How to pursue a career in Cybersecurity – JobGuppy
How to pursue a career in Cybersecurity
In this episode, John Bottoms shares what it’s like to be head of cybersecurity at Mozilla Firefox and gives some examples of the projects and issues he and his team tackle.
This career field has a very diverse set of specialties to explore, like evaluating security level risks associated with merger and acquisitions targets, incident response, disaster recovery, and data management to name a few..
John has a large scope of experience working his way up through IT and then transferring his skillset to focus on cybersecurity. If you’re wondering were to get started, then this episode is for you.
John’s career advice section
- Take some time to educate yourself on various cybersecurity roles. You might be surprised how it intersects something you are already involved in and that may lead to an open door for a career.
- Treat others like you want to be treated. Respond with kindness. It goes far in building relationships and building bridges.
- Take time to invest in yourself.
- Bloom where you are planted. Produce the best quality work regardless of your circumstances.
John’s bio
- Bachelor’s Degree in Business – IT Management
- Master’s Degree in Cybersecurity and Information Assurance
- Started career in IT and then advanced into cybersecurity.
- Has worked at Dell and Mozilla Firefox in the cybersecurity domain for multiple years.
Example career ladder
Examples of some job roles related to this career field:
- Risk Management
- Merger and Acquisition Risk Assessment
- Incident Response
- Ethical Hacker and Tester
- Network Security
- Forensic Investigator
- Software Development
- Configuration Management
- Business Continuity
Education level required
- This is a job role that will not require a college degree yet still earn high income.
- You can earn certifications through training programs.
- To maximize opportunities and work up the management ladder, a Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree could be helpful.
Named schools and certification programs
- Western Governors University’s Cybersecurity Bachelor’s program
- Western Governors University’s Cybersecurity Master’s program
- Sans.org – Cybersecurity Training
- CISSP – Certified Information Systems Security Professional
- EC-Council – Ethical Hacking Courses
Personality traits helpful in this job role
- Ability to navigate company politics.
- Work across teams and give presentations to chief executives.
Job Search terms and ideas
- This is a job role and career field that spans many industries.
- Job demand at the time of John’s interview is very high.
- Cybersecurity job search on Indeed.com
- Cybersecurity job search on LinkedIn.com
Income
- One example of a starting salary discussed during the interview was in the $150k range.
- Another example was provided where cybersecurity roles where making into the 7 figures ($1 Million +)
- Example Salary search for Cybersecurity Specialist on Glassdoor.com
- Note – salaries may vary between industries and location. Check Payscale, Glassdoor, Indeed, and LinkedIn for more information.
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