How to start a career in IT/cyber security

TheRealLinga@sh.itjust.works to Asklemmy@lemmy.ml – 56 points –

Hi everyone! I need some help. I'm in my mid-thirties, and I had a growing career that, since covid, has gotten so flaky I can't properly provide for my family anymore. I have always been interested in tech, and would like to start a career but I'm not sure how to.

Can anyone in the field give me some advice? I don't have much college experience, only did 1 year 17/18 years ago. Looks like I need some sort of college degree, which I'm fine with.

I also saw some online "bootcamp" things... are they good? I would like to do something where I was helping companies be protected from hackers and work from home as much as possible. White hat hacker type of thing... if that's real!

Thank you everyone!

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First off, aiming to start in security is a fools errand. Security is one of the many paths that your career might take after you gain some knowledge.

Some more random thoughts before real advice. The two hardest things in IT are getting into help desk, and getting out of it. The reason is two fold: 1) help desk is the great entry point for the greater IT industry, and 2) one person in a help desk role is fairly similar to another when it's time to move out of help desk.

Now: If you have the time, go to your local community college and take their it/networking/security program. The degree will help - you won't skip help desk (unless your lucky), but you are better equipped for getting out of it. You will also learn a bunch of stuff, get some projects to stick on a resume, etc.

If you don't have that time you can go the cert route. Be warned however - certs do not substitute for real experience. Do not fall for the trap of thinking that getting X cert is your ticket to Y job. You will be in for a ride awakening when your sitting across from someone like me that only asks situational, hypotheticall questions with no correct answer ( I care about how you think and approach problems over book smarts).

Ok. Last bit of advice: the 10 things I look for (in order) when interviewing entry level help desk.

  1. customer service skills,
  2. ability to learn,
  3. customer service.
  4. some mild interest in tech.
  5. customer service.
  6. the ability to learn troubleshooting.
  7. customer service.
  8. the ability to admit you don't know..
  9. customer service.
  10. not being an asshole.

I can teach you how to fix a printer, design a network, or spin up infrastructure in the cloud. I can't teach you how to act around people.

to admit you don’t know… customer service. not being an asshole.

Well said, I cannot stress not being an asshole enough :)

  • No politics,
  • No making fun of people/things/history.
  • You've got that great story about your uncle and a cdrom cupholder, nope.
  • Treat all people respectfully, don't interrupt.
  • Limited dad jokes. One or two can be a party, 3+ and they're wondering if they want to work with you
  • you are not required to disclose family, disability, age, you might choose to say that you have kids in an attempt to project stability and longevity, that's a decision only you can make.
  • Look up Dunning–Kruger in case they talk about it with you being fresh into the scene. (The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias[2] in which people with limited competence in a particular domain overestimate their abilities.)

Do: (at the end if they ask for any questions)

  • Ask questions about the company culture

  • Ask questions about your coworkers. (tell me about your team)

  • Ask questions about the craziest thing they've ever seen.

  • Engage them, get them talking about the things they like.

This is the right answer. Help Desk is by far the right entry point.