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motoboxer1 t1_j69txrb wrote

Where did you even start when looking to change career paths without additional schooling? I'm currently a truck driver in a similar situation, having only a high school diploma, and I want to make a similar change.

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cyberjerry42 OP t1_j69uwo2 wrote

So my "entry path" was through customer support actually! I stumbled on an job ad. I was searching specifically for support jobs as my "plan" was to get in support. By starting in support, it enabled me to get a better knowledge of how things worked inside the company so that I could lay out my next steps. As you may assume, tech companies work very differently than other traditional jobs!After about a year of being in support i managed to gain enough knowledge about our product to fully understand it. Came a point where the company's security department hosted a CTF and I knew this was my time to shine :) I ended up winning it and that's how I got my foot in the door so to speak. The security manager now knew my name a and that I had some skills so that's when I started pushing more into showing interest in that field. After a few weeks of getting to know the security team better and showing active interest into security (even from within the security department), I applied internally and got the job!!

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Em_Adespoton t1_j69xwjo wrote

I’ll just add to this that starting off in support and moving to IT security is a very common career path. For red teaming, you’ll need some people with a CS background, but mostly what you need is generalists who can think laterally and pick up how to use new tools in novel ways. Support is also a viable way into blue teams, but you’re going to need a deeper understanding of systems and structures (and basic coding and analysis) to play defence.

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cyberjerry42 OP t1_j69y4hx wrote

Absolutely! Couldn't agree more. I was not aware that it's a common career path tho, cool to know!

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Daocommand t1_j6ajqv3 wrote

Wait… You entered into Cybersecurity as a Pentester? If that’s the case, I hope you know you are apart of like .25% of people who get into cybersecurity initial entry as a pentester. Well done!

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cyberjerry42 OP t1_j6ak0q8 wrote

I sure did! And wow I never knew the ratio of pentesters to other cybersec related jobs was this low that is insane! I'll be even more grateful for having the job I have :D! Thank you!!

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Difficult_Lad t1_j6a553d wrote

CTF?

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cyberjerry42 OP t1_j6a5kej wrote

Capture the flag! They are cybersecurity challenges where you will have to reverse engineer software, find hidden messages in images (for example), hack into a (purposefully) vulnerable website in order to capture "flags" which are typically a unique key that will give you points once you've found it :)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_the_flag_(cybersecurity)

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