After 15 years as a distiller/whiskey maker, I’m ready for a complete career change. I was thinking about taking some of the cybersecurity courses through Cisco and Google but I’m also seeing that there maybe a job shortage. Is this going to be a waste of my time?
The problem most people have right now is they think they will start in “cybersecurity” but the vast majority of people start in IT support or development and work their way up. There are exceptions of course, but this is mostly what you see. Entry level IT jobs usually pay less that whatever industry you are currently in, so most people get pissed when they do all of this work and get a 40K a year job. Granted that is just to start, but for some reason everyone thinks they will just “get a job in cybersecurity” starting six figures. Maybe in 2008, but now it is an established career field you have to work your way up to.
If you have a passion for technology I would say go for it. If it would just be another job for you, but you would enjoy it, it might work for you. If you think this is a way to get rich quick, I doubt you stuck with it. Unfortunately, I see so many entry level IT people coming for a career change who quit early because they don’t enjoy the entry level work where you cut your teeth and learn.
Just my two cents, I dropped my lurker status today because I train new IT professionals and I see this very often and I wanted to potentially help you out.
Definitely agree. I wish I could upvote you twice. It seems like the shortage is more for entry level.
I have over 15 years of professional sys admin experience with a large org, but I got out of it and I’ve been running an IT repair shop for the last 7. If I was looking to get back into things on the CS side, can you recommend a place (cert maybe?) to start?
If I were jumping back in right now, I would focus on cloud. Pick azure or AWS and do as many of the low level certs I can until I get a company to pay for the higher ones. If you specifically want security I would start learning Python too.
Every dang thing is cloud now, some people think we will pull back from cloud slightly, but I think that is just wishful thinking.
Oh weird… I was wondering why I was suddenly getting ad after ad for AWS. The algorithm read your comment before I did haha. Is AWS more for experienced people?
They are quick lol. Nah, AWS and Azure are just two different brands of the same(ish) priduct. There are others too, but those are the big players. Getting the cloud fundamentals cert (or cloud practitioner for AWS) are very similar. That is another reason I would wait to really specialize until you are with a company and you know what they use. The basic building blocks are pretty similar between the two though.
Edit: I’m 15 min into a tryhackme course and it’s pretty fun.
I wouldn’t mind starting in some sort of entry level IT position. It looks like most of them start around $25/hr here which is fine. My only real goal is to transition into an industry with room to grow. I don’t care about being wealthy. I don’t know how to describe it but I need a job that gives me some sort of fulfillment. I’m leaving the booze industry because I’d rather self immolate than continue in a field where there’s a defined ceiling and no real reason to put in hard work.
As far as my interest in tech goes… it’s hard to say. I bought a Chromebook Plus for the simplicity but I find myself using the enabled Linux more and more every day. I spent about 10 hours trying to get Fallout: New Vegas installed this weekend and now that I have it running, I’m not really interested in playing it. I think the fun was trying to get it running on my Chromebook when I was told that I couldn’t/ it wouldn’t be worth it. (another reason why I don’t use Reddit anymore.) That being said, I think I enjoy learning new skills and problem solving more than I care about tech… if that makes sense.
Anyway, I do appreciate your response.
It sounds like your head is in the right place for sure. There are a handful of ways to get started, some people do bootcamps, these are good if you need structure but they are super pricey. Some people self study which is always good, and some people luck/interview into a truly entry level position and claw your way up. I did the last one, but again, when I started they were begging people to join the IT field. Best of luck to you!
Hmmmm I never even considered that someone might take me on with zero experience. I’ll have to look into that. Well, It seems I have some research to do. Thanks again.