In my 12+ years of IT experience i went from IT support to systems admin, to network security engineer to ultimately senior security consultant (doing solutions design, engineering work, cybersecurity audits and giving training) Dont be affraid to try different aspects of cybersecurity, do what it takes to grow as a professional.
Most of my days as an analyst can be divided up like this: 80% meetings 5% working incidents 10% reports 5% studying to improve skills Meetings take up so much of my time that I have to block off an entire day where I have no meetings just to make sure I don't fall behind on my work.
THIS ^^^ My old job, i had meetings 6 hrs out of my 8 hour day lol, which really made no sense as I wasn’t a senior member of my team or a manager so i still wonder why, i think some companies just have that meeting culture to make people feel “busy or like they’re doing something
@@WithSandra an honest "meeting" should not take more than a half hour for the top of the ladder to express its views to the lower steps and come back at a later time with experienced and tried thoughts about how that worked out or didn't work and what made it not work. But I know. Some people just like to say "I'm in a meeting" it makes people feel more important. Don't get me wrong communication is key but we don't need to stop the world for a 10 minute Q&A
@Mikro Wave hey I have more than an year of experience in cyber sec using MS Cloud. I'm trying to get a remote job, can you suggest any ideas for the way forward
5:34 this is a big point y'all, basically for any job. Especially in the tech industry. People do not like repeating themselves, especially since you as a tech are expected to at the very least already be able to mostly narrow things down on your own. Get a note-taking application you like and keep that handy. You'll look way more professional even if you have to look it up in your notes than you would asking the same questions to the same people. OneNote saved my ass countless times from looking like incompetent.
man i'm trying to get into the habit of writing notes, because i need it for the short/medium term memory issues attributable to my ADHD, but the impulsiveness inherent to the condition means i just barrel through conversations and situations without slowing down and recording anything. do you have any tips for how to structure your encounters such that the pacing is conducive to note-taking?
This is just any job requiring meetings no just IT department. You need to take note on anything that was said in the meeting or by your supervisor so you don't forget or have to ask again.
This is a good point. I’ve found that people also don’t invest in training within companies. I like to have interactions with people (like in class settings) not just “firehose learning”. I get it-it’s great to research on your own. I like doing that too. But always doing that can make you feel really isolated and that can lead to burnout. And toxic work environments. I don’t want to lose my social skills because of computers. It’s a delicate balance.
mistakes can never be avoided. the trick is to learn from them and move forward. it also depends on what part of cyber security you are involved in or your title. each company is different as well. ive been in the IT field for almost 20 yrs and currently as Tech Support Specialist II and moving towards the GRC part of cyber security. everything you explained happens in all careers and doesn't sounds boring to me lol.
I would love to have a job where it can be kind of boring. My job consist of me coming home to hurt ankles and knees. I am literally in pain and I can barely walk around because I've been on my feet for ten hours. So when I get my cyber security job I will be so happy and thankful that all I'm doing are meetings lol
It's boring when you know what you're doing. Real talk there is literally no one who will hire you with no certs or experience working in IT. Get a decent helpdesk job (if you've installed a program on your computer before you are good enough) The roles are paid better than waiting/warehouse jobs and after a year or two you can go for cyber jobs if you supplement your experience with self study. Bonus points if you're a girl because maybe 1/100 cyber professionals are female so affirmative action really helps you out in this market.
@@ItsOnlyLogixal Everything you've said is 100% facts. In 2023, companies want to see CompTIA A+, CCNA, and Security+ for Help Desk positions. Due to the layoffs in Tech, there are many overqualified personnel applying for any job they see open. I'm back at earning additional certifications just to get hired back into Tech, even for an entry level position.
Always hourly, and meetings are always counted as work. Provided that you can actually do the job and solve the tickets, presentation and the ability to translate nerd to common is the most important skill. I was promoted in a cybersecurity job because the brass understood me better than the other analysts. I'm not better, I might actually be worse in some fields, but I'm better at communicating what I did and how. That makes everyone think I know more about it than the other techs.
Not making mistakes is always a big one when starting. I’ve learned over the years to only stress over hardening and everything else just make a backup. If it crashes and burns, a 5 min rollback fixes your day.
Penetration testing is incredibly interesting. I engage with various companies where I attempt to exploit vulnerabilities in their systems, ultimately compromising their Active Directory. It is truly an entertaining experience.
I am a web developer, that fell into cyber security by opportunity to help. I have done three roles in cyber security, Data Lose Prevention (DLP), Identity Access Management (IAM), and Privilege Access Management (PAM). I have debated to continue to pursue cyber security or web development, since I am in both. This video has helped, in that decision. Thank you. I will continue to pursue web development.
Hi Heidi. I’m happy I saw your comment because I am interested in both web development and cybersecurity. But I’m conflicted about learning 2 different areas at the same time. Do you think it’s a good idea? Or should I focus on one at a time.
@@katlynnhopkins8903 For the past 3 years I have been the queen of learning multiple careers. Web Development, Cyber Security, IT Service, Technical Writer, Project Management, etc…. While this may sound impressive, let me reveal the downside. Even after 3 years, I am still only at junior level at everything. I would recommend focusing on one career until you get at least mid level at it.
It's very true what you said at the end of the video. The whole burn out is real. I burn out and crashed spending so much time on the computers hours trying to pass a cert for MS that at the very end I lost motivation, didn't want to touch a computer at night. Even on my day job being a admin I fell back on learning anything. Been a year now that I'm starting once again but this time I'm taking it slow and doing other things. Going out, playing online and enjoying life before I leave this world. Keep up the great work .
...be careful with these videos. Some of these people low-key LOVE their job, but don't want others to take up space at some imaginary table they set up in their heads. Always question everything. I am a Registered Nurse..and when I became a nurse, so many nurses said they hated it....BUT, they stayed nurses for DECADES, AND MADE tons of money. Don't believe the hype
I work in a soc/mssp 5 days a week night shift. My day off is literally 1.5 days because when I get off work on my last day, i still have to rest/sleep and when I wake up, its already late in the afternoon so there goes my first day off. Then you have to find that balance of still being able to do other things but the same time you still have to allocate time for studying if you want to improve and get on a better role. Alert fatigue is real especially when you are always short staffed because people quit often despite the salary and then there will be coworkers who get sick often because of the stress and lack of work/life balance. I have experienced working solo in a shift couple of times and its really sickening to deal with all the alerts yourself. I really want to give good analysis on each alert but at the same time I don’t to breach ticket SLAs but being solo in a shift, there is only so much 1 person can do. But I understand that the first entry level job is not the nicest and I will have to suck it up until I gain more knowledge and get into better roles. But I just think of these as a “rite of passage” or “baptism by fire” that a cybersecurity newbie has to go through before enjoying the more senior or better roles with better pay and better working conditions. Its like “doing your time” and “paying your dues” lol. I wont be in a soc/mssp role forever, and I plan to make the most out of it while Im still here. I know all these hardships now will pay off and will positively impact my career trajectory over the long term whether I choose to keep going the cybersecurity route or go to software engineering.
Sounds like you have a path forward and it will get better as your career progresses. Knowing how to triage and operate under pressure is truly only learned through experience. You're doing this. Keep your head up.
Thanks so much for speaking on this. I am almost finished with my Cyber Security program and I plan to post a ton of videos teaching all that I've learned. I really enjoy Blue Team. Parsing through logs is fun to me...but I imagine when I get to the professional field I will experience some burn out. Anyhow, thank you for your insight it was very helpful!
I worked in software / tech sales for 5 years before getting laid off 6 months ago and now cannot find a job in ATX for the life of me. Been considering of getting my bachelor in cyber through wgu’s 18-21 month program and starting fresh. Free from all the stress that comes with sales and always feeling like you could lose your job at any given time. Your videos are helpful, thank you
I took a cyber bootcamp for 6 months with basic cyber and IT knowledge and tbh with you all I decided after finishing the course that I do not want to pursue this as a career. It was just too boring for me. You have to be a very patient and knowledgeable person to get into this field, I am definitely more of a creative/entertaining personality but decided to give cyber a look into because of the salaries. Quickly learned it really doesn’t matter what you have, it’s all about experience and your knowledge and level of understanding, or who you know. For me personally the money isn’t worth how bored I would feel every day of my life doing this. I found myself falling asleep in my chair trying to learn more about this subject. Don’t get me wrong definitely some cool things I learned, but overall if you haven’t ever done cyber before I would think twice.
I'm currently in a similar boat, i love art, and being able to create artistic projects that blow people out of the water with the uniqueness of it. I'm also a very creative person but thought about cyber security because of the pay, What jobs do you recommend in tech that would help explore my creative side?
If you work as an Information security manager /cyber security manager (after gaining a few years experience as an analyst) within a small to medium business (SMB) you rarely manage a large team or indeed any team whatsoever and whilst you get your hands dirty so to speak on a daily basis, you have autonomy, ownership and compensation can be great!
Most of my job is documentation creation/review and implementation of controls. Usually I get with the admins and software people to see what they're doing and if it adheres to documentation. Then the other part is reviewing alerts and logs. The worst part to me is that everyone expects you to know about everything. Not just even a little bit..they expect you to know all about software development, system administration, network engineering, cloud security, and everything else.
If you don't know software development, then how the hell you want to know the software is safe. Also, system administration is a must, because you always need to monitor the system input and output. About the network engineering, that's your job to protect network level threat same with the cloud security.
@@Someone-wo4zj I think you missed what I was saying. No one knows 100% of all of that and that is what some expect. Sometimes it’s forgotten that everyone is constantly learning.
@@Someone-wo4zj You can know a bit about everything. What level of expertise are you expecting in these things? If you have the time and ability to understand these systems in depth you would get paid 700k a year for being a literal IT God. That isn't security's job. You can review software to determine if it adheres to security guidelines. That comment either wasn't thought out or you think IT means you should know everything. As someone who came from 2 years of helpdesk and is currently a sec analyst, I have SOME knowledge about infrastructure and networking - but you don't have to be a software dev to be a security role.
Thank you for the detail and care you took creating this. I’m at a point where I cannot work for the next few months however when I am able to do so I can pick an area of work and have this paid for with job placement after and I’m doing research on the programs that they will help pay for and this is great stuff to know outside of the salary. Thank you very much. Going to watch the downside now.
I’m working on getting an associates in cybersecurity and networking, I know where to apply after I finish college since it’s entry no experience 90% remote. I do plan to work on certifications throughout my college and try to find an internship or just shadow someone for a day/week if possible. I have connections through my parents since the job is on a military base. I’m sooo excited to get started on everything!
I am going to start my cyber security journey, I love helping out and I feel this is a way I can give back. I'm going to start college soon to pursue a career in this field I'm very excited about this decision.
Right now I’m getting my certification in cybersecurity and help desk support and I really like watching your Channel I wish I found your channel a couple months ago but keep up the great work !! I will stay tuned in for sure 👏
@@csl9495 At my company, we focus on two main areas, risk management and SOX/PCI/HIPPA Compliance. We audit changes or risks that our company's applications/systems undergo to ensure they are secure and compliant with internal/external standards. If you would like to learn more about GRC you should check out Gerald Auger. He is literally how I got my job with a very large company.
@@csl9495 Usually my day is 50% meetings 30% audits 20% sending updates/emails to managers or other employees of the company to ensure they are keeping their business areas compliant.
My goal after I’m done with my cybersecurity bootcamp is becoming a cloud security engineer. I wanted to start as a SOC Analyst to get my feet wet and get more familiarize with different tools. I’m excited to start in this field!
I'm nervous I start my first class for my associate degree next month in cybersecurity. I'm a truck driver and tired of being away from family and want a degree and great pay
Thank you for keeping it real, I am an IT tech and I want to move over to the SOC team. I want to do both, I love your channel and the post. I will be there soon. Keep posting we all need to know what you know.
Getting into the work field now! Becoming a SOC analyst intern for a couple months then getting the full time position. Also doing so remote. Looking forward to starting!
I am 40 and thinking about trying college again and going into cyber security I suck at math so I’m hoping there’s not anything more than college algebra so once I try algebra for the 4th time in my life and hopefully pass it than I can focus on cyber security
You have to keep learning I'm this career field. It's easy to get into an easy analyst job and sit there and stagnate forever. It's best to get into a product company. Where your actively working on a product. You don't want to get a job as a security analyst at like a bank or something because that's almost the same job as a security guard and you will become extremely bored.
For those who are getting discouraged from videos like this you all have to realize everything has its up and downs and everyone is not going to have the same view of things if you are interested just do it , and get your own perspective these are hers.
I was offline, typing and using voice-to-text. I proofread the text. It read, "What do you want, Andrew?". So without hesitation I said out loud, "I don't want anything. What do YOU want?" Voice-to-text is just another computer program. Now, I said nothing of the sort. The problem with AI is that it cannot be proven to be AI. Even if there is < 1% chance of human, I say hello. For stability. Works for me. What is crazy is if I let it all bother me.
I work GRC. Very boring but essential. I review technical implementation from IT / engineering and verify we are compliant against an established standard (NIST, ISO, SOC2). Most of the job is documentation.
How can someone become an expert at defending if they have ZERO experience at attacking a computer network? A Cyber Security expert should understand the hacker's or saboteur's mind and methods in order to protect against him. How can normal person learn how a criminal mind thinks?
Been thinking of changing career to cyber security... Also thinking of completing CompTIA certs..and I found this video suggestions..now I don't know what to do
there are people, who love to be in a meeting, a long meeting, i hate talking in the meeting about things, that don't help to solve porblems in the technologie. I love this: write something on the whiteboard something of mathematical thinking, or write a software, define a problem and start solving and talking.
Really question these types of videos. They are meant to dissuade certain individuals/demographics from persuing roles in lucrative fields. Look at the commonalities of many of the "I regret..", "Why I quit...", "(industry/skill set) is not worth" videos and make your own decision.
After 10 years dealing with people face to face in retail and a bunch of physically demanding jobs and customer service, this type of job sounds like a vacation. Lol
Question-do you love what you do? I’ve been in cybersecurity (GRC) for years and can honestly say I hate my job. I’m feeling stuck in my career path despite already being in the cybersecurity industry for 10 years.
How about self employment,doing contract work? You can learn new technologies , and not be bound by one companies,rules or technologies. I worked in technology for 10 years I.B.M. systems and half the people I worked with were consultants ,self employed.
Well, if you think most of your role in cybersecurity is boring, that is probably an analyst role and you haven't been immersed with more interesting and more exciting hardcore hacking stuff. I had been on really interesting pentests of products, systems and environments where it is challenging enough and not about writing reports or looking at tickets. If you are an analyst, you do look at tickets a lot and looking at that queue, which I can understand would be boring for many, but if you have the skills and proper knowledge of incident handling and response and DFIR I would say those roles have so much adrenaline-pumping scenarios whenever a cyber incident happens. Maybe you need to take a look more at other roles than giving a generalization that most of it would be meetings, reports and looking at tickets. I would understand those things would really bore me to death, but whenever I pwn a shell or pull out some interesting sensitive data that I am not supposed to have access to in a bank, move laterally and pivot in their network, then things get extremely exciting for me, not to mention reversing any binaries that come my way to gain more interesting shells or knowledge about something that could lead me and/or my team to pwning some machines and showing impact to an organization. Cheers and good luck with your career!
Thankyou for your video! Do you have a video that explains the most common questions you’d normally be asking your teammates just so I can get more knowledge about them? 💗
do you recommend me to change my career to cyber security when I am 40 year old, If yes, it's better to take part in a skill based cource or degree based couse
I am 38, been in IT operations for around 10 years. Looking to transition into Security now. Starting with Security+ watching courses on Udemy at the moment
As someone who’s considering getting into CS even though I have a BA in Arts and Science, I suggest skill base course because you are JUST learning the skill/s you need and earn it within a few months to a year. Compare to a degree based course where you will have to take other courses NOT related to what you want to get into to (These are called elective courses and you HAVE to take them to get your degree) Which would wasted both you time and money.
Thank you so much for this video. Excuse me, can someone makes career in compliance (information security)? If yes, did you have some free resources to learn that online? 🙏
This what I wanted too be when I was younger and now I am a surgeon bc my parents told me to uhh kinda not regret that but don’t worry I am proud to study more in tech and cyber crime one day I promised my self to become a surgeon and a cyber crime specialist the reason why I chosen this 2 professions are bc I loved team work o always wanted to work as a team and I wanted to do hard challenging professions
if you don't like what you're doing, it's gonna be boring. honestly i didn't think of cybersecurity as the one in the movies...i mean hello, this is reality
The struggle is real when trying to land a job in CS. I applied for an ISSO (Information Systems Security Officer) for a contracting company that works with the DoD. I was told by their hiring team I was not qualified for this position since I needed to gain real-world experience with NIST and RMF. I had to use NIST and RMF when building a security policy for a unit I was with at Fort Campbell and develop the procedures for the team to STiG devices in our AO. So, I applied for an entry-level position with the same company as a junior version of the ISSO. Received an email back stating I was overqualified for that position. I was like, really, WTF. Seriously about to say, "I GIVE UP ON CS," and accept a Help Desk Tier 1 job.
Sometimes companies will look for specific experience, while other companies are looking for the ideal "entry-level" candidate, i.e., fresh from college and young. What you would need to do is find a company that isn't searching narrowly for candidates. Instead of applying for specific positions, perhaps contact the company with your resume and let them suggest to you positions that would be a good fit.
@@cryora I have done that a few times already and most they have offered is again Helpdesk or Field Service. I have applied for a few DoD Fellowships and internships, but they like you said are being given to the younger crowd. It is extremely disheartening to have the degree and the knowledge to be offered a 45k-55k job, when you already qualify for at least 80k-90k position.
The truth is, in IT in general, when you become Senior you're more of an SME than anything. Supporting all the less senior colleagues who ask questions and giving them the answers or leads they need to point them in the right direction.
Hi, I want to ask a question though, is it okay that I'm interested in cybersecurity and I see myself working as a cybersecurity analyst but as a student in her third year in university ,I'm trying to learn other skills like web development as a start before I fully dive into cybersecurity , do you think it won't be to late in the future to learn cybersecurity?
Thinking to start my journey here, any suggestions would be much appreciated. I have a full time job situation and zero background on any computer/technology. Is it better for me to study go AA for IT or an 2yrs associate degree on cybersecurity? Thank you so much in advance!
Hi Sandra, I'm seeking to secure my network and also set it up. Is this something you're able to assist with? Would like to know how much your hourly rate is. Thank you in advance.
I work on call every other week! We have a small team so thats why its so frequent, most of the time its once every 4 weeks or so if there’s a bigger team. I work 9-5 but my company’s flexible so if i need to leave during the dayfor something like an appointment, i can make up my work later in the day. Hope this helps! 😁
In my 12+ years of IT experience i went from IT support to systems admin, to network security engineer to ultimately senior security consultant (doing solutions design, engineering work, cybersecurity audits and giving training)
Dont be affraid to try different aspects of cybersecurity, do what it takes to grow as a professional.
💯💯 Your IT experience definitely makes you stand out, I agree to trying different specializations in cybersecurity
Most of my days as an analyst can be divided up like this:
80% meetings
5% working incidents
10% reports
5% studying to improve skills
Meetings take up so much of my time that I have to block off an entire day where I have no meetings just to make sure I don't fall behind on my work.
THIS ^^^ My old job, i had meetings 6 hrs out of my 8 hour day lol, which really made no sense as I wasn’t a senior member of my team or a manager so i still wonder why, i think some companies just have that meeting culture to make people feel “busy or like they’re doing something
I can’t stand meetings, spending more time talking about work than actually doing it is not appealing.
@@WithSandra an honest "meeting" should not take more than a half hour for the top of the ladder to express its views to the lower steps and come back at a later time with experienced and tried thoughts about how that worked out or didn't work and what made it not work. But I know. Some people just like to say "I'm in a meeting" it makes people feel more important. Don't get me wrong communication is key but we don't need to stop the world for a 10 minute Q&A
@Mikro Wave hey I have more than an year of experience in cyber sec using MS Cloud. I'm trying to get a remote job, can you suggest any ideas for the way forward
I'm a Senior Network Engineer on a Cyber Security team and that 80% meetings is truth. I can't stand it.
5:34 this is a big point y'all, basically for any job. Especially in the tech industry. People do not like repeating themselves, especially since you as a tech are expected to at the very least already be able to mostly narrow things down on your own.
Get a note-taking application you like and keep that handy. You'll look way more professional even if you have to look it up in your notes than you would asking the same questions to the same people. OneNote saved my ass countless times from looking like incompetent.
man i'm trying to get into the habit of writing notes, because i need it for the short/medium term memory issues attributable to my ADHD, but the impulsiveness inherent to the condition means i just barrel through conversations and situations without slowing down and recording anything.
do you have any tips for how to structure your encounters such that the pacing is conducive to note-taking?
This is just any job requiring meetings no just IT department. You need to take note on anything that was said in the meeting or by your supervisor so you don't forget or have to ask again.
@@dododede875 hence what I said in the very first sentence.
This is a good point. I’ve found that people also don’t invest in training within companies. I like to have interactions with people (like in class settings) not just “firehose learning”. I get it-it’s great to research on your own. I like doing that too. But always doing that can make you feel really isolated and that can lead to burnout. And toxic work environments. I don’t want to lose my social skills because of computers. It’s a delicate balance.
mistakes can never be avoided. the trick is to learn from them and move forward. it also depends on what part of cyber security you are involved in or your title. each company is different as well. ive been in the IT field for almost 20 yrs and currently as Tech Support Specialist II and moving towards the GRC part of cyber security. everything you explained happens in all careers and doesn't sounds boring to me lol.
To be honest, this is better than being in a job that managers micro-manages you and belittles you. Good pay and less stress 👍🏾 great vid
Exactly why I’m researching this
I would love to have a job where it can be kind of boring. My job consist of me coming home to hurt ankles and knees. I am literally in pain and I can barely walk around because I've been on my feet for ten hours. So when I get my cyber security job I will be so happy and thankful that all I'm doing are meetings lol
Warehouse job?
I'm a waitress and same lol
Go for it. I won't lie Information Technology is difficult.
It's boring when you know what you're doing. Real talk there is literally no one who will hire you with no certs or experience working in IT. Get a decent helpdesk job (if you've installed a program on your computer before you are good enough) The roles are paid better than waiting/warehouse jobs and after a year or two you can go for cyber jobs if you supplement your experience with self study. Bonus points if you're a girl because maybe 1/100 cyber professionals are female so affirmative action really helps you out in this market.
@@ItsOnlyLogixal Everything you've said is 100% facts.
In 2023, companies want to see CompTIA A+, CCNA, and Security+ for Help Desk positions. Due to the layoffs in Tech, there are many overqualified personnel applying for any job they see open.
I'm back at earning additional certifications just to get hired back into Tech, even for an entry level position.
Always hourly, and meetings are always counted as work. Provided that you can actually do the job and solve the tickets, presentation and the ability to translate nerd to common is the most important skill.
I was promoted in a cybersecurity job because the brass understood me better than the other analysts. I'm not better, I might actually be worse in some fields, but I'm better at communicating what I did and how. That makes everyone think I know more about it than the other techs.
I want to get paid $10,000 a month to have a boring job 😂
Did you do it?
@@Alexander-cg1ey I got 9 classes left 🙌
@@Alexander-cg1ey for cybersecurity
@@UserName-fm8wp That's great! I'm happy to hear that
@@UserName-fm8wp where are you taking the courses?
Not making mistakes is always a big one when starting. I’ve learned over the years to only stress over hardening and everything else just make a backup. If it crashes and burns, a 5 min rollback fixes your day.
Penetration testing is incredibly interesting. I engage with various companies where I attempt to exploit vulnerabilities in their systems, ultimately compromising their Active Directory. It is truly an entertaining experience.
why larp
I am a web developer, that fell into cyber security by opportunity to help. I have done three roles in cyber security, Data Lose Prevention (DLP), Identity Access Management (IAM), and Privilege Access Management (PAM). I have debated to continue to pursue cyber security or web development, since I am in both. This video has helped, in that decision. Thank you. I will continue to pursue web development.
Hi Heidi. I’m happy I saw your comment because I am interested in both web development and cybersecurity. But I’m conflicted about learning 2 different areas at the same time. Do you think it’s a good idea? Or should I focus on one at a time.
@@katlynnhopkins8903 For the past 3 years I have been the queen of learning multiple careers. Web Development, Cyber Security, IT Service, Technical Writer, Project Management, etc…. While this may sound impressive, let me reveal the downside. Even after 3 years, I am still only at junior level at everything.
I would recommend focusing on one career until you get at least mid level at it.
Is it necessary to have Very good coding skills to get into cybersecurity
@@037_cse_jananir7 not all roles in cyber security requires coding skills. Coding is helpful, but not always required.
@@SheWhoTechs okay sister. What are some cybersecurity roles that don't involve coding?
It's very true what you said at the end of the video. The whole burn out is real. I burn out and crashed spending so much time on the computers hours trying to pass a cert for MS that at the very end I lost motivation, didn't want to touch a computer at night. Even on my day job being a admin I fell back on learning anything. Been a year now that I'm starting once again but this time I'm taking it slow and doing other things. Going out, playing online and enjoying life before I leave this world.
Keep up the great work .
hey! How has life been?
...be careful with these videos. Some of these people low-key LOVE their job, but don't want others to take up space at some imaginary table they set up in their heads. Always question everything. I am a Registered Nurse..and when I became a nurse, so many nurses said they hated it....BUT, they stayed nurses for DECADES, AND MADE tons of money. Don't believe the hype
So would you recommend to become a RN?
I work in a soc/mssp 5 days a week night shift. My day off is literally 1.5 days because when I get off work on my last day, i still have to rest/sleep and when I wake up, its already late in the afternoon so there goes my first day off. Then you have to find that balance of still being able to do other things but the same time you still have to allocate time for studying if you want to improve and get on a better role. Alert fatigue is real especially when you are always short staffed because people quit often despite the salary and then there will be coworkers who get sick often because of the stress and lack of work/life balance. I have experienced working solo in a shift couple of times and its really sickening to deal with all the alerts yourself. I really want to give good analysis on each alert but at the same time I don’t to breach ticket SLAs but being solo in a shift, there is only so much 1 person can do. But I understand that the first entry level job is not the nicest and I will have to suck it up until I gain more knowledge and get into better roles.
But I just think of these as a “rite of passage” or “baptism by fire” that a cybersecurity newbie has to go through before enjoying the more senior or better roles with better pay and better working conditions. Its like “doing your time” and “paying your dues” lol. I wont be in a soc/mssp role forever, and I plan to make the most out of it while Im still here. I know all these hardships now will pay off and will positively impact my career trajectory over the long term whether I choose to keep going the cybersecurity route or go to software engineering.
Sounds like you have a path forward and it will get better as your career progresses. Knowing how to triage and operate under pressure is truly only learned through experience. You're doing this. Keep your head up.
4-10's on the graveyard shift in the SOC was awesome!:-) Definitely a starting point that jumpstarted my career into cyber engineering.
every job and every position starts off like that. Gotta put in your dues first
What are the requirements for such a role? Can you get in with just certs?
Thanks so much for speaking on this. I am almost finished with my Cyber Security program and I plan to post a ton of videos teaching all that I've learned. I really enjoy Blue Team. Parsing through logs is fun to me...but I imagine when I get to the professional field I will experience some burn out. Anyhow, thank you for your insight it was very helpful!
Do you have any certs or degrees? Also what position in particular do you have in Cyber?
just subscribed! wish you luck 🤞🏻
I worked in software / tech sales for 5 years before getting laid off 6 months ago and now cannot find a job in ATX for the life of me. Been considering of getting my bachelor in cyber through wgu’s 18-21 month program and starting fresh. Free from all the stress that comes with sales and always feeling like you could lose your job at any given time. Your videos are helpful, thank you
I’m going through the same thing!
I took a cyber bootcamp for 6 months with basic cyber and IT knowledge and tbh with you all I decided after finishing the course that I do not want to pursue this as a career. It was just too boring for me. You have to be a very patient and knowledgeable person to get into this field, I am definitely more of a creative/entertaining personality but decided to give cyber a look into because of the salaries. Quickly learned it really doesn’t matter what you have, it’s all about experience and your knowledge and level of understanding, or who you know. For me personally the money isn’t worth how bored I would feel every day of my life doing this. I found myself falling asleep in my chair trying to learn more about this subject. Don’t get me wrong definitely some cool things I learned, but overall if you haven’t ever done cyber before I would think twice.
I'm currently in a similar boat, i love art, and being able to create artistic projects that blow people out of the water with the uniqueness of it. I'm also a very creative person but thought about cyber security because of the pay, What jobs do you recommend in tech that would help explore my creative side?
@@Oblivixen You should check out UI/UX design
If you work as an Information security manager /cyber security manager (after gaining a few years experience as an analyst) within a small to medium business (SMB) you rarely manage a large team or indeed any team whatsoever and whilst you get your hands dirty so to speak on a daily basis, you have autonomy, ownership and compensation can be great!
Definitely understand and I'm a network engineer. The salary is amazing. But as you mentioned, management is like the next level, which seems boring.
Every single job has videos exactly like this. Working in general is just not fun
Being a Physicist is usually fun, although academia is a mess haha
😂😂😂😂😂 good answer 😅
Am majoring in cyber security, and this video helps me a lot.😆✨
Im so glad its helpful, thanks for watching!☺️
Most of my job is documentation creation/review and implementation of controls. Usually I get with the admins and software people to see what they're doing and if it adheres to documentation. Then the other part is reviewing alerts and logs. The worst part to me is that everyone expects you to know about everything. Not just even a little bit..they expect you to know all about software development, system administration, network engineering, cloud security, and everything else.
If you don't know software development, then how the hell you want to know the software is safe. Also, system administration is a must, because you always need to monitor the system input and output. About the network engineering, that's your job to protect network level threat same with the cloud security.
@@Someone-wo4zj I think you missed what I was saying. No one knows 100% of all of that and that is what some expect. Sometimes it’s forgotten that everyone is constantly learning.
@@ILLTh1ef English isn't my primary language but I think you're right.
@@Someone-wo4zj You can know a bit about everything. What level of expertise are you expecting in these things? If you have the time and ability to understand these systems in depth you would get paid 700k a year for being a literal IT God. That isn't security's job. You can review software to determine if it adheres to security guidelines. That comment either wasn't thought out or you think IT means you should know everything.
As someone who came from 2 years of helpdesk and is currently a sec analyst, I have SOME knowledge about infrastructure and networking - but you don't have to be a software dev to be a security role.
@@JB-iz8tf Yes.. I agree with you
As someone who's in cyber security, this is super relatable from beginning to end
Hey there are you on discord?
is it that boring?
Thank you for the detail and care you took creating this. I’m at a point where I cannot work for the next few months however when I am able to do so I can pick an area of work and have this paid for with job placement after and I’m doing research on the programs that they will help pay for and this is great stuff to know outside of the salary. Thank you very much. Going to watch the downside now.
I see great minds think alike 😊
I’m working on getting an associates in cybersecurity and networking, I know where to apply after I finish college since it’s entry no experience 90% remote. I do plan to work on certifications throughout my college and try to find an internship or just shadow someone for a day/week if possible. I have connections through my parents since the job is on a military base. I’m sooo excited to get started on everything!
I am going to start my cyber security journey, I love helping out and I feel this is a way I can give back. I'm going to start college soon to pursue a career in this field I'm very excited about this decision.
im in highschool and my mom recommended it
Right now I’m getting my certification in cybersecurity and help desk support and I really like watching your Channel I wish I found your channel a couple months ago but keep up the great work !! I will stay tuned in for sure 👏
What booth camp are going through and tech support ?
@@tadarreljordan4940 I’m getting a certification threw my school
@@Ethan-nv5hh Is it similar to Security+ from Comptia or something along those lines?
Most of it is rather boring and dealing with some of the worst people the IT industry could ever muster.
Incroyable.
I am a GRC Analyst in Cybersecurity looking to transition into a more technical role sometime and everything in this list is sooo true.
Can you share what a typical work load is for a GRC Analyst? It seems more laid back and chilled than SOC.
@@csl9495 At my company, we focus on two main areas, risk management and SOX/PCI/HIPPA Compliance. We audit changes or risks that our company's applications/systems undergo to ensure they are secure and compliant with internal/external standards. If you would like to learn more about GRC you should check out Gerald Auger. He is literally how I got my job with a very large company.
@@csl9495 Usually my day is 50% meetings 30% audits 20% sending updates/emails to managers or other employees of the company to ensure they are keeping their business areas compliant.
@@csl9495 GRC is more on paperwork than doing technical stuff.
you are very pretty!
My goal after I’m done with my cybersecurity bootcamp is becoming a cloud security engineer. I wanted to start as a SOC Analyst to get my feet wet and get more familiarize with different tools. I’m excited to start in this field!
How many was that BootCamp?
Probably cost a good $2k-$3k
Hi! How did you start your journey? I'm i ve graduated in linguistics but I'm interested in cybersec, is it possible to learn it by myself? How ?;)
is worth it ?
I'm doing cyber bootcamp it costs 16k and what they teach is the biggest bullshit ever. Total garbage. Ya right no experience required!
I'm nervous I start my first class for my associate degree next month in cybersecurity. I'm a truck driver and tired of being away from family and want a degree and great pay
Finally someone is making videos for cyber security
Thank you Sandra. Your honesty about the job is really appreciated. You are a great advocate for this field.
Thank you for keeping it real, I am an IT tech and I want to move over to the SOC team. I want to do both, I love your channel and the post. I will be there soon. Keep posting we all need to know what you know.
Getting into the work field now! Becoming a SOC analyst intern for a couple months then getting the full time position. Also doing so remote. Looking forward to starting!
Did the internship require any experience?
Question: what bootcamp or cert program did you do, and can I do it online? And are there any requirements?
I am 40 and thinking about trying college again and going into cyber security I suck at math so I’m hoping there’s not anything more than college algebra so once I try algebra for the 4th time in my life and hopefully pass it than I can focus on cyber security
Let me know how it goes I'm also starting late ?
@@TheNumerum will do
@@captaingreatvalue
How is it going
@@michaelibrahim1443 not good we had a death in the family and I haven’t been able to go to school yet
@@captaingreatvalue
Oh snap
Sorry for your loss
Hope you feel better
You have to keep learning I'm this career field. It's easy to get into an easy analyst job and sit there and stagnate forever. It's best to get into a product company. Where your actively working on a product. You don't want to get a job as a security analyst at like a bank or something because that's almost the same job as a security guard and you will become extremely bored.
I currently work at a bank that has a cyber team and trying to get into cyber. Would you say it’s a good idea to get experience at least
@@kyynae absolutely. Just when your there keep trying to learn and take advantage of any training opportunities they have.
It's amazing how strongly upper and middle management hold to this _myth_ that _MEETINGS_ are how _WORK_ gets done. I mean truly astounding!
I'm so glad I found your channel. Love the transparency!
Good. I’ve been in hospitality for 15 years and I’m about to start on a Cybersecurity degree. I want boring and repetitive.
How did it go?
For those who are getting discouraged from videos like this you all have to realize everything has its up and downs and everyone is not going to have the same view of things if you are interested just do it , and get your own perspective these are hers.
Love the honesty and depth 👊🏽
Thanks for sharing your experience. 🙂I think those who are in remote tech jobs have experienced this at some point.
I was offline, typing and using voice-to-text. I proofread the text. It read, "What do you want, Andrew?". So without hesitation I said out loud, "I don't want anything. What do YOU want?"
Voice-to-text is just another computer program. Now, I said nothing of the sort. The problem with AI is that it cannot be proven to be AI.
Even if there is < 1% chance of human, I say hello. For stability. Works for me. What is crazy is if I let it all bother me.
I just want the money
I work GRC. Very boring but essential. I review technical implementation from IT / engineering and verify we are compliant against an established standard (NIST, ISO, SOC2). Most of the job is documentation.
I got my Comptia A+, network + security + all in 6 months got a job making over 6 figs
Boom, baby! That is awesome! Thanks for not believing nonsense fear mongering video like this!
I am so glad that this can be done.
Sandra talks about a keep point to keep your health and family time.
Sandra I love your videos so Much !!! great information and resources for people who are new to the industry
How can someone become an expert at defending if they have ZERO experience at attacking a computer network? A Cyber Security expert should understand the hacker's or saboteur's mind and methods in order to protect against him. How can normal person learn how a criminal mind thinks?
Same goes to any police????? Tell me the "this is not the same" bullshit :D
because software defects traffic for you.
Been thinking of changing career to cyber security... Also thinking of completing CompTIA certs..and I found this video suggestions..now I don't know what to do
These thumbnails are consistently improving, keep it up!
Thanks for sharing what it's really like. I work in Audit & Compliance and its pretty much 90% paperwork and super boring LOL
This is the exact video I was looking for. Thanks!
I’m currently a sys admin that completed CISSP and trying to get a cybersecurity job. Thanks for the feedback.
That's awesome Rolando! Good luck on your job search and keep us updated, wishing you the best :)!
Hey man how did you become Sys Admin, I’m currently working as a Desktop Support and I’m just trying to grow in my it field
This video kinda scares me from cybersecurity
exactly!! glad you made this. i try to tell ppl all the time
there are people, who love to be in a meeting, a long meeting, i hate talking in the meeting about things, that don't help to solve porblems in the technologie. I love this: write something on the whiteboard something of mathematical thinking, or write a software, define a problem and start solving and talking.
So ready to have a ‘boring’ job. So sick of dealing with people. Oooffffff
Thanks for making this video! I'm just starting and your information helped me.
Really question these types of videos. They are meant to dissuade certain individuals/demographics from persuing roles in lucrative fields. Look at the commonalities of many of the "I regret..", "Why I quit...", "(industry/skill set) is not worth" videos and make your own decision.
I agree. It's just fear mongering,.
If I don’t have a passion for computer and technologies, do you think I will be capable of learning cyber security? I’m a generally a smart person.
After 10 years dealing with people face to face in retail and a bunch of physically demanding jobs and customer service, this type of job sounds like a vacation. Lol
Question-do you love what you do? I’ve been in cybersecurity (GRC) for years and can honestly say I hate my job. I’m feeling stuck in my career path despite already being in the cybersecurity industry for 10 years.
How about self employment,doing contract work? You can learn new technologies , and not be bound by one companies,rules or technologies. I worked in technology for 10 years I.B.M. systems and half the people I worked with were consultants ,self employed.
I am just getting into cybersecurity, and my ultimate plan is to create a startup out of my work experience which i will gain.
I agree, im in IT and do contract work, i enjoy it
@@dragneel608 that's a great plan.
Yeah but it pays REALLY well, so, there's that....
10:30 lifestyle balance - correct i did a burn out in sales and now looking at an IT job
Meetings even sucks more when after all of explaining the client what not to do a 100 times, they just do the same thing without telling you silently
So it's basically the same as any other IT job.
Well, if you think most of your role in cybersecurity is boring, that is probably an analyst role and you haven't been immersed with more interesting and more exciting hardcore hacking stuff. I had been on really interesting pentests of products, systems and environments where it is challenging enough and not about writing reports or looking at tickets. If you are an analyst, you do look at tickets a lot and looking at that queue, which I can understand would be boring for many, but if you have the skills and proper knowledge of incident handling and response and DFIR I would say those roles have so much adrenaline-pumping scenarios whenever a cyber incident happens. Maybe you need to take a look more at other roles than giving a generalization that most of it would be meetings, reports and looking at tickets. I would understand those things would really bore me to death, but whenever I pwn a shell or pull out some interesting sensitive data that I am not supposed to have access to in a bank, move laterally and pivot in their network, then things get extremely exciting for me, not to mention reversing any binaries that come my way to gain more interesting shells or knowledge about something that could lead me and/or my team to pwning some machines and showing impact to an organization. Cheers and good luck with your career!
Hey .
Can you send me the basic material you used to study cyber security am interested I would like to be in Cyber security
Very useful video. Thank you for ur honest opinion
Thankyou for your video! Do you have a video that explains the most common questions you’d normally be asking your teammates just so I can get more knowledge about them? 💗
Nice video :D Thank you for sharing!
Thanks so much for watching Luca!
do you recommend me to change my career to cyber security when I am 40 year old, If yes, it's better to take part in a skill based cource or degree based couse
Yea
I am 38, been in IT operations for around 10 years. Looking to transition into Security now. Starting with Security+ watching courses on Udemy at the moment
@@cns187 what's your role?
@@Stoneface_ IT operations Analyst
As someone who’s considering getting into CS even though I have a BA in Arts and Science, I suggest skill base course because you are JUST learning the skill/s you need and earn it within a few months to a year. Compare to a degree based course where you will have to take other courses NOT related to what you want to get into to (These are called elective courses and you HAVE to take them to get your degree) Which would wasted both you time and money.
Thank you so much for this video.
Excuse me, can someone makes career in compliance (information security)? If yes, did you have some free resources to learn that online?
🙏
This what I wanted too be when I was younger and now I am a surgeon bc my parents told me to uhh kinda not regret that but don’t worry I am proud to study more in tech and cyber crime one day I promised my self to become a surgeon and a cyber crime specialist the reason why I chosen this 2 professions are bc I loved team work o always wanted to work as a team and I wanted to do hard challenging professions
if you don't like what you're doing, it's gonna be boring. honestly i didn't think of cybersecurity as the one in the movies...i mean hello, this is reality
I'm confused, is this is a boring job or a stressful job?
Great tips!
Thanks for this video
Whcih emphasis do you think would be better? Cybersecurity with emphasis in computer science or emphasis in IT
i love your VDO content sis. hope to see more next content/
The struggle is real when trying to land a job in CS. I applied for an ISSO (Information Systems Security Officer) for a contracting company that works with the DoD. I was told by their hiring team I was not qualified for this position since I needed to gain real-world experience with NIST and RMF. I had to use NIST and RMF when building a security policy for a unit I was with at Fort Campbell and develop the procedures for the team to STiG devices in our AO. So, I applied for an entry-level position with the same company as a junior version of the ISSO. Received an email back stating I was overqualified for that position. I was like, really, WTF. Seriously about to say, "I GIVE UP ON CS," and accept a Help Desk Tier 1 job.
Sometimes companies will look for specific experience, while other companies are looking for the ideal "entry-level" candidate, i.e., fresh from college and young. What you would need to do is find a company that isn't searching narrowly for candidates. Instead of applying for specific positions, perhaps contact the company with your resume and let them suggest to you positions that would be a good fit.
@@cryora I have done that a few times already and most they have offered is again Helpdesk or Field Service. I have applied for a few DoD Fellowships and internships, but they like you said are being given to the younger crowd. It is extremely disheartening to have the degree and the knowledge to be offered a 45k-55k job, when you already qualify for at least 80k-90k position.
@@cryora Job search. Hmm...One other crazy endeavor!
Do you suggest getting a bachelors degree? Or going for certs?
Which is the best certification to do as a anti fraud analyst i have just started my career in cybersecurity.
What made you choose the cybersecurity track then?
The truth is, in IT in general, when you become Senior you're more of an SME than anything. Supporting all the less senior colleagues who ask questions and giving them the answers or leads they need to point them in the right direction.
Hi, I want to ask a question though, is it okay that I'm interested in cybersecurity and I see myself working as a cybersecurity analyst but as a student in her third year in university ,I'm trying to learn other skills like web development as a start before I fully dive into cybersecurity , do you think it won't be to late in the future to learn cybersecurity?
Thinking to start my journey here, any suggestions would be much appreciated. I have a full time job situation and zero background on any computer/technology. Is it better for me to study go AA for IT or an 2yrs associate degree on cybersecurity? Thank you so much in advance!
Hmm, boring sounds like easy money to me but I can’t stand being in so many meetings 😭
Hi Sandra, I'm seeking to secure my network and also set it up. Is this something you're able to assist with? Would like to know how much your hourly rate is. Thank you in advance.
If I applied do they require for you to go to school or college? To know and understand this or do they train.
Are you constantly on call and are there 8-5 or 9-5 hours available?
I work on call every other week! We have a small team so thats why its so frequent, most of the time its once every 4 weeks or so if there’s a bigger team. I work 9-5 but my company’s flexible so if i need to leave during the dayfor something like an appointment, i can make up my work later in the day. Hope this helps! 😁
I'm a devops engineer
Interested in cyber security. Do u think it is good fundamentals to transfer to security?
I’m in California what schools does anyone recommend for getting certified? I would like to transition into cybersecurity thank you in advance .
great info how much does a beginner make.
Can I ask how long you have been in this role and how long do you expect to be in junior role ? Thanks
can you give me some tips on how to update software in windows, are there some steps you personally take before doing an update on a software?
I’m taking the Cybersecurity Course. Who is with me? 😊
Good luck with everything!!