As organizations are adopting evolving technologies and working with the systems, which comprise large amounts of data, cybercrime has become one of the most prevalent threats round the world. According to reports, it has been anticipated that cybercrimes, comprising damage and destruction of data, robbed money, irrecoverable productivity, fraud, amongst other issues, will damage the world by the cost of $6 trillion annually by 2021, increased from $3 trillion in 2015. This makes it the ideal time to start a promising career in the cybersecurity field.
Having an IT career is a reward, which will help aspirants to move quickly into the track of cybersecurity. There are two main benefits for an aspirant with an IT background:
- An applicant with an IT background will obtain a cybersecurity job inclination more than an applicant with a non-IT background (excluding the experience in the prior field).
- An enthusiast with an IT background will perceive better computer-related aspects than a professional with a non-IT background
In this article, we have tried to explain five aspects that will help an enthusiast to switch one’s career from IT to cybersecurity.
1. Focusing On a Specific Interest
In the present circumstances, with lots of competition going on in the organizations, one must concentrate on being the professional rather than a generalist. Also, while concentrating on being the professional, one must know his/her area of interest in the corresponding field. There are numerous highly paid jobs in this field, such as application security engineer, system administrator, cybersecurity consultant, ethical hacker, cybersecurity analyst, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), security architect pen tester, many more. In this article, we listed the cybersecurity jobs to count on in the coming year. So, one must get a clear perception as to which profile to prefer while specializing.
2. Polish Up the Basics
An applicant with an IT background will already have a basic understanding of operating systems, distributed computing, basics of cybersecurity, and other relevant topics. Also, technical skills, like programming languages, will benefit a lot to get into the this field. For example, becoming a programmer, you will learn about the bugs, buffer overflows, and similar other vulnerabilities and how to alleviate these issues along with protecting the system.
3. Acquire Practical Experience
Irrelevant of how many times you obtain the certifications of how many books you have read, if you haven’t begun to experience it practically, then it will ultimately go in vain. The more you practice with real-world examples, the better you will learn the techniques. You can take up a beginner-level real-world project and begin working on it. The more you acquire practical experience, the more you will understand the helpful advice.
4. Obtain Cybersecurity Certifications
Both technical and soft skills develop perfect cybersecurity professionals. One should add cybersecurity certifications in profile to boost the journey in this domain.
Cybersecurity certifications are available from beginner to advanced level and can be done for different job profiles on cybersecurity. One should earn the cybersecurity certifications such as Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP), Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC), Systems Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), among others.
5. Update the Resume
While switching a job, it is the first requirement to update the resume according to the job profile you are applying for. Since you are going to shift in a cybersecurity field from an IT career, there is not much to change. Still, you need to obtain the certifications on cybersecurity and, most prominently, the practical exercises and the physical world based projects which you have been working on all this time. Also, add the progress made during your IT career, which you think will help you in your cybersecurity career journey.
