Cybersecurity is swiftly transitioning into a preferred line of work for many young and aspiring tech enthusiasts and professionals longing for success. This field opens the doors to multiple career paths that can be followed by almost anyone. There’s no regulating body, defining a set of laws and requirements for practicing cybersecurity, and all you need is proficiency in your art. You can pursue cybersecurity without even a college degree, and there are many cybersecurity training and bootcamps designed to guide you from the very beginning.
The openness and the lack of defined regulation and laws make it a perfect professional field for individuals who have no degree yet have the tenacity to learn something new. Here’s how you can also start your career in cybersecurity today with this simple step-by-step guide.
Guide to get into cybersecurity without a degree
- Step 01 – Enroll in Cybersecurity Bootcamp
This is the common first step for every individual who has no technical knowledge, college degree, and working experience. Almost every cybersecurity professional’s journey begins from a bootcamp and that’s where he/she learns about the essentials of cybersecurity. In truth, there’s hardly any way around it, and it is pivotal to start your journey from a bootcamp that helps you gain insight about multiple topics both beginners and advanced. From here onwards, an individual can identify which specific career path to follow and what further training program and courses to learn.
Some of the examples of the popular cybersecurity bootcamp include CompTIA Security+ and CompTIA Network+ Bootcamps. It is important to remember to establish a solid career in cybersecurity, every professional must develop proficiency of at least competency in some of the key cybersecurity topics such as networking, programming, and operating systems.
- Step 02 – Learn The Skills Needed to Maintain Security
The ever-increasing reliance of companies on innovative data storage options and cloud technologies signifies the importance of learning how to maintain cybersecurity. Professionals who know the basics of maintaining cybersecurity systems can go on to utilize the learning of advanced-level certifications to step into designing and developing the security systems. Maintenance is an essential part of the software development life cycle and professionals who hold proficiency in maintaining security systems can pursue multiple career paths in the realm of cybersecurity.
This is mainly the reason why the focus of many entry-level cybersecurity training is on nurturing the skills required to maintain security. The reliance on cloud technologies amplifies the need to maintain solid network security and brings about glaring new career opportunities for tech enthusiasts who hold competency in this art. Such professionals can even move on to pursue respectable careers such as cybersecurity administrator, analyst, or consultant.
- Step 03 – Accept Your First Project
Experience is key to success in every profession and line of work, and experience holds even greater importance in the field of cybersecurity. Especially for professionals without a college degree, the experience becomes the strongest weapon in their arsenal. Employers even regard experience over education in many areas of cybersecurity. There is no better way to learn cybersecurity than to experience working in diversified security systems and projects.
As soon as a professional begin working on his/her first project, they can broaden their horizon and explore newer career paths. The best way to identify weaknesses and shortcomings is to get first-hand knowledge from exclusive cybersecurity projects. The first project doesn’t necessarily have to be significant and big, and every newbie must solely focus on learning to gain substantial experience from their early projects.
- Step 04 – Finish the Cybersecurity Bootcamp
The value and importance of certifications get twofold for professionals without a college degree. Learning cybersecurity is most important but to successfully land a reputable cybersecurity job, you need to have a few essentials certifications. In a way, cybersecurity training and certifications endorse the skills and capabilities of a cybersecurity professional. An employer often requires some sort of guarantee, and these certifications help them develop better trust in your proficiencies and skills as a cybersecurity professional.
There is no benefit of cutting shortcuts in the realm of cybersecurity as it will only bring about greater complexities in your professional career. The professionals who try to skip past the basics can never truly grasp the advanced concepts.
- Step 05 – Securing a Cybersecurity Job
Securing the very first cybersecurity job is easy if you have the right set of cybersecurity certifications and the required practical experience. The first job serves as the first step to your professional career success and is only the beginning of a career-long learning curve. Hence, it is certainly possible to build a successful career in cybersecurity even if you don’t have a degree. However, it is incredibly hard to attain success in your professional career as a cybersecurity professional if you haven’t received any cybersecurity training.