A simple answer to the question posed in the title of this blog is simply ‘well, you get a job in cybersecurity’. And certainly, with the large number of unfilled positions and higher starting salaries compared to other industries, there’s no better time than now to enter the field.
Yet, despite this massive opportunity simply waiting for individuals like you to leverage, let us tell you right at the outset that cybersecurity is not an easy industry to get into. The reality is, while 59% of enterprise cybersecurity teams report significant skills gaps that they hope new entrants can fill, they also don’t want a situation where, currently, 56% of hiring managers say it takes 4-9 months to train entry-level hires to handle tasks independently - especially with the increasing prevalence of AI in the industry.
Right at the outset, they are seeking high-judgment, high-character individuals with a deep passion for the field and an ability to act with clarity when faced with the many cyber incidents and cyberattacks they will have to deal with in their career. Therefore, while a cybersecurity course is a great starting point, it is not enough standalone to make you job-ready. In fact, there are several steps to getting there after cybersecurity course completion, and this blog takes you through each one, highlighting how comprehensively eSecurityIn can help you along the way.
⏩ The Cybersecurity Career Path After Finishing A Course ⏩
Step 1
Gaining Relevant Certifications
Step 2
Building A
Strong Portfolio
Step 3
Acing The
Job Interview
Step 4
Continuously Evolving Through Your Career
Step 1: Gaining Relevant Certifications
While this blog specifically focuses on what happens after you finish a course, planning on how to get a cybersecurity job has to come much before. Cybersecurity is a vast field with many paths to take (cloud security, AI security, SOC operations, GRC), and it is certainly advantageous to know the path in which your interests lie right at the outset.
Once you figure that out, picking a specialised, short-term cybersecurity course with a hands-on approach makes it ideal for you to build the starting level skills required to make your way in. Then, once you finish the course, the next step is to gain the relevant industry certifications that HR filters look for when going through profiles for particular positions. Each cybersecurity stream has its own set of required certifications.
Different Cybersecurity Streams And Their Relevant Certifications
Red Teams
- CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker)
- CPENT (Certified Pen Testing Professional)
- PEN-200 (Penetration Testing With Kali Linux)
- CompTIA Security + / PenTest +
- CRTP (Certified Red Team Professional)
Blue Teams
- CHFI (Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator)
- ECIH (EC Council Certified Incident Handler)
- CSA (Certified SOC Analyst)
- CompTIA CySA+ / CASP+
- CTIA (Certified Threat Intelligence Analyst)
Network Security
- CND (Certified Network Defender)
- CCNA (Cisco Certified Network Associate)
- CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional)
- CompTIA Network+ / A+
Multicloud Environment Security
- CCSE (Certified Cloud Security Engineer)
- AWS Security Specialist
- Microsoft SC-100 (Cybersecurity Architect Expert)
- Microsoft AZ-500 (Azure Security)
AI Security
- OWASP LLM
- NIST AI RMF Practitioner
- ISO/IEC 42001 Lead Implementer
Governance, Risk & Compliance
- CISA (Certified Information Systems Auditor)
- CISM (Certified Information Security Manager)
- CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional)
The eSecurityIn Advantage: Most cybersecurity courses offer learnings that may not be enough to gain a certification in that particular field - leading to a further loop of having to undertake more courses. eSecurityIn, on the other hand, curates courses that make you immediately prepared for the respective certification you are applying for - along with a constantly available, round-the-clock placement centre that guides you through the process every single step of the way.
Step 2: Building A Strong Portfolio
Certifications are merely a way of getting into the hiring cycle - what sets you up for success is if recruiters view you as an active member of the community with a deep love for the field. That comes from building an active, ambitious digital portfolio consisting of:
- A LinkedIn profile that highlights your cybersecurity experience, certifications and endorsements
- Active participation in online communities (Reddit groups, TryHackMe and HackTheBox on Discord)
- Periodic write-ups (blogs, guides) on topics relevant in the cybersecurity landscape
- Projects published on GitHub with supporting write-ups showing goal, scope, setup, method, results and lessons learned
The last point in the list above is incredibly prescient - to recruiters, projects display your rationale and thought process while tackling the real-world scenarios you are likely to face if they end up hiring you. Setting up a home lab could help you immensely when it comes to undertaking and showcasing the sort of projects recruiters covet.
Elements Of An Effective Cybersecurity Home Lab
1 Windows VM (user endpoint)
1 Linux VM (server)
1 Attacker VM (Kali) for legal lab testing
Router/NAT + Setup of small internal network
A place to collect logs (SIEM software)
VirtualBox or VMWare
The eSecurityIn Advantage: Not only do we help you set up this home lab with minimal fuss, we also offer 24x7 access to our Virtual Labs, where you can undertake all sorts of guided challenges and capture the flag (CTP) competitions - as well as have any queries or doubts answered by our cybersecurity experts in quick time.
Moreover, we regularly host many cybersecurity events where you get the opportunity to network and interact with some of the experts truly shaping Indian cybersecurity today.
Step 3: Acing The Job Interview
As cybersecurity continues to become increasingly important in the overall processes of an enterprise, soft skills are often valued as much as hard skills when it comes to cybersecurity candidates - in particular, strong communication skills. Throughout your career, you will have to explain technical concepts to non-technical audiences, communicate seamlessly with AI tools, not to mention interfacing directly and effectively with various teams in the event of an attack.
Recruiters ascertain this quality particularly through the job interview, where you will likely be asked a wide variety of different question types:
- Technical Questions: “What is a zero-day exploit?”
- Behavioral Questions: “You’re the CISO, and you find out one of your employees has leaked sensitive information online. How do you deal with the situation?”
- AI-Based Questions: “You have to finish a forensic report in a day. How do you use AI tools to help you streamline this process and meet your deadline?”
The eSecurityIn Advantage: Our placement cell has several experts who have spent their entire career preparing candidates for successful interviews. Our team will comprehensively prepare you (through modules and mock interviews) for any possible curveball that can be thrown at you in these situations, ensuring you have the best possible chance to make it to the next stage.
Step 4: Continuously Evolving Throughout Your Career
The next stage, of course, is getting that offer letter for your first cybersecurity job! However, unlike so many placement cells in other cybersecurity institutes, this is not where we leave you.
The truth is, cybersecurity is a rapidly evolving field that demands you to keep self-improving and gaining new skills, constantly throughout your career, to stay ahead of the curve. Most placement cells don’t consider this aspect and often cut off ties with their students the second they get jobs… but not us.
The eSecurityIn Advantage: Once you enroll in one of our programs, we offer lifetime mentor support for you to utilize, at any point in your career when you feel like a different perspective could help you out. Moreover, to give you a chance to constantly upskill, we offer a wide variety of flexible weekend courses for you to learn all the relevant cybersecurity skills that will further enhance your career.
But, of course, this journey starts by taking that first step, that first course to officially get you into the world of cybersecurity.
To that end, click here to see our entire course list, or click here to speak to one of our career counsellors about the most in-demand cybersecurity jobs for freshers today.
