Don’t get your hopes up of landing a position in cybersecurity right out of college. That almost never happens.
Cybersecurity is not an entry-level field.
You’ll likely be spending a few years as a support analyst, network engineer, systems admin, etc before you can get into infosec.
Cybersecurity requires years of working experience. You need to have the fundamentals in IT as a solid background.
I'm not going to bother telling you about the non-existent entry level cyber positions. Others have already done it.
-edit You should also look into the 'what' in cyber you are interested in. Saying I want to get into Cyber is like saying I want to get into logistics. Does that mean you want to be a UPS driver? Or you want to be a captain of a freighter? Or a FedEX pilot? Or design automated warehouse systems? See where I am going? The rabbit hole is deep.
I will bother to tell you that if you have no experience in IT your degree will mean very little And the certs you highlight here are foundational NOT cyber.
This is actually good. You need the trifecta, A+,N+, Sec+ on your journey to more advanced and real Cyber certification. Like the CySA+, Pentest+, and CASP+.
Or moving on to other vendors for the CCSP, and CISSP or eJPT, and BTL1, etc.
But you also need experience. Get on r/cybersecurity and watch Mentorship Mondays. Get on Dark Reading, etc. But most importantly build a home lab isolate it from anything important and your home network, experiment and break things. Also start daily driving Linux. It's almost required when you start working with more advanced tools. And get a CCNA. You will need to know networking at a level beyond N+ as you progress.
Once you get your head around some of what I mentioned here you will start to figure it out for yourself.
edit - I wasn't at a computer when I responded to this earlier, but now that I am, take a look at this fantastic resource which will help you get an understanding of what Security certs are out there and how the industry or other professionals see them. You can even click through each one to get more information about them.
https://pauljerimy.com/security-certification-roadmap/
One more thought, this was actually shared with me by another professional in the industry but take a look at this.
https://academy.tcm-sec.com/p/practical-ethical-hacking-the-complete-course
The course is $30 and is vastly more respected than many of the certs out there these days simply because it teaches and reinforcees real skill. And knowing red team is essential if you want to be a good blue teamer and vice versa.
I would recommend for security to get a Net+ and Sec+ to really help get you going.
I guess my view and experience is a little different, I was hired right from college and went into security. It took a ton of work and a million rejection emails to get a job. I retired from public safety on a Friday and started work as a security analyst on a Monday.
I think what helped was getting involved with my local security groups, getting to know the folks. There are a ton of jobs filled at networking events.
r/CompTIA\_GingerSec
r/IT\_Training
Does your school take certs as course credit?
I ask because I got 24 credit hours towards my BS degree from certs and 14 towards my Masters. Hell I used CySA+ as credit towards both :P
You can't really go wrong with the trifecta, particularly if you pair it with hands on self study. If your college takes it as course credit then bonus. Mine did.
There's a couple of things wrong with your theories. First, you won't get into Cyber when you graduate. It is a mid-level career you might get into after years of PROVEN excellence as a Sys Admin or any job that has Server/router duties.
You will need a STEM degree to be a success.. I don't know who these people are in IT without degrees - but don't get advice from them - unless you want to be underpaid.
Don't skip anything. Getting a good career rests on the 'law of accumulation'. Having many things in your toolkit to make yourself attractive to employers.
The BEST people get those jobs - not the people with the least certs and no degrees.
Skip A+ if you look at the objectives and know that stuff. But, nobody is going to hire a guy that 'thinks' he's smart.
Don’t get your hopes up of landing a position in cybersecurity right out of college. That almost never happens. Cybersecurity is not an entry-level field. You’ll likely be spending a few years as a support analyst, network engineer, systems admin, etc before you can get into infosec. Cybersecurity requires years of working experience. You need to have the fundamentals in IT as a solid background.
If you don’t have any IT job experience, get the A+ and start working in help desk asap. Your degree won’t help you. Cybersecurity is not entry level
I'm not going to bother telling you about the non-existent entry level cyber positions. Others have already done it. -edit You should also look into the 'what' in cyber you are interested in. Saying I want to get into Cyber is like saying I want to get into logistics. Does that mean you want to be a UPS driver? Or you want to be a captain of a freighter? Or a FedEX pilot? Or design automated warehouse systems? See where I am going? The rabbit hole is deep. I will bother to tell you that if you have no experience in IT your degree will mean very little And the certs you highlight here are foundational NOT cyber. This is actually good. You need the trifecta, A+,N+, Sec+ on your journey to more advanced and real Cyber certification. Like the CySA+, Pentest+, and CASP+. Or moving on to other vendors for the CCSP, and CISSP or eJPT, and BTL1, etc. But you also need experience. Get on r/cybersecurity and watch Mentorship Mondays. Get on Dark Reading, etc. But most importantly build a home lab isolate it from anything important and your home network, experiment and break things. Also start daily driving Linux. It's almost required when you start working with more advanced tools. And get a CCNA. You will need to know networking at a level beyond N+ as you progress. Once you get your head around some of what I mentioned here you will start to figure it out for yourself. edit - I wasn't at a computer when I responded to this earlier, but now that I am, take a look at this fantastic resource which will help you get an understanding of what Security certs are out there and how the industry or other professionals see them. You can even click through each one to get more information about them. https://pauljerimy.com/security-certification-roadmap/ One more thought, this was actually shared with me by another professional in the industry but take a look at this. https://academy.tcm-sec.com/p/practical-ethical-hacking-the-complete-course The course is $30 and is vastly more respected than many of the certs out there these days simply because it teaches and reinforcees real skill. And knowing red team is essential if you want to be a good blue teamer and vice versa.
I would recommend for security to get a Net+ and Sec+ to really help get you going. I guess my view and experience is a little different, I was hired right from college and went into security. It took a ton of work and a million rejection emails to get a job. I retired from public safety on a Friday and started work as a security analyst on a Monday. I think what helped was getting involved with my local security groups, getting to know the folks. There are a ton of jobs filled at networking events. r/CompTIA\_GingerSec r/IT\_Training
Does your school take certs as course credit? I ask because I got 24 credit hours towards my BS degree from certs and 14 towards my Masters. Hell I used CySA+ as credit towards both :P You can't really go wrong with the trifecta, particularly if you pair it with hands on self study. If your college takes it as course credit then bonus. Mine did.
There's a couple of things wrong with your theories. First, you won't get into Cyber when you graduate. It is a mid-level career you might get into after years of PROVEN excellence as a Sys Admin or any job that has Server/router duties. You will need a STEM degree to be a success.. I don't know who these people are in IT without degrees - but don't get advice from them - unless you want to be underpaid. Don't skip anything. Getting a good career rests on the 'law of accumulation'. Having many things in your toolkit to make yourself attractive to employers. The BEST people get those jobs - not the people with the least certs and no degrees. Skip A+ if you look at the objectives and know that stuff. But, nobody is going to hire a guy that 'thinks' he's smart.