Fighting the Back to Office Extrovert Managers?! Flip Into Cybersecurity!
Fighting the Back to Office Extrovert Managers?! Flip Into Cybersecurity!
AI Generated Photo by Shea — Google Gemini
There is nothing sexy about becoming a Software Engineer anymore. AI is killing that game colder than a Turkey the day before Thanksgiving! The COVID-19 pandemic has forever shaped, changed and drammatically impacted the entire world. It does not matter if you do not like it. The change is here and it is here to stay. The world and it’s knowledge based workers got a taste of the good life! For those that live in major cities or large metropolitan areas, it means eliminating that commute on that gross, nasty or loud subway, train or whatever other means you normally used to commute (e.g. buses, scooters, Uber, Bolt, Cars eating up gas like PacMan or walking miles to offices that are just too far from public transportation or you were too broke to drive or get a ride).
The working poor got a chance to take a break.
There are so many jobs in the world that require you to physically be present. Restaurants, Food Trucks, PopUp Food Stalls & Stands, Barbershops, Retail shops, Malls, Grocery Stores, Religious Facilities, Hotels, Motels, Truck Drivers, Nurses, Doctors, Paramedics, FireFighters…these are critical humans doing work that just cannot be done from afar over a video call.
Anything an office employee needs to do, can be accomplished remotely.
That is not the case with a knowledge worker. A human who sits at a laptop screen with a mic or camera and works with other human beings for 6–12 hours a day. Calls and meetings can be conducted via Google Meet, Zoom, Microsoft Teams or whatever software is available and comfortable for an organization to use based upon their own requirements. This eliminates entirely the need to pay for planes, trains and various types of automobiles. You do not need to travel 1–2 hours into an office, park your car, pay a toll or parking fee, walk up countless flights of stairs or ride an elevator and walk to a room to sit down and wait for other humans to come sit down and start talking. Compare this to scheduling a Video Call at a time everyone is available. Picking a day and time of the week. Boom….DONE!
Oh, but we need to collaborate!?
I hear this excuse every single day. We have way too much technology available in the world. Turning on your Video is an amazing tool for human emotions and interactions. “We will loose our building investment…” “What about the local stores who rely on our business?”. Life is about change and adaptability and competition. The cream always rises to the top! The rotten will fall and die and go away…
The battle for control of employees and where they work will never stop. Your also fighting Artificial Intelligence (e.g. Google Gemini, Anthropic’s Claude.AI, OpenAI ChatGPT, HeyGen, etc) and this is just the beginning! You need to pick a career if your a knowledge worker that will always permit you to work remotely. If one company or organization doesn’t like it or forces you back into an office. Just take your experience, knowledge and skill elsewhere! Period.
Cloud, Machine Learning, Networking, AI and Cybersecurity are the most in-demand jobs on the planet for IT people as of 2024. Networking you say? Huh? Nothing…nothing runs without the network! Cybersecurity is ubiquitous “EVERYWHERE”! You will absolutely level the playing field with a career in Cybersecurity. There is so much non-sense money grabbing fluff out there. Where do I start?!
You Need a Plan: Start with where and how you want to work?
I don’t want to commute to an office. I want to commute. I want to work from home. I want to live in Country or City X, Y or Z. I want to have the flexibility of my children going to School X, Y or Z. I like going into an office, etc. Let this choice drive your next set of decisions.
Do you want to be hands-on using technology routinely or do you prefer the glory of project management and command and control scenarios?
Are you ready to put skin in the game in the form of money where you mouth is, or do you want it as free as possible?
Reality check. You need to be real with yourself, not anyone else. Can you hardcore dedicate your time and energy to your future or do you still think you have time to fart around with life? Are you ready to let social media go, miss events and activities to change your life for at least a year?
Make all of these decisions before you jump out there and sign up for a bootcamp, learning program, community college, university program or online training. You may save yourself years of headache, fits and starts and loosing money.
If you are serious. Let’s GO!
Spend at least a week going through job boards and READ requirements. What are companies looking for. Make notes of at least 100–200 companies for Cybersecurity Engineer or Cybersecurity Analyst. You will see a theme of certifications or job requirements. Let this drive what and how you need to train on what you need to do (I would highly recommend filtering on “Past 24 hours” and “Past Week”). Anything older than that is like old, outdated, closed/hired and no-longer applicable to a current search.
You will see a lot of cyber focused certifications: Security+, CEH, OSCP, CCSP, CISSP, Cloud (AWS, Google or Azure) certifications.
Common platforms: Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Windows (Desktop and Server). MS Azure, Splunk, Firewalls, Malware/AV Remediation Tools, Git (GitHub/Gitlab), DMZ, Encryption, Zero Trust and different types of methods to secure a network, platform or infrastructure.
ProTip: You will see a literal laundry list of requirements from some companies. Ignore that crap. Their doing a shot into the fish barrel for unicorns many times. If you see Python, CI/CD, Javascript, etc and programming requirements for a Security position. Be very wary since Cybersecurity Engineers & Analysts are not coders or programmers.
4. College Education: You do NOT need a college degree to become a Cybersecurity Engineer or Analyst. You DO need something that will validate knowledge, skills and abilities. A certificate and IT certifications can help to offset the missing College Degree successfully.
5. Download a Step-by-Step Guide: https://stan.store/sheastech/p/download-the-ebook-c1yqw
6. Read this LinkedIn Article (Must be logged In): https://tinyurl.com/Cyber4Life
Lastly, think before you jump in and spend your money on a College Degree program, bootcamp, school or online training program. There are a lot of free training, free or grant programs and help to launch a Cybersecurity career. The world is your oyster, do your homework and research and just GET STARTED. Nothing = nothing if you sit on your butt and do nothing scrolling through TikTok, Instagram or YouTube talking about “One day I’m gonna…”
-Shea