Journey to Security

I was once in the position where I was on the outside of the cybersecurity field striving to make the transition. Unfortunately, it is not as easy as just applying to cybersecurity positions as most of these positions require “experience.” The good thing is that most of the experience they are looking for can be gained in other professional roles and with hands-on learning.

The best place to start is to begin researching different job types within the cybersecurity field as “cybersecurity” is a broad term. You may not know right away if you would be particularly interested in a specific job, but it will at least give you an idea of what is out there. When I was studying for my Bachelor’s degree at ASU in Computer Engineering I researched potential careers that I could pursue with my degree. Once I stumbled upon cybersecurity, I thought that sounded interesting to me. Especially because I enjoy helping people, I love technical challenges, and the idea of securing computer information and personal data appealed to me. Plus being a “hacker” sounded cool. :) This was also the first time I realized that my Bachelor’s degree was not going to be enough to get into this field. 2024 edit: my degree definitely was enough but I wanted to do more to stand out.

I began thinking of ways to gain experience in cybersecurity and the first thing I came up with was a Master’s degree in cyber security. ASU at the time offered an accelerated 4+1 program where I could obtain my Master’s degree and Bachelor’s degree in 5 years. I signed up for this program as a senior, but right away I knew these classes weren’t right for me as it was a Master’s in computer science with a “concentration” in information assurance. I wanted to solely focus on cybersecurity. I also had a job offer waiting at USAA and I figured I could start my career there as a Network Engineer and gain professional experience. So I did. Once I started at USAA I also realized I could work on my Master’s degree simultaneously and enrolled in security classes at the University of Maryland University College (UMUC).

By the time I was wrapping up my Master’s degree in cybersecurity technology I had about 2 years of experience as a Network Engineer leading projects and learning valuable technical skills. Not all of these skills were topics I was particularly interested in, but I had the attitude that I was willing to learn anything. I began applying for a few information security openings that interested me at my company and I was able to land an interview (my first remote interview). One week later I was told that I got the job as an Information Security Engineer!

I believe the characteristics about me that influenced my awesome team to hire me was more about who I was as a person and worker than how much I knew about cybersecurity. In my interview I was able to demonstrate that I knew how to overcome challenges, be a leader on a team, troubleshoot issues, and even was honest about telling them when I didn’t know the answer to questions.

The best advice I can give someone looking to transition to the cybersecurity field is to give your best effort in whatever you are currently doing and don’t pass on any opportunities to gain technical hands-on experience.

Don’t get stung,

-Security Sting