CYBERSECURITY JOB HUNTING GUIDE
Skill assessment
Author: Stefan Waldvogel
How can you find your Cybersecurity skills?
This chapter talks about skills you have. Every person has skills and sometimes unique skills. List your skills to get an idea of what jobs you can do. You can start with tools and technical skills.
You should collect all your skills and tools because it feels good! This list needs time to grow. Every time you use a skill or tool, write it down. You will realize how much you know and how many tools you use. The imposter syndrome will not threaten your mind. Give each skill a grade, because this way it is easier to find a matching job and you see weaknesses. As a SOC Analyst, you might need at least “a lot” in tcpdump.
If you see job postings, you see the bigger words like Cybersecurity, Vulnerability, Firewall, Auditing, Computer Science, Incident Response, Network Security, Risk Analysis, Linux, Operating Systems, etc. If you have such skills, add them to your LinkedIn profile, because recruiters look for them. According to TEKsystems research, these are the top 10 skills in job postings.
If you use LinkedIn, you can compare open jobs vs. found skills in profiles.
If you see job postings, you see the bigger words like Cybersecurity, Vulnerability, Firewall, Auditing, Computer Science, Incident Response, Network Security, Risk Analysis, Linux, Operating Systems, etc. If you have such skills, add them to your LinkedIn profile, because recruiters look for them. According to TEKsystems research, these are the top 10 skills in job postings.
If you use LinkedIn, you can compare open jobs vs. found skills in profiles.
Many people want to go into Cybersecurity, and they add Network Security skills. Here are the Network Admin, the Sys- Admins…. A lot of them change their career, too. You as a newbie without experience in networking will have a hard time standing out if you go for Network Security as your key skill.
If you prefer an easier way, go for vulnerability, incident response, firewall, or risk analysis.
You can find free training for everything. If you are a veteran, you can get the NSE 1 to 7 training and the cert for free with the FortiVets program. NSE 7 is a Fortinet Network Security Architect for their firewall product. This is a high-level exam and one example out of hundreds.
If you prefer an easier way, go for vulnerability, incident response, firewall, or risk analysis.
You can find free training for everything. If you are a veteran, you can get the NSE 1 to 7 training and the cert for free with the FortiVets program. NSE 7 is a Fortinet Network Security Architect for their firewall product. This is a high-level exam and one example out of hundreds.
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