Preface

Cybersecurity is an incredibly dynamic field that is in the news nearly daily. An eternal cat-and-mouse struggle rages between threat actors and cybersecurity practitioners as vulnerabilities are discovered and attack strategies are refined as quickly as patches are deployed and awareness is heightened.

Now is the golden age of getting into cybersecurity. Many resources you can use to develop yourself are free or reasonably priced, and the ability to engage in community discussion through social media has led to massive networking opportunities.

This book is a complete plan to help you decode the field and understand a direction to head in, the tools and supplies to take on your journey, and how to achieve your destination.

This book is broken down into nine chapters across three logical sections aligned with a career chronology. Section 1 shapes the space of cybersecurity and helps you answer the question, "Is a job in cybersecurity right for me, and if so, which?"

Section 2 takes the velocity from section 1 and throws fuel on the fire, showing you how to apply your knowledge, skills, and abilities in the field and how to showcase yourself to potential hiring managers.

Section 3 finishes strong by showing you how to level up your career once you're in the field and how to manage the process of setting actionable goals and accomplishing them.

Who this book is for

Cybersecurity careers are hyper-inclusive. You can be a recent college graduate, a transitioning service member, a mid-career professional looking for a different challenge, a stay-at-home parent who is ready to return to the workforce, a high school drop out, and many other unique situations. All of these backgrounds have the potential for a successful experience in the cybersecurity field.

This book makes no assumptions of your technical acumen, your prior work experience, or any socio-economic factors. If you are slightly curious or ferociously hungry about a career in cybersecurity, then this book is for you.

What this book covers

Chapter 1, New Career in Cyber... "Who Dis?", explores the current state of the cybersecurity industry and security frameworks, as well as the pros and cons of entering the industry.

Chapter 2, Which Career Field Is Best for You?, guides you in helping you to understand which area in the extensive field of cybersecurity is right for you.

Chapter 3, Different Strokes for Different Folks, explains how it's not just what role you want but also what industry and environment you want to work in. We explore multiple sectors, such as finance, healthcare, and energy, to highlight the pros and cons of each.

Chapter 4, Exploring Certifications and College, explores various approaches to certifications and their value in the field and examines the benefits of a college education.

Chapter 5, Getting Hands-On Experience with No Experience, covers how hands-on experience is a key differentiator for hiring managers when evaluating candidates to hire. It can be tough to get experience without the job first, and we explore precisely how to earn that experience through labs for various roles in the industry.

Chapter 6, Time to Brand Yourself – Not the Burning Type, explains how to best position yourself as a member of the cybersecurity community through engagement and contributions that will help you differentiate yourself.

Chapter 7, How to Land a Jay-Oh-Bee!, dives headfirst into how to find cybersecurity employment opportunities to get you excited. This is only half the battle, as we also explore tips to refine your résumé to stand out from the crowd and how to ace your interviews.

Chapter 8, Giving Back to Others and Yourself, covers how, given that the cybersecurity industry is constantly changing, threat actors are refining their craft, and Big Tech is constantly innovating market solutions, to stay on top of your game through knowledge-sharing and mentoring, and how to manage a mentally healthy balance between work and life.

Chapter 9, Trusting the Process, explores how to establish actionable goals and milestones as you embark on your cybersecurity career journey.

To get the most out of this book

To perform the hands-on exercise in Chapter 5, Getting Hands-On Experience with No Experience, you will need the following prerequisites:

Code in Action

The Code in Action videos for this book can be viewed at https://bit.ly/3BMDv8X.

Download the color images

We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots and diagrams used in this book. You can download it here: http://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/9781801073561_ColorImages.pdf.

Conventions used

There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.

Code in text: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: "In this text field, input ip.addr==10.11.11.94 and hit Enter."

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade

Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see on screen. For instance, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in bold. Here is an example: "You will have to use the Register new user option to begin."

Tips or important notes

Appear like this.

Get in touch

Feedback from our readers is always welcome.

General feedback: If you have questions about any aspect of this book, email us at [e-mail] and mention the book title in the subject of your message.

Errata: Although we have taken every care to ensure the accuracy of our content, mistakes do happen. If you have found a mistake in this book, we would be grateful if you would report this to us. Please visit www.packtpub.com/support/errata and fill in the form.

Piracy: If you come across any illegal copies of our works in any form on the internet, we would be grateful if you would provide us with the location address or website name. Please contact us at [e-mail] with a link to the material.

If you are interested in becoming an author: If there is a topic that you have expertise in and you are interested in either writing or contributing to a book, please visit authors.packtpub.com.

Share Your Thoughts

Once you've read Cybersecurity Career Master Plan, we'd love to hear your thoughts! Please click here to go straight to the Amazon review page for this book and share your feedback.

Your review is important to us and the tech community and will help us make sure we're delivering excellent quality content.