Six tips for landing an entry-level Cybersecurity Job Side P | Cybrary.it

Six tips for landing an entry-level Cybersecurity Job

Side Projects: One of the best ways to get experience in the field is to do side projects. You can take courses that will teach you how to build software tools, write computer scripts, give you experience using security software, and many other things that you can put on your resume as legitimate experience. This will provide employers more confidence that you know what you're doing, increasing your chances of getting a job.

Internships/Volunteering: Unpaid experience is just as valuable as paid experience, so take any opportunities you can do to internships or volunteer work to build your resume up. This can be at school, church, non-profits, etc. Also, any tech or cybersecurity experience you can get is valuable, whether sysadmin work, tech support, fixing laptops, etc. Early in your career, you don't want to be picky with the type of work. Something is always better than nothing.

Use Referrals: If possible, you don't want to go through the front door when applying for jobs. If you can get a referral from inside or outside the company, you should use that. This can be personal referrals like family, friends, or acquaintances, but you can also leverage things like your school's career support center or your school's professors. They may have connections inside a company and can give you a referral that significantly increases your chances.

Apply for post-graduate positions: One of the issues I mentioned earlier is competition for jobs. One way to reduce this is to apply for post-graduate employment, where you can only qualify if you graduate from school within a certain period. This limits the number of people you will compete against and ensures that your competition won't have much experience. In addition, many private companies and government positions offer post-graduate work opportunities, and you should target those as someone with not much work experience.

Get your resume professionally written: Your resume is the first thing an employer will see, and you want to make a great first impression. Investing a few hundred dollars in getting a professional resume can make a huge difference in its quality. Also, you want to customize your resume and cover letter (which you should write every time) for each opportunity you are applying for. Do not spam out your resume to multiple offers because that is not likely to get you an interview.

Do Interview Prep: When you do get that call or email for a meeting, you want to make sure that you are in an excellent position to get the job. The preparation includes doing things like mock to help you prepare for the question you can expect and ensuring that you are answering in a way that will present you in the best possible light. You can also research the most common information security questions to know what you will be asked beforehand and have good answers prepared.