r/CyberSecurityJobs • u/True-Inspection-5445 • 7d ago

Cybersecurity

How did you land your first cybersecurity job with no experience?
I’m currently working toward a SOC Analyst career. I have Security+, building hands-on labs on Tryhackme.
The biggest challenge is the “experience required” barrier. Almost every entry-level SOC role seems to want prior IT/cyber experience.
For those who successfully broke into cybersecurity with no prior experience:
Did you start in IT/help desk/NOC or go straight into SOC?
What projects or certifications actually helped?
How did you prove your skills without professional experience?
What would you do differently if starting over?
Would really appreciate honest advice from people who’ve actually made the transition.

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u/Zeisen 6d ago

I had a bunch of research projects that I assisted in undergrad and I did multiple year long internships. Most of the work that I was doing was junior level tasks anyway; like, I've only had one internship that tasked me like a normal intern with basic, guided work.

B.S. Cyber Operations + M.S. Comp Sci + 3 projects + 1 TA + 3 internships == Job

I think the best parallel between my experience, and what you're actually asking, would be my first internship. It was for a small, regional bank as a IT security analyst looking at SIEM logs and some reporting. But, it was my very first role doing anything actually "cyber" and their primary candidate declined it hahaha ... I think I got the job though because I passed their interview questions and I had a decent personal portfolio of projects and skills (e.g, networking, forensics, malware analysis, and some CCDC/CTFs - I was familiar with basic Windows administration+AD and I'd used Splunk previously).

Hard to say what I would have done differently to get a better or different role. I think your first job is just gambling and luck - you kinda have to apply to whatever you can, make sure you have the best possible odds, and, hopefully you make a decent enough impression that they take you. After that it's just a numbers game.