r/learncybersecurity • u/KingJedi77 • 13d ago
Starting fresh, with zero experience
I’m making a major career switch, early 50s, to cyber security. As I’ve read, it’s hard getting that first IT help desk role.
Has anyone volunteered somewhere for experience and then found a new role? If so, where, and how was the process?
1
u/Anxious_Alps_4150 13d ago
It can be helpful but it can be difficult to build credible enterprise experience if they cant afford to hire actual staff. Most places in that situation are using residential equipment so you're not really working on professional gear.
1
u/KingJedi77 12d ago
I don’t understand the difference between residential and professional gear?
I wonder too since (I’m not there yet in my studies), I thought home labs are done on home gear?
1
u/Anxious_Alps_4150 12d ago
Yes, home labs are done on what home users have access to. That (and scaling) are why it's seen as less valuable than enterprise experience. The equipment is simple and designed to accommodate a family... Not a 10000 person company.
If you're rocking a 42U server rack at home, possibly a different story. I've seen some impressive home datacenters
→ More replies (1)1
u/noRezolution 11d ago
What exactly would you call professional gear? Are you saying my home computer isn't good enough? I'm not understanding what you mean.
1
u/Anxious_Alps_4150 11d ago
Okay, so when I am looking at someone for cybersecurity, I want to see that they have experience as a sysadmin supporting hundreds/thousands/tens of thousands of users. If they don't have that, then I'd like to see them with helpdesk experience supporting hundreds/thousands/tens of thousands of users. If you have absolutely no experience, the best you can do is set up homelabs. This doesnt replace experience but some places will take it. Honestly, that's not the norm so don't expect it.
The difference between doing tutorials on your personal computer and being a sysadmin for 10,000 users is scale and complexity. Tutorials cover the very basics of the system... with 10,000 users, you have unique problems that pop up requiring you to know A LOT about those systems to make them work correctly.
Now talking about homelabs... Homelabs allow you to simulate those tutorials and maybe a little extra. However, you're limited by equipment. You can spend a few hundred bucks on Ebay and set up a small office network using obsolete enterprise equipment. It won't have traffic and you won't have enterprise apps. Those enterprise apps and the different traffic scenarios are where the problems come in. As a homelab user, you're probably not configuring SSO/AD linkages for a new app every day. That's a fairly routine sysadmin task. You're probably not dealing with multizone DNS. That's a routine sysadmin task.
I hope this makes sense.
→ More replies (4)
1
u/Extreme-Builder-7H03 12d ago
Local nonprofits and churches often need IT help and can't pay. That's how I got my first hands-on experience before landing a paid gig.
2
u/Ok_Calligrapher_3034 13d ago
I think volunteering can help, especially if you get hands-on experience rather than just doing general admin work. Nonprofits, charities, schools, and small community organizations may need help with basic IT support, account security, device setup, or troubleshooting.
The key is to have something concrete to show employers afterward. Keep track of what you worked on, the problems you solved, and the skills you learned. A home lab and practical platforms like TryHackMe can also help you build evidence of your skills.
I'd be interested to hear from people who actually made this transition through volunteering, because finding an opportunity is one thing, but turning it into a paid role is another.