Book Image

Cybersecurity Career Master Plan

By : Dr. Gerald Auger, Jaclyn “Jax” Scott, Jonathan Helmus, Kim Nguyen
Book Image

Cybersecurity Career Master Plan

By: Dr. Gerald Auger, Jaclyn “Jax” Scott, Jonathan Helmus, Kim Nguyen

Overview of this book

Cybersecurity is an emerging career trend and will continue to become increasingly important. Despite the lucrative pay and significant career growth opportunities, many people are unsure of how to get started. This book is designed by leading industry experts to help you enter the world of cybersecurity with confidence, covering everything from gaining the right certification to tips and tools for finding your first job. The book starts by helping you gain a foundational understanding of cybersecurity, covering cyber law, cyber policy, and frameworks. Next, you’ll focus on how to choose the career field best suited to you from options such as security operations, penetration testing, and risk analysis. The book also guides you through the different certification options as well as the pros and cons of a formal college education versus formal certificate courses. Later, you’ll discover the importance of defining and understanding your brand. Finally, you’ll get up to speed with different career paths and learning opportunities. By the end of this cyber book, you will have gained the knowledge you need to clearly define your career path and develop goals relating to career progression.
Table of Contents (15 chapters)
1
Section 1: Getting Started with Cybersecurity
4
Section 2: Your Path into the Industry
10
Section 3: Now You're in; Time to Level Up!

Chapter 5: Getting Hands-On Experience with No Experience

Jon's previous chapter on certifications and education was important because it helped educate you on the field and industry, which, in turn, helps you deliver value as you become a cyber professional. One challenge these two don't help with is the common requirement of experience.

It's the chicken and the egg problem all over again. Employers want to give jobs to people with experience, but you can't get experience without a job. Let's crack the egg in this chapter and explore getting hands-on experience in the specific area you want in innovative ways.

Hands-on experience can be more important than having a certification, especially when you first enter this industry. This chapter will provide all the guidance you need to get that valuable hands-on-keyboard experience, without having to have a cyber job yet.

This chapter will start off by presenting several actionable ways to get experience...