See It To Be It Spotlight

𝗜 𝗴𝗼𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵…studying computer science at my university. As part of my degree, we had the opportunity to take elective courses, and I signed up to take cybersecurity courses such as Data and Applications Security and Digital Forensics. 

As part of my studies, I took part in a Software Engineering internship in an Agile Software Development environment. During this internship, I was first introduced to the idea of cybersecurity when the security engineer in the office demonstrated Web Application vulnerabilities and SQL injections. I thought his demonstration was very interesting. A simple change in a string could cause devastating consequences. He was demonstrating how to develop secure code, and that prompted me to sign up for cybersecurity electives.

𝗙𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗲, 𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁 𝗶𝘀…viewing the challenges you face as opportunities to grow and learn. In this field, you will encounter challenges. It’s important to recognize each challenge as a learning experience so that you can continue to stay up to date with the field as it evolves.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗰𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀…the interest in continuous learning. In cybersecurity, technology is constantly evolving, and we often learn new things regularly. To be successful in this career, I highly recommend to others to keep learning new things.

𝗠𝘆 𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝘁𝗶𝗽 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝗰𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝘀…to recognize your transferrable skills and build your network. If you are changing careers, most likely your previous career gave you some skills which you can leverage in a cybersecurity career. 

You could talk to a career coach or mentor to help you determine your transferrable skills, and then keep meeting people and networking with people. Once you build relationships in the cybersecurity community, it will be easier to get opportunities. It takes time, so be persistent.

𝗠𝘆 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝘀…to not only learn new things continuously, but also make sure that people know who you are. It is important to put yourself out there so that people in the cybersecurity community know about you. 

Post about what you are learning. Attend events, and then start speaking at meetups and conferences in the community if you are comfortable. Write blogs demonstrating what you learned; it could be a writeup for a Capture the Flag (CTF) challenge or an analysis of an article you read. 

The key thing is to stand out and demonstrate you are continuously learning new things. And your experience and perspective are valuable; your post or talk doesn’t need to be perfect, you just have to start.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗯𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗮𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗜𝗦𝗘 𝗠𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺? The RISE Mentorship program provides lectures and seminars in addition to the mentoring calls. It demonstrated that there are many ways to learn and grow in the cybersecurity community through events, conferences, skills development seminars, and of course, 1 on 1 mentoring calls. My mentee learned a lot from the skills development seminars, and the events also provide networking communities with the community.

The Cyber Guild connects leaders, practitioners, and emerging talent through events, mentorship, and community.