Cybersecurity Career Master Plan

Start your Cybersecurity career with expert advice on how to get certified, find your first job, and progress

Key Features

• Learn how to follow your desired career path that results in a well-paid, rewarding job in cybersecurity
• Explore expert tips relating to career growth and certification options
• Access informative content from a panel of experienced cybersecurity experts

Book Description

Cybersecurity is an emerging career trend and will continue to become increasingly important. Despite the lucrative pay and significant career growth opportunities, many people are unsure of how to get started.

This book is designed by leading industry experts to help you enter the world of cybersecurity with confidence, covering everything from gaining the right certification to tips and tools for finding your first job. The book starts by helping you gain a foundational understanding of cybersecurity, covering cyber law, cyber policy, and frameworks. Next, you’ll focus on how to choose the career field best suited to you from options such as security operations, penetration testing, and risk analysis. The book also guides you through the different certification options as well as the pros and cons of a formal college education versus formal certificate courses. Later, you’ll discover the importance of defining and understanding your brand. Finally, you’ll get up to speed with different career paths and learning opportunities.

By the end of this cyber book, you will have gained the knowledge you need to clearly define your career path and develop goals relating to career progression.

What you will learn

• Gain an understanding of cybersecurity essentials, including the different frameworks and laws, and specialties
• Find out how to land your first job in the cybersecurity industry
• Understand the difference between college education and certificate courses
• Build goals and timelines to encourage a work/life balance while delivering value in your job
• Understand the different types of cybersecurity jobs available and what it means to be entry-level
• Build affordable, practical labs to develop your technical skills
• Discover how to set goals and maintain momentum after landing your first cybersecurity job

Who this book is for

This book is for college graduates, military veterans transitioning from active service, individuals looking to make a mid-career switch, and aspiring IT professionals. Anyone who considers cybersecurity as a potential career field but feels intimidated, overwhelmed, or unsure of where to get started will also find this book useful. No experience or cybersecurity knowledge is needed to get started.

Table of Contents

1. New Career in Cyber… “Who Dis?”
2. Which Career Field Is Best for You?
3. Different Strokes for Different Folks
4. Exploring Certifications and College
5. Getting Hands-On Experience with No Experience
6. Time to Brand Yourself – Not the Burning Type
7. How to Land a Jay-Oh-Bee!
8. Giving Back to Others and Yourself
9. Trusting the Process

Dr. Gerald Auger has worked within information security since 2006 and holds a PhD in cyber operations. Gerald has helped tens of thousands of aspiring cybersecurity professionals through his "Simply Cyber" YouTube channel and is regularly interviewed for his thoughts on cybersecurity professional development.

Gerald is a full-time information security practitioner, adjunct faculty at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina; chief content creator for Simply Cyber; and managing director at Coastal Information Security Group.

Jaclyn "Jax" Scott is a tenured Special Operations Warrant Officer with nearly 18 years of experience working in military cyber, electronic warfare, and intelligence operations. She is the founder and content creator of Beans and Bytes tech blog, co-host of the cybersecurity podcast Hackerz and Haecksen, and the president of Outpost Gray, a cybersecurity consulting firm. Jax is an expert in military cyber policy and has led global development operations in cyber countermeasures to mitigate near-peer attacks. She is currently pursuing her master's in Cyber Intelligence at Georgetown University.

Jonathan Helmus ("Moos1e") is a penetration tester and professor with over 10 years of experience in engineering, information security, and information technology. Jon resides in a small town right outside Seattle, Washington, where he and his family raise alpacas on their mini farm. Currently, Jon works as a freelance educator teaching topics such as pentesting, red teaming, cloud security, and vulnerability exploitation. He also works as a contract pentester and cloud security professional for clients all around the world.

Kim Nguyen is a Software Engineer, with a broad background thanks to her B.S. in business administration and M.S. in computer science. Kim's day-to-day work focuses on software engineering of cloud-based technologies, while continuing her research into cybersecurity on the side. Kim is also an instructor at the City University of Seattle, where she teaches computer science courses. She is an active technical speaker and researcher at cybersecurity and computer science conferences. Kim holds several certificates, including AWS Certified Developer and CompTIA Linux+. Kim is the founder of Passion Sets Success, a platform that helps people identify their passion, to achieve the right career for them.