You may know the security guy, Jeff Crume, from the other lightboard videos. When he joined IBM, dinosaurs still roamed the earth.
So he's invited me in to come give you talk about how you can get your first cybersecurity job in 2023.
This video split up into four parts: education, job search, interviews, and year 1.
Starting with education.
Cybersecurity has become an umbrella term, especially in the corporate world.
We're no longer just getting paid to hack into systems and find their vulnerabilities.
There are whole organizations dedicated to the cybersecurity space filled with both technical and non-technical positions.
Now, if you do want a technical position, having a background in computer science is going to give you the best overall foundation.
However, getting an education in data science or IT management can still leverage you a spot in a cybersecurity space.
I decided I wanted to pursue a bachelors degree in computer science because I really loved my coding classes in high school.
I was hooked on cybersecurity when I read the book "Blown to Bits" and watched the show "Mr. Robot",
so I was all excited about hacking.
I ended up getting my bachelors degree in computer science
and took advantage of many of the cybersecurity elective courses offered at my university.
So, to find a job, first, you have to find a position.
This leads us to the job search.
The best way of finding a job is through people.
Who do you know?
And then by proxy, who do they know?
Us computer science nerds, we are notorious for not going outside.
I'm telling you guys, it's really important--we can learn to put on some deodorant and go talk to people.
Whether or not you're at a university, joining organizations in your community is a great way of meeting other people and expanding your network.
For example, organizations like ISSA and ISACA
are great places to meet new cybersecurity professionals in your area, and you get to go and learn something new.
If you are at a university, advice I'd give to my younger self is to go talk to your professors, especially the ones with industry experience.
Not all of them are mean people that write hard exams, although there's plenty of those, and I'm sure we can have a really fun conversation about that later.
Jeff Crume is actually a former professor of mine.
He was one of the first people I really made the time to sit down and talk to about my career.
Fast forward a few years later and here we are, coworkers at IBM.
My point is by knowing someone in a certain field or at a company, it gives you a huge advantage in the application process.
This takes us to applications.
I've done it-- the shotgun applications --where you just send in your resume and hope for the best.
My sophomore year I applied to 84 different positions; I got interviews from zero of them.
So, the people I ended up working for were people I knew through my network, I interviewed and eventually worked for.
What I'm saying is basic job search of who you know-- it'll give you a huge advantage,
find a position in their company and ask for a letter of recommendation or for them to put in a good word.
Okay.
So you've applied for this position and someone at the company spoke highly of you.
Now it's time for the interview.
This is your time to present your experience and prove that you're the best candidate for the position.
For all interviews, know your resume like the back of your hand.
This may sound basic, but be able to expand on the points you have listed.
Talk about what you did and what kind of impact you made.
Now, I know for your first internship it can be really daunting because you don't have an experience in the workplace that you're trying to get to.
At this point, it's okay to put other jobs you've had leadership positions or even class projects to where you learned key technical concepts.
In a technical interview, the most important thing is to be authentic.
If you don't know the answer to a problem, that is okay, but be willing to talk through it and reveal your thought process.
Ask clarifying questions, draw pictures if you're able to, and discuss with the interviewer your different approaches to find a good solution.
Okay.
So you killed the interview.
Someone spoke highly of you.
You were authentic and you could communicate effectively.
You got the job and now you accept.
It's time to hit the ground running in year 1.
This is your time to establish yourself and make sure that whoever signed off on you getting paid is not regretting their decision, especially in those first 90 days.
This is a perfect time to expand your tool belt, figure out the best way of asking questions and gain visibility.
Expand your tool belt by studying your team's documentation and take on work that forces you to understand how things operate.
Ask questions by listing out what you've done, what you're thinking, and be specific to what you need.
This is extremely important, especially to your really busy coworkers like your leads or your architects.
Lastly, gain visibility.
Introduce yourself to everyone in your proximity-- everyone from peers to management to executives.
Also find ways of presenting your work.
It shows that you're getting stuff done and you're advancing your team towards their goals or business opportunities.
As you expand your career, this cycle continues.
So, if you're going to take away anything from this video:
1). be sure to put on deodorant,
2). leverage your network.
Thanks for watching!
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