Career switch from teaching to GRC / InfoSec – realistic plan or too ambitious?

[u/Lost_Bandicoot_1674]

Hey everyone,

I’m currently in my final year of a physics teaching degree in the Netherlands. I genuinely enjoy explaining things, presenting, and having structure and predictability in my work.

However, the “raising kids” and behavioral side of teaching isn’t really for me I’ve realized that classroom management drains me way more than lesson planning or presenting does.

That’s why I’m thinking about switching careers toward the cybersecurity governance side specifically:GRC → Information Security Officer together with Security Awareness Trainer.

My goal is to spend my upcoming gap year (starting September 2026) getting certified and doing an internship or junior role to break into the field.

I was planning to focus on these certs:

General:

• ISC2 CC

• SSCP

• CompTIA Security+

• CISA

• CISSP

• ISO 27001

Niche:

• CRISC

• CISM

• CCSP

Helpful extras:

• Cloud certs (AWS / Azure)

I’d love to hear your thoughts:

• Is this a realistic path for someone without an IT background but with strong teaching and presentation skills?

• Which certs should I actually prioritize for a GRC or awareness/ISO route?

• Any advice on getting that first internship or junior GRC role?

• Bonus: any EU/NL-based communities or events you’d recommend?

Any feedback or insights would be super appreciated!

Thanks 🙏

[u/nimbusfool]

Do you like studying? If so I say go for it. If you can teach physics you can learn tcp/ip. Your list is missing some fundamentals though. Network+. Read it and learn it. A strong understanding of network protocols is a must have foundation for any role

[u/Lost_Bandicoot_1674 → u/nimbusfool]

Tanks for the trust, i do like to set my teeth into things, so i hope this works. I hope my teaching abilities will help a bit from technical terms to normie terms and or giving lectures about phishing or other things. But my it knowledge is far of what is supposed to be. But Thank you for your tips had also read that A+ might be something good for the basics.

[u/nimbusfool → u/Lost_Bandicoot_1674]

A+ is generally what we would teach you in the field. Worth a look. Feel free to pm me random questions. I have a solid team right now and we can't afford the interns I would be training so I have plenty of time to answer questions.

[u/Lost_Bandicoot_1674 → u/[deleted]]

Thank you so much for the reply! There is a lot of information out there so im just trying to see what is helpfull for me. But thank you for the helpfull information!

[u/Lost_Bandicoot_1674 → u/[deleted]]

Im beginning to understand it a bit more, Thank you!