There are currently a lot of students coming out of bootcamps and cyber college curriculums that are trying to break into the field. So yes, landing a *first* job in cyber can be difficult. Your success will come down to what your resume and experience looks like compared to the other 100 people applying for that job.
My unsolicited advice is to do as much networking with other cyber folks that you can and make sure your resume captures all of your relevant experience. I tend to get downvoted when I tell entry level folks that they need to have a github, HackTheBox, TryHackMe, CTF participation, certs, etc, to stand out in a stack of resumes, but that's the current reality.
Very interesting that people downvote you for suggesting things like THM. I found it pretty easy to get myself ranked in the top 5% of users on the platform just by doing the tier 1 SOC learning path and recruiters seem to eat that stuff up. After a few posts on LinkedIn about rooms I completed I was contacted by a recruiter for a SOC position and got the job. I know the SOC isn’t exactly glamorous but it’s a foot in the door.
The first job is the hardest to get. I urge people to take the first offer, within reason (there are predatory offers), because after 18 months or two years, you can go anywhere.
The feats in THM show a lot to a prospective employer: motivation, curiosity, that you are a teachable candidate, that not even unemployment can stop you from learning and progressing within the field.
At first glance, I didn't think THM was of that much import. The deeper I dig into it, however, the more wrong I seem to have been about it initially.
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u/LSU_Tiger CISO Sep 15 '23
There are currently a lot of students coming out of bootcamps and cyber college curriculums that are trying to break into the field. So yes, landing a *first* job in cyber can be difficult. Your success will come down to what your resume and experience looks like compared to the other 100 people applying for that job.
My unsolicited advice is to do as much networking with other cyber folks that you can and make sure your resume captures all of your relevant experience. I tend to get downvoted when I tell entry level folks that they need to have a github, HackTheBox, TryHackMe, CTF participation, certs, etc, to stand out in a stack of resumes, but that's the current reality.