#CybersecurityCareers #TechIndustry #UniversityAdvice
Hey everyone! 👋🏼 So, I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz lately about the cybersecurity field. Seems like everyone and their grandma are considering it as a career option! 🤔 But is it really a good field to get into, or will it be overcrowded and hyper-competitive in the future? 🤷🏻♂️
I’m a fan of all things computer science myself, and I’m trying to figure out where to focus my studies when I head off to university soon. So, if you’re in the same boat as me, here are a few things to consider:
– While the cybersecurity field is indeed growing rapidly and in high demand, it’s crucial to stay up-to-date on the latest trends and technologies to stand out in a crowded job market.
– Networking with professionals in the industry and gaining hands-on experience through internships or side projects can give you a competitive edge.
So, what do you think? Is cybersecurity a safe bet, or should we be looking at other options in the tech world? Let’s share our thoughts and insights to help each other navigate this exciting but rapidly changing field! 💻🔒 #CybersecurityCareerAdvice #TechIndustryInsights
Entry level roles are saturated and very competitive, both with uni graduates and people transferring from adjacent industries. Entry level salaries are also not that impressive. It’s not horrible, but do not believe any of the stuff you see saying you’ll earn $120K with 1 years experience. That might be the case if you’re a seasoned IT veteran transferring to cyber, but not as someone with no experience fresh out of uni. It’s a total crock of shit for 99% of people. It’s not a get rich quick industry. Much of what you read online is often heavily skewed towards the USA where salaries are often double what they are here. Don’t do it for the money.
That said, if you find it interesting and like technology, it’s a fantastic industry to work in. Some duds, but also lots of cool companies with good culture. Cool kind of climate to work on, if you’re trying to stop ‘the bad guy’ and prevent incidents. Endless things to learn, lots of challenges and problems to solve. You can feel like you are making a real impact, or at least doing something meaningful, whether that’s triaging and responding to security incidents, creating and improving cyber security related systems, or even improving policy / security culture. There’s a very wide range of roles out there, depending on how technical you are (or want to be), if you’re a people person (social/soft skills go a long way in cyber security ), if you’re interested in the overarching business risks/implications or more interested in being ‘hands on the tools’. Then there’s sales, management of accounts/teams etc.
Realistically it’s going to be in some kind of demand for the foreseeable future, although hiring has slowed recently compared to 2 years ago when everything was booming. Once you get a few years of experience it would be tremendously easier to job hop and pick opportunities that speak to you. It’ll be getting the first job or two that will be the hardest, so having any IT experience early on is very valuable. Even working part time in an IT related field (help desk/IT support) while studying would be fantastic on a resume.
Full of under experienced overpaid people performing glorified admin work largely to tick boxes.
It’s terrifying to see some of the issues that are left after projects or changes are implemented that get administratively resolved or maneuvered into obscurity without actually getting resolved.
It’s good but it’s not easy. Security is not really a field you can just walk into with some study behind you. Most employers want someone with at least some prior experience working in another area of IT.
It’s really hard (not impossible) to jump straight into cybersecurity without prior experience.
My recommendation is to do a TAFE IT course, get a job at a helpdesk or NOC, and work your way up from there. Get certified while on the job and keep shifting jobs to get as much experience as you can.
You can definitely manage to get an entry cybersecurity role after 2 years in IT, but then again, it’ll still be hard. Once you’re out of the entry level zone in cyber, you’ll have heaps of opportunities.
Best of luck.
High paying but I myself got burnt out completely and no longer work in IT due to the stress and bs that goes with such a role.
I wish I went down a different non cyber security path
It is a field full of accountants that don’t know what a script means or have any knowledge about access, networks or anything IT related
Cybersecurity is a massive field and it really depends on what you want to do. I would look into specialising in AppSec, CloudSec or DevSecOps, these are the most in demand skills right now in cyber.
Get in to helpdesk, work your way up.
My company and others around me only want experienced heads working in cyber, maybe cause the risk is great if something isn’t handled effectively in triage.
Step 1 – do cybersecurity. Step 2 – be senior. Step 3 – make outrageous amounts of money.
If you can’t get to step 2 then sadly it won’t work out
Great field, the next boom financially Not saturated, in the years to come there will be more need for cyber experts than in the history of the world. I own a business in this space and its incredibly exciting times ahead. Insurance companies are going to make it a prerequisite in certain industries that businesses have cyber insurance and they need us as experts to be able to help those meet the requirements for it.
Australia is the single most targeted country every single day for cyber attacks, it’s scary stuff.
My suggestion to you would be start your own consulting business and you’ll reap the benefits and income much more than working for someone else. Position yourself as a Cyber Consultant who works with Law firms and you’ll do bloody well (from experience).
Ping me a note with any questions
Sorry if this is hijacking but I’m an Account Executive in a rather niche SaaS company and was thinking of doing a GradDip of Cybersecurity at Uni on the side to try and side-step into Cyber. I’m non-technical and want to stay in sales but move into something more lucrative eventually. Does anyone think this is wise?
Depends where you end up
Govt is a good field and secure