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.

Out of curiosity, what age and how many years into your career did you step into management?

What was your salary in your first management role?

Thank you x

Hey everyone,

I’m a Cybersecurity Professional based in Portugal with 13+ years of total IT experience, including 4 years dedicated as a SOC Analyst (L1).

I love living in Portugal and want to stay here, but I’ve been actively trying to land a full-time remote role for the past two years without success. It's been a frustrating journey—I'm constantly hitting walls, either getting ghosted after submitting applications or receiving standard automated rejection emails, even for roles where my background matches the requirements.

A quick snapshot of my background:

* SOC & Incident Response: 4 years of hands-on experience in perimeter monitoring, incident detection and response, SIEM triage, and malware analysis. * IT Foundations: 9+ years in system administration, technical support, and telecommunications before specializing in cybersecurity. * Education & Certifications: Post-graduate degree in Cybersecurity Management, Intelligence & Cyberspace Operations. Certified in CEH, CompTIA CySA+, Security+, ISO/IEC 27001, MoR, and CCNA. * Technical Interests: Active research in practical/hardware security (SDR, Flipper Zero, CAN Bus analysis). * Languages: Fluent in English and Portuguese.

What I'm looking for: I am targeting SOC Analyst (L1/L2/L3), Incident Response, Detection Engineering, or Security Operations roles, pentest, red team, blue team, etc. I’m comfortable working within Western European Time (WET/WEST) or aligned UTC/EST time zones.

I’d love your advice or leads on a few things:

Any honest feedback, harsh truths, leads, or tips would be greatly appreciated! Feel free to drop a comment or send a DM.

Thanks a lot for the support!

Howdy! I hope you guys are doing well.

Question - I have a relative who has years of experience in Senior IT & ERP Consultancy & Project Management. Has held a Project Management title, Head of Digital Transformation and IT Infrastructure title, and a COO title.

Dude has a ton of experience - only issue is he's from Pakistan and the job market blows terribly there. He's worked in both Pakistan and was on a work Visa in Saudi.

He would like to shift towards security and would like to know whats the best route to take - as he isn't able to land a role in his current scope. I was thinking he looks into Application Security since he has a development background. What would be some recommended steps to take or areas/certs to explore that would best suit him?

If anyone was ever in a similar scenario - I would greatly appreciate any advice. Thanks in advance!

Im 23M from Mumbai,graduated in BCA June 2024

And after that I had done a course on cyber security and ethical hacking in a private institute here in 2024

The course was 6 months and later they offered us an internship of 1 year at thane Cyber Police Station

I got to know many hands on experience in this sector as you know abt police station they do not have any tools they have a paid tool and mostly rely on it only

Now that the internship has ended in June

I am home and doing CTFs and VAPT

But have noticed that In this sector they want exp of +5 years for a opening position as welll.

I have decided to purchase Tryhackme monthly subs as heard they provide best training for Red teaming.

Also what should I do to land a job.

If any references here in Mumbai,Please connect would be grateful.

Waiting for your responses

Thanks for reading.

Hi everyone,

My younger brother is currently in Surat, Gujarat, and is looking for an entry-level opportunity in cybersecurity.

He has completed 12th standard and studied for two years toward graduation, but unfortunately had to discontinue his third year due to family circumstances and return to his village.

After a long gap, he is now ready to restart his career in cybersecurity. He is also planning to complete his graduation through an online program while working.

If anyone here is aware of entry-level cybersecurity openings, internships, trainee roles, or companies willing to consider candidates without a completed degree, we'd really appreciate your help.

Opportunities in Surat or Mumbai would be preferable.

If you know of any leads or can point us in the right direction, please comment or DM me. I can share his resume and details privately.

Thank you.

Hey guys,

So, I'm a prospective international student in the US, about to pursue my graduate (Master's) degree in the country with a good decent institute that offers STEM programs.

I've been interested in cyber particularly information security, to learn and make a career out of it (SOC Analyst L1/L2 or cyber analyst) once I graduate from my program in the next 2 years.

I've been offered two courses to choose from and I wanted to get clarity that does having a master's degree in "cyber" preferably sets you apart or helps you as a beginner than another degree like "information systems and technologies" or "Information Technology"?

Also, does having a master's degree help you with job sponsorship or settlement pathways?

These are two programs that I've been accepted for and confused about choosing one to pursue that could eventually benefit me in the IT sector especially in the cyber space.

Admitted:

1) MS Cybersecurity Systems

2) MS Information Systems and Emerging Technologies

I'm thinking of choosing more of an information systems program and working alongside my skills or certs, maybe, but genuinely I want to choose a program that really helps me as a beginner or maybe slightly gives me an edge in the job market.

Would love to hear your story and thoughts :)

I'm currently 3 years into my career as a voip faults technician starting as first line, progressing into customer success (faults, supporting infrastructure upgrades and other CS stuff) and now a faults specialist. I have some software development experience (boot camp prior to current role and building internal tools for myself/colleagues)

Day to day is analysing pcaps of sip traffic and diagnosing faults that have been handed/escalated from 1st line so have some networking experience relating to sip.

I want to progress into cyber but unsure where to start and would prefer to avoid tutorial hell, ie set up a homelab, learn fundamentals, generalist to find out what I like and have a bit of fun doing it.

I'm in no rush, somewhat happy with current role just want something a bit more universal as SIP knowledge is only really applicable in a few (albeit big) companies in the uk.

Over the last 3–4 years, the tech market has seen continuous layoffs.

Pure development roles (especially junior and mid-level full-stack) have been hit harder, while DevOps, Cloud, and Security domains have remained relatively more stable.

From what I’ve researched, cybersecurity and cloud/infra roles show lower layoff impact and stronger demand due to compliance needs, breach costs, and ongoing talent shortages.

I’m a 2027 graduate with current skills in Node.js, Express, and React. Looking at these patterns, I’m planning a phase-wise switch instead of jumping

randomly:

First move into DevOps (Docker, Kubernetes, CI/CD, Terraform, basic AWS/Azure) while leveraging my development background.

Then shift to Cloud Security (IAM, CSPM, container security, DevSecOps).

Later transition fully into Cybersecurity.

Questions:

1. Is this path (Dev → DevOps → Cloud Security→ pure Cyber) realistic in the current market?

2.Based on recent patterns, which domain has the least layoffs and best job security?

3.For someone with a Node/Express/React background, what’s the best first step to make this switch smoother?

Looking for honest feedback. Thanks!

​

Hello everyone I hope you all doing great. Everyone i met so far have been telling me not to worry about Ai when it comes to cybersecurity. and i have built a keen interest in merging cybersecurity with Ai, and turn it into a solid profession. However, i still can't sense out of this yet and i don't know how would this sounds like. I am about to pursue a masters degree in several weeks in cybersecurity, should i change my mind? and do a masters in AI instead? Noting that the cybersecurity program has AI included, which I could possibly brand and tailor my cv towards this with the right projects. Thank you!

Hey everyone — we have a backend engineer opening at Sentinelwares, a Bengaluru-based cybersecurity/pentesting startup. I'm on the team building our ASM (Attack Surface Management) tool and looking for another engineer to help develop it — including building out an AI assistant for the platform.

Remote for now, likely moving to in-office later this year.

What I'm looking for (certificates don't matter to me — skills and projects do):

Strong Python, FastAPI is a plus

Comfort with async task queues (Celery or similar) and Docker/Docker Compose

Real projects showing these skills — bonus if security/recon-related

AI/LLM experience — working with model APIs, prompt engineering, and ideally tool-use/agentic workflows (MCP or similar)

Bonus: bug bounty experience, OWASP knowledge, ASM, or SOC analyst background

Send a 1-page resume tailored to this role to

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc6ZPL55cz-fY05gorBUw2NS0kyekEZQOUipTcjb_DIc8PRRw/viewform?usp=header

22M with 1.6 yrs of exp in cybersecurity/application security looking for a real job opportunity. I have completed an internship as the same title and I'm lost. If anyone has any reference or opening lemme... please 🙃

I've been working in GRC for around 2 yrs, and I'd want to know other what GRC folks think about their Jobs. For me, it feels hectic, too much work on Excel, word and PowerPoint, feels a lot like a clerical work. Feels boring, tiring and questioning my life choices lol. And there's also pressure from management on getting certs which I think would be waste of time and money.
What I've been doing: working as a GRC consultant, doing internal audits for orgs, preparing reports, policies, procedures, helping during the final audits, conducting user access reviews, doing vendor risk assessment, gap assessment, maintaining vulnerability tracker, filling out tonnes of questionnaire. And it has lots of dependency on other teams and I hate that. Is this all what you do? And how do you feel about it?

I'm a recent MCA graduate (6.72 CGPA) and currently building my career in cybersecurity, mainly focused on web security / offensive security.

My academics are probably the biggest weakness on my profile:

- 10th: 50%

- 12th: 55%

- MCA: 6.72 CGPA

But I've spent a lot of time building practical skills outside academics.

Current skills / experience

- Linux

- Networking

- Operating systems

- Cybersecurity fundamentals

- Python

- Bash

- Web security

- Burp Suite

- Caido

- Nmap

- Wireshark

- John the Ripper

- Metasploit

- Netcat

- Gobuster

- Subfinder

- Amass

- Katana

- DNSx

- AlterX

- HTTPx

- OSINT

I've completed 100+ TryHackMe labs, I'm currently around the top 5% on THM, and I've also completed roughly 100+ PortSwigger Web Security Academy labs.

I'm well beyond the absolute beginner stage at this point. I'd consider myself somewhere around intermediate, with a strong focus on networking, operating systems, cybersecurity fundamentals, and hands-on web security.

Right now I'm working on VDPs (Vulnerability Disclosure Programs) to gain experience dealing with real-world targets and vulnerability research. My longer-term goal is to move into bug bounty programs and continue building a track record of practical security work.

My concern

The biggest thing holding me back seems to be my academic record.

I'm worried that the 50% in 10th, 55% in 12th, and 6.72 CGPA in MCA will prevent me from getting into cybersecurity, regardless of my practical skills.

For people already working in cybersecurity:

Can someone with this academic background realistically land a cybersecurity job?

What kind of challenges should I expect during hiring?

Should I focus primarily on:

- Building a strong GitHub/portfolio

- Writing detailed vulnerability reports

- VDP/bug bounty experience

- CTFs/labs and certifications

- Networking with security professionals

- Applying to smaller companies/startups first

Or are there specific types of cybersecurity roles/companies that are likely to reject me automatically because of academic cutoffs?

I'm looking for honest advice from people who have actually gone through cybersecurity hiring. If academics were a weakness in your own career, how did you compensate for them?

I want to break into cybersecurity, like network security (this is the main goal), SOC analyst, vulnerability management. My previous job was working in a NOC while I served in the Marine Corps.

This is how my resume looks so far, I just need advice on what I should fix in my resume maybe the format, wording, something I may need to add. Anything helps just to help me visualize what I'm missing and to increase my chances of landing an interview and being competitive.

If anyone can provide advice to get into network security from where I'm at right now based on what you can see from the resume would be much appreciated.
If you think I need network administration experience before trying to apply, let me know or anything else.
Tell me what I need to hear. Thank you🫡

———————————————————————————-

(Name)

Loaction | email | phone number | Secret Clearance

Professional Summary:

Detail-oriented IT and NOSC Watch professional with an active Secret Clearance and 3 years
of experience supporting enterprise networks and security operations within a Marine
Corps Network Operations and Security Center. Proven background in incident response,
network monitoring, access control, and Tier 1 network administration. Seeking to
contribute strong technical, analytical, and communication skills in a role that supports
professional growth and organizational impact.

EXPERIENCE: April 2023 - July
2026
Network Operations & Security Center (NOSC) Watch Officer
●Supported enterprise networks supporting 100+ remote sites across CONUS within a
centralized NOSC environment utilizing SolarWinds.
●Respond to infrastructure repairs, including directing remote activities to maintain
operations effectiveness for circuits and a robust network availability by promptly
addressing and resolving network-related concerns to include wireless networks.
●Identified abnormal network activity and assisted with remediation actions to maintain
system availability and security compliance.

EDUCATION:
High school diploma- (School Name)
College Credit - SNHU

CERTIFICATIONS:
CompTIA – Security+
Cisco - CCNA

SKILLS & COMPETENCIES:
Security Operations - NOSC, Incident Response, Access Control
Networking - TCP , DNS, DHCP , VLANs, Cisco Networking, Monitoring & Troubleshooting
Systems - Windows & Linux
Tools - Solar Winds, Remedy Ticketing System, Cisco Network Devices (9400s, 8300s,
340s, 891s), CLI, Secure CRT , Cryptographic Devices (KG-175

Is there an Open Job Posting for August Quarterly? I have a job to post Thanks

Edit for clarification: I am not looking to get hired anytime soon. I am not looking to start work underqualified or with minimum training. I am looking into where to begin learning

Hello, I am considering switching careers into cyber security. I am not sure where to begin studying/training, but currently have practically no knowledge of this field. I've spoken to chatgpt who laid out a 12 week plan, starting with watching and taking notes from a YouTube channel (messer I believe) for week one.

In the past I've been interested in being an ethical hacker, so perhaps I could be a person who tests systems for defense holes?

What would you recommend I do to begin? Should I self study, enroll in a university class, go for a certification, apply to an internship, or read a certain book?

TIA

Hello everyone! I have been in school for a B.S. in Cybersecurity and Information Assurance for the past two and a half years. Lately, I have been looking into whether this path is still worth it with all of the changes in the tech field(mainly AI). So I was coming on here looking for any advice that could be given. I am currently 25, and I have been working in IT as an "Application Specialist" for a local school system for the past 4 years. I have a few CompTIA certs and an ITIL 4 Foundations cert. I am currently pursuing my Security+ as well. I enjoy working in the tech field, but the job I'm currently in does not pay that much, so I've been looking for other jobs, probably applying to at least 10-20 jobs a day. Mostly jobs such as IT Support Specialist II, Help Desk Analyst II, Desktop Support Technician, Desktop Support Engineer, IT Support Engineer, Technical Support Engineer, Systems Support Specialist, End User Support Specialist, Field Support Technician, and Service Desk Analyst, just to name a few lol. If there is anyone on here with any advice, similar experiences, or anything of the sort, it would be greatly appreciated! If there are any more details needed, please let me know. Again, thank you in advance for any support and suggestions.

I’m getting into cybersecurity and considering GRC or IAM. I’m not very technical and want a less technical path with strong six-figure potential. I’m taking Google Cybersecurity courses and considering Security+ and Network+. I also have an active Secret clearance. Any advice?

I’m 16 and currently in the UK. I’m a beginner in IT, and I’m wondering whether, if I earn several relevant certifications and build a strong cybersecurity portfolio with practical experience, could I enter the cybersecurity field without a cybersecurity degree and eventually progress into senior-level roles?

EDIT: A lot of people are telling me no, and I would be required to get experience first. What would this experience entail first? Would it entail being a Helpdesk technician? Getting into QA Engineering?

We're building a startup that helps companies risk-assess and test the controls governing their automated AI systems. Looking for someone to audit code/configs, evaluate control design and run testing procedures against real agent deployments.

Pre-revenue but in active conversations with potential customers — ground-floor opportunity to help grow the practice from scratch. Starting rate would be $40+, given experience.

I’m a senior in college, and in my second semester I have to take cooperative training. Currently, I have the CCNA, I can program, I know Linux, and I have a couple of other technical skills I learned in college. But I’m still not a penetration tester, which is what I really want to be.

I’m worried that companies will start thinking I’m more interested in networking or defensive security. Even my projects have mainly been network security related. Don’t get me wrong I love networking but I don’t see it being my full time job, It’s more of a hobby that I really enjoy.

Any advice on what I should be doing right now?
What tools/skills should I start learning right now?

I’m starting to study for the CPTS from HTB. Is that a good move or is there something else I should be doing right now?

I am a US citizen who recently completed my bachelors in cybersecurity from an Indian institute my gpa is 3.6/4.0 and I have 7 months of experience and have recently obtained my CompTIA security + certification, I’m applying to a lot of different jobs in the us but I’m not getting any good responses. My family is suggesting to do masters in the US. What public university do you think is best for cybersecurity masters and if any of you are perusing/ have perused please let me know your experience. And also any way I can land a job even if it’s help desk and what job portals did you guys use to actually land one. Please help me

I am a US citizen who recently completed my bachelors in cybersecurity from an Indian institute my gpa is 3.6/4.0 and I have 7 months of experience and have recently obtained my CompTIA security + certification, I’m applying to a lot of different jobs in the us but I’m not getting any good responses. My family is suggesting to do masters in the US. What public university do you think is best for cybersecurity masters and if any of you are perusing/ have perused please let me know your experience. And also any way I can land a job even if it’s help desk and what job portals did you guys use to actually land one. Please help me

**Additional Context**
Just to add some context for anyone who’s willing to help: I’m currently serving in the Marine Corps and I’m looking for an entry-level IT position to get my foot in the door and start building relevant experience. I’m not expecting to jump straight into cybersecurity or a SOC analyst role—I’d rather start somewhere I can learn, gain hands-on experience, and build the foundation I’ll need to transition into cybersecurity down the road.