While many people believe that a college degree gives you a greater career advantage, it’s my experience that in the tech industry, this isn’t always true. Our industry is constantly changing, and I’ve learned that certifications can enhance a college degree and help you gain the knowledge and experience you need to work in cybersecurity. Here are a few things I’ve found that can complement – or even replace – a college degree in tech.
1. Incorporate Extracurricular Career Development Activities
Regardless of the type of education and training you’re participating in, adding extracurricular activities to your certification or degree program can benefit your career development and help you gain more hands-on experience. Ultimately this will help you round out your resume and compete for jobs.
Develop Your Technical Writing Skills
Developing your technical writing skills is important for almost any tech job. You might not even realize that you’re working on these skills in your classes, but the reports, papers, case studies and projects you’re assigned in school require you to explain technical concepts proficiently. I regularly use these research and writing skills in my career.
Gain Hands-on Experience
After the first semester in my cybersecurity master's degree program, I wanted to gain more hands-on experience with cyber intelligence and digital forensics. I researched, applied and landed a hands-on cyber and national security intelligence internship.
Most of the projects involved a great deal of in-depth research on specific intelligence targets and information needed to aid others with intelligence operations. These projects required greater deep dives into areas like the dark web to gather intelligence for operations.
I also had the opportunity to execute several red-cell intelligence operations and was selected to lead one of the projects, becoming an acting mentor after my internship. Post-internship, I mentored incoming interns for a year, guiding and assisting them in completing their projects successfully.
There’s plenty of opportunity to volunteer as well. I volunteered with a local organization that sponsored boot camps and cybersecurity games for kids interested in computers and technology. Volunteers, like me, assisted and oversaw some of the games the nonprofit held that taught kids cryptography, how to crack ciphers and how to use tools of the trade – including Linux.
These experiences gave me a better idea of the skills needed for cyber intelligence operations. There are a number of activities you can engage in to gain hands-on experience, including:
- Volunteering your expertise
- Interning to gain additional experience
- Participating in learning boot camps
- Utilizing online networks to learn from others in the industry
2. Choose Courses That Fit Your Career Goals
After the first year in my master's program, I transitioned from a job in the insurance industry to a role in telecommunications technology as a government contractor. Although my tenure in the insurance industry gave me a great deal of experience in risk and project management, this new telecommunications role brought with it the opportunity to learn a new level of technical skills.
A great deal of what I learned was understanding how telecommunication technology services operate, and then being able to explain that process to non-technical government personnel. Since we worked with personnel who had limited knowledge of the telecommunication and IP voice services process, it was crucial to be a technical subject-matter expert in these areas.
My prior studies in combination with this role allowed me to expand my technical knowledge of networking and communications systems to increase my hands-on cybersecurity and information technology experience.
Throughout my studies, I became more and more interested in digital forensics and national security as my intended career path post-graduation. I focused on aligning my classes to the cybersecurity path that fit my interests.
I added more encryption, threat detection, cyber intelligence and digital forensics classes to my schedule. These courses allowed me to acquire more specialized knowledge and skills in cyber intelligence and national security.
3. Combine Certifications with a Degree
As I studied for my degree, I wished that my program had incorporated certifications, like CompTIA Security+. Many of the cybersecurity programs I had considered, including the one I chose, did not talk about cybersecurity certifications as an advantage to your post-graduate career.
It wasn’t until a colleague mentioned their plans to take several certifications that I realized I hadn’t optimized my full potential outside of my degree. I also learned that several of my colleagues were studying and using their current experience to obtain IT certifications instead of a degree. In hindsight, I think this was a misstep that I made, and I suggest to anyone looking to get into a technology career to consider getting certified.
What Would I Do Differently?
Cybersecurity programs have evolved since I started studying for my master's degree in 2017. College certification and degree programs have adapted to the changes within the cybersecurity industry by updating and growing their curriculum to meet the ever-evolving demand for new skills.
While I can’t claim to have any cybersecurity certifications (along with my degree) to my name just yet - I hope to change that soon. Today, cybersecurity programs are far more hands-on than when I started my degree.
One of the most important things I emphasize to anyone looking to get into a computer science or technology degree program is researching what your desired career field requires of you. Take that knowledge and network with other people in the profession you want to be in. Learning what to expect will help you strive for better career success within the technology industry.
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