How to get started with your cyber career

According to a recent report, more than 700,000 cyber jobs in the US remain unfilled. And it is estimated that millions more remain unfilled worldwide. This ‘cyber talent shortage’ is a serious challenge that we’ve discussed on Afternoon Cyber Tea previously. From driving greater representation to recruiting more expansively, previous podcast guests have discussed with me what leaders and organizations should be doing differently to alleviate the talent issue.  

On the latest episode of Afternoon Cyber Tea, I wanted to explore the talent shortage from a different angle. I invited AJ Yawn , Co-Founder and CEO of ByteChek, to talk about cyber talent from the individual perspective, and how people can enter or pivot into the industry. AJ is a well-known voice on skilling, talent, diversity, and representation – so I was looking forward to his advice and insights for our listeners. You can listen to the full episode here.

Here are a few highlights from our discussion that resonated with me:

 Network, network, network

Nurturing a network is one of the most important aspects of managing your career. Whether you are just getting started on your journey, or making a mid-life pivot, a strong network can help you learn about a new industry, find new opportunities, and make connections with others. AJ reinforced the importance of networking and mentioned that getting started may be as easy as building a personal brand on LinkedIn. AJ said, “I think there's a few tactical things that people can do to break in. First and foremost, the LinkedIn platform is probably the most underutilized social platform out there when it comes to networking and building a brand that can help you not only break into this field but have a very long career.” AJ also suggested connecting with those who hold roles you aspire to have, saying, “The other thing that I would is to reach out and try to get folks on calls, people that are in roles that you would think you want to be in. If you want to be a pen tester, find a pen tester to talk to about what they do. Read their resume, and read their background, and just learn from folks that have been there and done that, and don't try to figure this out on your own.”

Start with the basics

A topic I explored with AJ is the baseline skillset required to get into cyber. There are many certifications and learning platforms available to help you learn foundational language, concepts, and tools. AJ had a few suggestions, saying. “If I'm talking to someone that is starting from scratch, going from another industry into cybersecurity, I usually say the same thing. First, I think the CompTIA Security+ certification is a great certification, not for what it means for your resume but more so for you to have the baseline security knowledge to just speak the language. The good thing about that cert is that it really teaches you the language of cybersecurity. All of these things that are important for you to just have baseline knowledge on, you'll get that in that certification, and it helps you really frame up what areas of cybersecurity you're interested in.”

Cloud reigns supreme

Perhaps unsurprisingly, my conversation with AJ turned, in part, into a conversation on the cloud, and how important it is to be learning about modern technology, rather than legacy systems of yesteryear. AJ reinforced this, saying, “I would say pick a cloud provider, whether that's Microsoft Azure, AWS, or Google Cloud. Whichever cloud provider is your cloud provider of choice, pick one of those cloud providers, and start down their certification path to learn the cloud. If you have the baseline language that you understand from the Security+ cert and you go out and get Microsoft Azure fundamentals and understand the basics of what Microsoft calls in the cloud, you are opening up yourself to so many different opportunities, as well as you can start to see in the career where you want to go. And I think it's critical for any person breaking into cyber today, you got to know the cloud. It's probably impossible, I think, to really grow a strong career in this field without understanding what the cloud is.”

 Building a large community of talented cyber professionals is a passion of mine, so I was very glad to have AJ on Afternoon Cyber Tea to hear advice on how individuals can start and build a long-lasting career in the industry. For the full episode and more Afternoon Cyber Tea, visit www.afternooncybertea.com. New episodes are released every other Tuesday and are available on the Cyberwire and most major podcast platforms.