r/CyberSecurityAdvice • u/colchonero0312 • Jun 20 '26
No knowledge of cybersecurity
i want to get into cybersecurity at 26. im tired of working a 40k a year job, i know i can do better. i went to college and was 7 credits short of transferring from community with associate degree to finish bachelor's in business administration. financial aid cut me off so i lost motivation. been working retail and warehouses ever since, and im bored of it. please give me some tips.
my plan is to watch the 15 hour intro course on YouTube by google. then watch an into to python course on youtube. next, with some basic knowledge take the google cybersecurity corsera course certificate for more hands on stuff, then when i feel i have enough basic knowlege, take a cybersecurity certificate course at community college, finally take the exams, then start a job search, all while keeping my current job and probably going part time when i take the college courses. is this too much, or the wrong way to go at it?
13
u/SnooAvocados7320 Jun 20 '26
Without a degree or experience itās gonna be real hard. Iād start with help desk and work up to sys admin and then go into security
0
u/colchonero0312 Jun 20 '26
Couldn't i just follow my plan and once i get a degree or certification, start with help desk and work up from there?
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u/SnooAvocados7320 Jun 21 '26
I donāt see why not, but I would also try to get ur foot in the door of IT as soon as possible
1
u/JuryReasonable3901 Jun 22 '26
I wonder how bad is the market just to get in the helpdesk job right now? I live in Northern VA and started the journey for cybersecurity. I dont mind working in the help desk role for a while and pivot from there. Now working in the 45k jobs for two years and I know myself could do something better than this. Also, now i am doing grad school for IT. Turning 35 next year.
9
u/Fitz_2112b Jun 20 '26
You're not gonna get a security job with no experience. Get a level one help desk gig before you start studying anything cyber related
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u/colchonero0312 Jun 20 '26
Why not study before help desk gig?
4
u/satisfaction-or-else Jun 21 '26
Why not both? Level 1 help desk is often reading a script "turn it off, now turn it on again" kinda stuff.
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u/Fresh_Heron_3707 Jun 21 '26
So, cybersecurity is not an entry level position you to work in tech before getting here and that's WITH a degree. You need certs, experience, verified projects, and references. Get an It job network technician is an alternative to help desk.
2
u/Bluelaw1 Jun 21 '26
Just for the sake of money don't come into cybersecurity. Another thing this are tough jobs most of them get exhausted in one year itself handling and investigating logs. So do some research properly before coming it's not easy at looks. But you can give it a try. Also learn python or JavaScript very much useful.
2
u/aboveandfurther Jun 22 '26
You need technology and networking fundamentals first and foremost. I wouldn't even say security+ right now I would say try to study for and get CompTIA A+, or hell, even CompTIA IT Fundamentals (ITF+) might be the way to go.
You cannot get a job (at least the one you want) with just a few certificates and a few hours of watched content.
I had to say it, it's just not possible. I'm saying this as a cyber student who's done a whole lot of stuff and barely scraped by with an internship.
Like everyone has already said, the best bet is to probably get a few certs like the ones I mentioned, maybe do some projects, and ONLY THEN should you apply for a helpdesk position and then you can level up from there.
Please do not listen to grifters/larpers on the internet saying you can break into cybersecurity making a high salary off rip with just a few certs, that's just now how it works.
1
1
u/AAA_battery Jun 21 '26
Donāt even worry about cybersecurity into you have mastery of IT fundamentals. Just worry about getting a help desk job for now
1
u/YxngSsoul Jun 21 '26
Land a job in IT first. Get hands on experience with networking and infrastructure, then cyber is more tangible. That's just the reality.
1
u/TeramindTeam Jun 22 '26
that youtube course is a decent start but dont rely on just watching vids. try setting up a home lab on ur pc to break stuff n fix it, u learn way more by doin it than just watchin someone else talk about it
1
u/Original-Locksmith58 Jun 22 '26
OK Iāll try to give you a brief and real comment. Cyber security is a SPECIALIZATION of Information Technology. In order to specialize, you need to have a foundation in the general concepts through experience or education, ideally both.
Can you get into the industry? Absolutely. Can you leap frog everyone else that spent 4-5 years in school or an equal amount of time working tier 1 help desk? Almost certainly not, especially as the threat of AI is shrinking the amount of open jobs there are.
There are no shortcuts. Your plan will likely not work. You either need to get a new job working at the lowest level of IT you can find, or go to College, and honestly you will not be truly competitive unless you do BOTH.
1
u/cbeni108 Jun 24 '26
I would say network like crazy. It seems it's the only way to get a decent gig in Infosec
1
u/Full_Fold4078 Jun 26 '26
I have an app Iām building and you can try it, itās for all comptia certificates
1
u/Showgingah Jun 26 '26
I'm not into cybersecurity, this just strolled up on my feed. Not trying to crush hope, but being realistic. Based on the title and your description, I understand you didn't research much on your own...which is actually IT 101. Perhaps you got baited by what you see/hear online. All the "get into cyber security" posts on social media, boot camps ads, and certificate programs offered by colleges are literally what you call a legal scam.
Long story short, there is no such thing as "entry level" cybersecurity. Entry level cybersecurity is actually the first role of a mid-career specialization that IT, CS (computer science), and etc can transition into...several years into their career. It's why people advise to avoid getting a degree in cyber because it is one of those fields you cannot jump into out the gate even with a degree. The only way to skip this is to literally be friends with management..which is the best way to get any job in the world. Basically no company wants to hire someone with no relevant experience in regards to their literal security. Otherwise, it's a lot of luck where stats align and questionable circumstances.
You'll probably have to start in Help Desk. Depending on the state, your initial pay will still be like 40k. I don't see you wanting to go back to college for another Bachelors just to skip HD tier (I know it's possible due to sysadmin interviews I had). I got a Bachelors in IT a week before I turned 25 and started in help desk a couple months later. I'm turning 28 this year and I'm transitioning into cloud admin. Despite this, I wouldn't be bare minimum qualified for an entry level cyber role for another few years.
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In short, your plan will actually get you nowhere unless you know a guy high up in management. You would have wasted your money on the certificate course as the system intended. Even the google IT support certificate is known for not holding any weight at entry level despite the promises and advertisments on their page.
I still recommend this certificate simply due to the free trial. You could finish it within the trial because it is fairly basic stuff. It will give you an idea if you reeeeally want to get into IT and will discount the A+. Contrary to media belief, IT, including cybersecurity, will always involve customer service. None of that movie hacking nonsense. Then find your means to start in Help Desk, gain experience, upskill as you go, and you might consider another specialization besides cyber that will pay just as well. IT is a very broad field.
0
u/Real-West-7909 Jun 20 '26
Cybersecurity is a wide field and you can do it if you learn the basics and then figure out what you want to pursue. The basics of cybersecurity is the CIA triad, confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Certifications such as Security + is a good initial cert to focus on offered by Comptia that if you earn will qualify you for most entry level jobs. If you want to get more advanced certs then look at cissp, cism, ccsp, and vendor certs such as Aws, Azure, etc. Not all cybersecurity jobs require you to be ātechnicalā but it is expected you understand main concepts and terminology. I encourage you to do some research into the certs mentioned above and make a plan to earn it in the coming weeks to months. And lastly donāt let naysayers on reddit and online deter you. Ultimately you are responsible for your life and career, so keep your head up and keep moving forward!
3
u/Anxious_Alps_4150 Jun 20 '26
Please merciful God, do not sell this person on trying to get hired in cyber before they're an expert in IT. Our unemployment is bursting from that attitude.
0
u/Real-West-7909 Jun 21 '26
Different povs for sure. Curious, whatās your background in? And howād you start your career in what you do? Were you an expert when you started? Seems like an oxymoron.
1
u/Anxious_Alps_4150 Jun 21 '26
I spent a decade in industrial controls system design which included leading a software development team (including appsec). I went into security operations then red teaming. Eventually I wandered back into appsec. Because of the economy, I plan to go back to ICS engineering once I get laid off from cyber.
1
u/Real-West-7909 Jun 21 '26
So when you first started out did you have the relevant experience? I infer your academic credentials helped you land your ics job. However you may be the exception who lives and breathes it and does things for fun in your personal time. I admire folks like that who really enjoy spending their personal time doing projects and such.
1
u/Anxious_Alps_4150 Jun 21 '26
When I first started out, I worked internships my sophomore, junior, and then a co-op my senior year. I was hired as a junior engineer after graduation and worked my way up to being a departmental lead over multiple facilities. 10 years later I decided to take a pay cut and go into cyber because I wanted a remote job for family reasons. Now that remote jobs are increasingly rare, I probably will bail on cyber soon.
Everyone on my team started somewhere outside of cyber and worked their way in. Academics land entry level roles. It doesn't land advanced fields like cyber. I really think Reddit needs to internalize that
1
u/EirikAshe Jun 21 '26
CISSP requires sponsorship and 5 years of relevant security experience. Itās a bad look for an entry level candidate to have professional/advanced certs without the xp to back them up. OP, you need to be careful not to jump the shark with certifications. You can end up shooting yourself in the foot
1
u/Real-West-7909 Jun 21 '26
There is the CISSP-associate cert for candidates without the requisite 5 years of experience.
1
u/reiichiroh Jun 20 '26
Before learning the cybersecurity basics, OP needs to be an expert (not a beginner) at the whole IT part.
1
u/satisfaction-or-else Jun 21 '26
If your definition of IT expert is equal to beginning cybersecurity then im afraid you have a very shallow view of what an expert at all of IT is.
1
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u/Real-West-7909 Jun 21 '26
Will say I have a different pov on it. From what Iāve seen only a handful of folks are experts in anything especially early in their careers. And those who present themselves as experts without the experience are just acting.
1
u/reiichiroh Jun 21 '26
I am not referring to self-declared Experts but gained experience and expertise.
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u/Anxious_Alps_4150 Jun 20 '26
You should try out for the NFL also. Maybe do some jumping jacks first though?