot of our team) would want to compete in and not volunteer for hahaha 😆. I do agree in general that more "professional" level competitions are needed in the cyber industry though
Cyber bootcamps can also be great tools! I took a cyber bootcamp and also got a 4 year degree. At the end of the day you're paying for education to help get you where you want to go! Whether that's a bootcamp, college/university, or both (you can look at some certifications similarly too)
Im taking System admin (cloud computing focus) for my Associates. Cybersexurity for my Bechelors. Anyone know if this is a good combo? Or should I soley focus on cybersec in my associates? I want some flexibility in my career
I agree but the other thing is how do I know what you know is the truth. But how can you say a cert isn't needed if you have no knowledge of that path. Even just looking at a network plus guide is useful than not knowing what network plus is to begin with. Because here's the other thing. Do you expect to work for the government with no security and or network plus. It's standard to have one of those certs. A project is good too but also do you know the landscape of these certs. I'm not saying you have to take a cert. But if you were required to know cybersecurty foundations and you didn't have a cert. How am I going to be confident that you at least exposed yourself to all of the foundations within cyber. You don't know what you know. So how do I know that you know? There's a reason we have these things instead of going out and self learning -- there's already a traditional path given to us. It's not really about what you believe it's about the industry standard. You don't need to know everything you just need to have been exposed to it. That's it.
I can't argue with anything you said, I can only agree that you don't need to know everything and yet still share that there is no set path. Maybe traditional paths, but they aren't always set in stone. There are always caveats.
There are a lot of different ways to get into the field, I wouldnt say there is one set way. Some ways might be better or easier for some than others though, thats for sure.
That is the power of networking with people already in the field. An internal referral increases your chance of getting hired 100000% especially if you have no experience yet.
Quite literally the only way to get Cybersecurity job without years of working in non-Cybersecurity IT jobs is to graduate from Cybersecurity college. So, if you're lucky enough to be in a position to attend one, it's absolutely no-brainer.
As a graduate in cyber that only experienced success applying only after getting my foot in the door with a general help desk job, I don't personally find a cyber degree worth it. Get a couple certs, work in help desk for a year or so, then apply for a jr Soc position. You'll likely find the same amount of success as a graduate that will likely have to get their foot in the door anyway with help desk.
Escaping the barrier to entry is much more rare than what people say. At least nowa days.
@@boshy2376 Maybe it's that way in US. I'm from Europe. In Europe, getting Cybersecurity job with 1 year of work experience as Helpdesk? That's not happening.
Interesting video as I’m coming to a close with my Cyber degree, thanks for sharing
Good luck to you!!
I took the Comptia A+ after finding your channel. I now have several years of general IT experience and am enrolled to WGU for cybersecurity.
Thank you for this channel
That's awesome man! Congratulations and good luck to you!
I’m in a cyber security graduate program now and I recommend it. Got my Sec+ this morning too! Last we spoke I had just snagged a position without a degree. Glad you are still doing these Zach!
Congrats on the Sec+!! That’s so awesome to hear, I’m proud of you my friend! Good luck on your journey! Thank you for being here!
I start school next month definitely ready to start this journey 💪🏾 awesome video.
Thanks for showing me this competition. I’ll be going to a community for Cyber but seeing this is very intriguing.
for sure! Good luck to you!
As someone who just finished a Cybersecurity degree the biggest thing I think is beneficial about a degree is the internship opportunities that you are now open too once you are pursuing a degree. I was able to leverage an internship into a full time offer at my dream company without any certs.
If you have the opportunities to go to college for a cybersecurity degree or related IT degree it is totally worth it if you leverage the advantages of being in a 4 year program like that. The degree alone isn't going to get you a job, but the opportunities that arise because you are pursuing a degree is where the value is imo.
That’s awesome, congratulations to you!!
Do you have any advice for those seeking internships?
Since coming out of the pandemic, we started doing something very similar in schools in NYC. Im happy to see its gaining traction in other parts of the country.
Do you know if there are any events happening soon (In NYC)? I’d love to participate and get some experience
Oh that's awesome, what are yall doing?
@ DM’d you on LinkedIn.
Any bachelor degree will open the door to work in tech. i have no degree and been applying for entry level level tech jobs for the last ten years. Only thing I get is rejection emails. I have certs as well. In my case, certs mean nothing at all sadly. Im so tired of this argument. Please put it to rest...
Exactly! Regardless what these bs techinfluencers say, GO TO COLLEGE and GET CERTIFICATIONS! Seriously though it makes it a whole lot easier to get in by standing out from the competition. DO NOT listen to these companies that will come out and say that degrees are no longer a requirement to get into the industry because they will say exactly that and do the opposite in reality. Formal education, with leading industry certifications with some personal home lab projects for your portfolio will set you miles ahead of everyone else. I'm tired of the misinformation and horrendously terrible advice as well on how to proceed to get your start in this insanely competitive field. Oh yeah, for the day dreamers out there smoking the seriously wack bs, Cyber Security is NOT ENTRY LEVEL!!! You will 99% more likely than not start a security role that is NOT 6 figs and NOT fully remote and no bs bootcamp will make you an SME in a mere 3-6 months or guarantee you a role upon finishing when professionals who have devoted/dedicated years to the profession to be SMEs!!!
man i was in the same boat. Experience and projects. If you don't create a github page and build some projects focused on the role you want. Use packet tracer to build a virtual network, build some virtual servers, setup a wepage, do some malware analysis or create malware.Create customer made scripts that do work related things. I was helpdesk at my college my hobby is cyber security so i got my Sec+ and CySA in 1 year and 1.6 month of experience but i have done most of these and in the interview i come off really well. Also these projects help you get the padding needed. I also had a IT page were i was doing cheap or free work to build experience.
Exactly! Love how my original post was removed lmfao for actually saying it like it is. GO TO FKN SCHOOL AND GET YOUR DEGREE AND CERTS!!!. Shit money grabbing bootcamps/bs tech-influencers selling hiliarious pipe dream of GUARANTEED 1ST TIME SECURITY ROLE THAT IS WFH AND 6 FIGS ARE FKN CLOWNS!!! Formal education (degree), certs, lab projects (portfolio) and networking with professionals in the field is HOW you get in MUCH easier!!! NOT clowns saying "get the trifecta to get into 6 fig security role" and DEFINITELY NOT hilariously shitty price-gouging/highway robbery bootcamps that promise or guarantees 100% job placement rate all for material that you could teach yourself or just maybe GO TO SCHOOL FOR with a better ROI. Of course, the delusional snowflake(s) that can't stand the reality of todays nightmarish job market/economy will be the same one to convince themselves the world is only full of sunshine, rainbows and unicorns with everything in perfect harmony will also report/flag/remove my comment yet again.
10 years? That’s on you bud.
It sounds like you've been through a lot, it sucks that you haven't found any success yet. I'll still stand by saying there's no set path for everyone. Some things will work for others while they will not work at all for some.
I heard about this competition last year and thought it was really interesting. But I never expected that they would require contestants to sign an NDA and have a soc team in the competition.
Amazing.
Yeah it's pretty legit though.
As one of the SOC guys that helps set up all the monitoring stuff, I can confirm it's legitimately one of the coolest setups you can have from a Blue Team perspective 😄
Thanks so much for the soft skills course Sir!
You are very welcome, hopefully you enjoyed it!
This is amazing 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Hey, can you do a review on Cyber operations Bachelors from Dakota State University? NSA recognized them as a really good cyber program.
I’m not sure that I can do that review, but I may be able to find some people who have experienced it.
The fact it’s only for College students blows a big one.
As a former competitor, it also bums me out that I can't compete anymore. I've lightly thrown the idea out about making a competition for non-collegiate folks/professionals as well, the only problem is that it would be something I (and a lot of our team) would want to compete in and not volunteer for hahaha 😆. I do agree in general that more "professional" level competitions are needed in the cyber industry though
I feel you. It would be difficult to manage CPTC without some kind of gate-keeping. I'm not sure how that would work in another setting.
Why couldn't I find this before I started CyberSecurity Boot Camp
Cyber bootcamps can also be great tools! I took a cyber bootcamp and also got a 4 year degree. At the end of the day you're paying for education to help get you where you want to go! Whether that's a bootcamp, college/university, or both (you can look at some certifications similarly too)
Is IT Analyst a good start to become a Network and Security Engineer in the future?
Im taking System admin (cloud computing focus) for my Associates. Cybersexurity for my Bechelors. Anyone know if this is a good combo? Or should I soley focus on cybersec in my associates? I want some flexibility in my career
That can definitely be a good focus. IT Careers are always flexible.
I agree but the other thing is how do I know what you know is the truth. But how can you say a cert isn't needed if you have no knowledge of that path. Even just looking at a network plus guide is useful than not knowing what network plus is to begin with. Because here's the other thing. Do you expect to work for the government with no security and or network plus. It's standard to have one of those certs.
A project is good too but also do you know the landscape of these certs. I'm not saying you have to take a cert. But if you were required to know cybersecurty foundations and you didn't have a cert. How am I going to be confident that you at least exposed yourself to all of the foundations within cyber.
You don't know what you know. So how do I know that you know?
There's a reason we have these things instead of going out and self learning -- there's already a traditional path given to us.
It's not really about what you believe it's about the industry standard.
You don't need to know everything you just need to have been exposed to it. That's it.
I can't argue with anything you said, I can only agree that you don't need to know everything and yet still share that there is no set path. Maybe traditional paths, but they aren't always set in stone. There are always caveats.
You need work experience in Cybersecurity to get a job in Cybersecurity. They’re not going to give you a chance at all unless you know them.
There are a lot of different ways to get into the field, I wouldnt say there is one set way. Some ways might be better or easier for some than others though, thats for sure.
That is the power of networking with people already in the field. An internal referral increases your chance of getting hired 100000% especially if you have no experience yet.
There are usually ways around a certain problem or obstacle.
This is when you apply to internships
Come to the state university. :D 🟪🟨⚜🐊
You from LSU?
Maybe if you started winning competitions 🗡️🟨⬛️ (go knights)
I’m just here to say GO KNIGHTS!!! ⬛️🟨⬛️🟨⬛️🟨
lol, love the support!!