Is it too late to start your career in cybersecurity?
Are you too old? Hi everyone, I'm Venicia, the Cyber Queen where we
talk all about cyber security and how you can succeed as a woman in cyber security.
This is a question that I get asked so often, I want to start into cybersecurity, but am I too
old? I am 43. And I just don't know whether I can still start in cybersecurity, I get it on
a daily basis. And the answer always remains the same. And from my perspective, the answer is no.
So I'm not gonna,
you know, drag this out for you, and let you sit here and wait till the end for that answer.
Because the answer is no, you are not too old to start your career in cybersecurity,
there are things that you can consider.
And there's things that we will expand on.
If you want to keep watching this video, then you'll learn what those other things are.
And you'll know what the other things are that you have to think about
and why the answer is no. But if you just came for that answer,
there you have it, the answer is no, you are not too old to start your career in cybersecurity.
So firstly, there are currently around 3.5 million job openings.
So in reality, we need people to fill those jobs, meaning that nobody's too old
to enter the space. We need people we need people with different skill sets and with different types
of experience, to come into the cybersecurity industry and bring fresh perspectives.
Now that opening could be filled by someone who has little cybersecurity knowledge, but a lot of
industry knowledge or work experience knowledge.
Not all cybersecurity jobs are open to newcomers in the industry.
And it's just people who have just studied and now they're getting into tech, that scenario does not
accommodate everyone. So there's a lot of jobs and roles where we need people with work experience.
We need people with different mindsets and different skills, to come into cybersecurity,
and bring different perspectives to help us
combat the issue of cybercrime. And that's exactly where you can fit in.
So you may be 45 And you are currently in the financial services industry
with your industry knowledge you can transition into cybersecurity
by adding a few skills, a little bit of cybersecurity knowledge
to your existing skill set and you can transition into cybersecurity and help us fight cybercrime in
financial services because you have the financial services context, and that's what it's all about.
You have skills that are transferable skills that you can use to get into tech and to get
into cybersecurity. And those are the skills we need and we want so if you're transitioning
into cybersecurity, should you start from zero? No, you should not start from zero.
Even if you are a logistics manager, you have many years of experience in
logistical field and logistical type work that could benefit the cybersecurity industry and
therefore, adding certain basic cybersecurity skills and knowledge areas into your
existing portfolio of skills can get you a managerial job in cybersecurity
because you don't necessarily have to start with hands on keyboard type configuration.
You can also start on the more business side and more risk management side of cybersecurity. And
so to transition into cybersecurity is not only for beginners, it's not only for people
who are just looking to start their career. It is also for people who have years of experience as
an accountant, as a lawyer as a business administrator to then use those skills,
add some security context to that and move into cybersecurity. So no
starting from zero is required here. The reality is if we are going to effectively
combat the problem of cybercrime, we have to think about this holistically.
cybercriminals come from diverse backgrounds, their various ages,
their male their female, you know
Your average person can be a person sitting there hacking, trying to break into an organization etc.
And so for that reason, we also need that we need people that have experience in
another industry to come in and help the more technical hands on keyboard, cyber
professionals understand different industries and contextualize those different industries,
contextualize those different businesses and then fight against the issue of cybercrime.
Because then it becomes effective if we have people, male or female. However you
identify from a gender perspective, however you identify from a race perspective, from
a background perspective, however you identify if we have those different people of different ages,
different countries, different governments, different institutions, if we have
all of these people in the industry of cybersecurity, fighting against cybercrime,
then we stand a much better chance of alleviating some of the problems that we face in this
industry. Because at the moment, all we have is a lot of gaps, a lot of lack in diversity, you know,
the industry is trying to transform in terms of diversity, inclusion, women in industry, etc.
But a lot of the time, there is only younger people and newbies trying to enter this industry.
And it really introduces that contextual and experience gap. And that's why, you know, it's
really critical that if you have existing work experience, and you're looking for an exciting
new opportunity, then cybersecurity could be for you. And you do not have to start from zero.
And that's important to understand. So you can start at various points
in cybersecurity, right. And you also don't have to start, if you're looking to transition,
how you would transition is still, again, you will choose an area where you went to focus.
And if you don't have technical skills, or you don't come from an existing technical background,
then that's fine. It doesn't mean you don't have troubleshooting and problem solving skills,
you may have been troubleshooting and
problem solving on physical components, like machines, and cars and automation systems, etc.
So it's a skill that you have, you just need to transition that skill
for the use of cybersecurity. And that's, that is perfectly fine.
And those are valid skills to have. And those are required skills to have.
So look at what you want to do in cybersecurity. So do you want to be on the risk analysis side,
you want to be on the information security side, do you want to be on the reporting side,
on the strategic side, on the architecture side, you know, decide where you want to
be within within cybersecurity and then start to work towards that.
So if you want to be on the risk assessment, I think doing something like a
CRISC certification from ISACA, or even your CISSP certification suddenly sets you up for a
very lucrative career in cybersecurity, because now, you have experience in financial services,
and you've just added a CISSP certification to your portfolio. And there you go. Now,
suddenly, you are a sought after candidate in the industry of cybersecurity.
So think where it is that you want to focus think, how long do you want to spend studying
before getting into the industry? sort of work out? But that timeline is and then think,
what is the or research rather, what is the best certification or qualification that you need to do
to move into that space. And CRISC is one of them. CISM is one of them, Certified Information
Security Manager that CISM is one of them. And in CISSP as well it is a major and well
recognized certification in the industry and you do not have to be hands on technical to
take any of those certifications. They are to the more advanced side of certifications,
but they can really really make you a sought after candidate in the industry and
and ultimately that's what you want if you want to pivot into a higher level within cybersecurity.
Alright, so to summarize, you can be in your 20s in your 30s in your 40s
in your 50s and you can still start your career in cybersecurity because
if you are older and you have work experience and different industry experience, you bring that to
the table and that's valid. It's important and it's critical to have in cybersecurity.
You do not have to start from zero. And you can start with certifications that
would really really set you up to be a sought after candidate in this industry.
Alright, so I hope that answers that question for everybody.
You are not too old to start your career in cybersecurity.
You are the only limitation for you if you are limiting yourself by age
because there really is no age limit in this industry. Anybody can start in this industry
with the right drive determination and wanting to get into the industry.
That is it for this video friends. I hope you enjoyed this video. If you did remember to
subscribe for more cybersecurity videos. Leave a like comment, and I'll catch you next time. Bye