For so long, cybersecurity has been branded a field of the chosen few, only left to serious intellectuals. Well, it’s not anymore. You can get into this field no matter your background. All you have to do is learn how to get into cybersecurity regardless of your background.

Technology has become a daily basic need from communicating via phones, settling bills via e-payment, amongst other multiple utilities.

Such a backbone infrastructure has necessitated many to try to understand more beyond the façade and even earn a source of livelihood practicing.

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The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that the industry will experience a 31% growth between the years 2021 to 2029. This is a fast rate in comparison to other sectors. Therefore, we expect that you, as a cybersecurity enthusiast, should be part of the statistic.

Cybersecurity is no longer biased towards those with background knowledge in related fields, but even career practitioners on the extreme polar ends like medicine and electronics can learn Cybersecurity.

Cybersecurity is branched into two; enrolling and practicing from a technical background and from a non-technical background. We are going to gloss over the technical aspect then profoundly focus on the non-technical.

How to get into cybersecurity from a technical background

Possessing a technical background makes entry into the field seamless and a bit flawless compared to the other group. These types of people have hard skills, e.g., cryptography experts, malware analysts, penetration testers, and database administrators.

All these skills are complementary to Cybersecurity, and all that is required from this group is specialization and honing their skills further.

How to get into cybersecurity from a non-technical background

This is the center stage since a lot of new participants significantly fall under this category. These are enthusiasts who emerge from totally different career spheres like medicine, aviation, financial auditing, news reporters, etc. This category majorly possesses soft skills. These are talents and abilities that are abstract and cannot be physically felt, e.g., excellent communication skills, event mobilization, possession of charismatic power to woo people around them.

Since Cybersecurity has snowballed into a complex monster, it is no longer pegged to hardware and software only. The findings are that the weakest link to data attacks and system intrusions is the human being.

Human beings are emotion-driven, therefore, providing fertile ground for ill-motivated technology abusers to manipulate. Soft skills step in to fill and address this gap.

5 Ways on how to get into cybersecurity with a limited Cybersecurity background

If you have just some background in cybersecurity, consider following the steps on how to get into cybersecurity with minimal history of it.

Enroll in low to mid-tier courses

It’s industry-wide advice that new entrants enroll in low and mid-tier courses to acquiesce and gradually and mentally prepare the brain to handle more prominent roles as we advance. Low and mid-tier courses shouldn’t be misinterpreted to mean less lucrative, therefore underpaying courses.

This category of courses includes Network Administrators, Cyber Policy Analysts, etc. Other likes Security Operations Centre(SOC) admin involves consistent monitoring of systems to pinpoint compromise. Vulnerability Analysts check loopholes in a system using pre-coded tools, thus easing the exercise.

Offer pro-bono services

Another avenue of gaining entry into this field is by offering pro-bono services to cybersecurity organizations and companies. By rendering yourself to work without contract payment, one can learn a lot since you are not time-bound and schedule conscious.

It is a common observation that most people who began in this manner were picked up and fully sponsored by the workplace they worked for as a show of reciprocation.

Do some internships (paid)

Another strategy on how to get into cybersecurity regardless of your background is to try some internships. There’s a thin line differentiating it from pro-bono. A periodic internship pays but usually a small figure enough to sustain one is advanced. Pro bono is entirely charity-oriented. Therefore, settling on a choice between the two is crucial as you plan to commence your journey in this career.

Learn online with free resources

The world is currently oversupplied with tons of information in written and non-written formats like podcasts. Platforms like YouTube, Twitch, Google provide a leveraged ground to quickly and instantly consume knowledge in Cybersecurity. Many channels are being created each with various categorizations of cybersecurity knowledge. The burden remains with you to aggressively take advantage of this and emerge to become a dependable professional.

Set up a lab in the comfort of your home. A home lab comprises of a Workstation PC, good internet connectivity, storage devices to store all the work tools and software, ergonomic seats and desks, Remote Desktops (RDPs) and Virtual Machine Workstations(VMware). These utilities are essential for taking off some pieces of tasks from overburdened computer processors and running them virtually.

Follow cybersecurity persons on various social media platforms, majorly Twitter and Facebook. Lots of information is acquired from them, from their success stories, their weaknesses, and mistakes made.

They also guide followers on the courses to currently pursue, IT syndicate groups to associate with, channels and websites to subscribe and bookmark. They frequently also have course offers advanced to them by cybersecurity schools like ours.

Do some networking

This is general advice for every field one intends to jump into and applies even to those who wish to learn how to get into cybersecurity regardless of background.

Learn to be great at networking. Physical networking and interacting face to face with like-minded people is psychology-backed and it quickly enables one to assimilate a particular behavior, kind of operations, and develop interests.

One should attend workshops and symposiums. Meeting cybersecurity experts with different badges of honor and seeking their support and mentorship is being halfway the cybersecurity ladder.

Final thoughts and insight

It’s no secret anyone can learn how to get into cybersecurity regardless of their background. At every turn, there exist supportive people, tools, and services to realize it quickly.

Want to join cybersecurity? Try our cybersecurity career track program offered in collaboration by some of the best industry experts and institutions.