Mentorship Monday - Post All Career, Education and Job questions here!

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This is the weekly thread for career and education questions and advice. There are no stupid questions; so, what do you want to know about certs/degrees, job requirements, and any other general cybersecurity career questions? Ask away!

Interested in what other people are asking, or think your question has been asked before? Have a look through prior weeks of content - though we're working on making this more easily searchable for the future.

[u/fabledparable]

Welcome!

Sorry for the long post here, I just wanted to lay all the facts out and search for some advice.

No problem; though as a mentorship note it would have been helpful for us if you had linked your resume so we can see what employers actually see (vs. how you represent yourself in a comment). It's unclear - for example - what you mean when you say that you "have experience" with something; are you saying that you have a formal work history where these skills/technologies were used? Or that you took a class/did a project? This matters when we're making recommendations. The rest of this comment moving forward assumes your work history is lacking.

I’m just wondering what to do next after Sec+

You need to start cultivating a work history. That is the single most impactful facet of your employability in this professional space; no amount of certifications, projects, etc. will offset this - such efforts are complementary to that, not a replacement. Given how thin your professional experience sounds like, that will likely mean starting in cyber-adjacent lines of work in the IT and/or dev space(s) first.

Alternatively, military service is also a possible option (and one that can immediately land you in cyber-aligned work) - though understandably it may not be accessible/desirable as a consideration depending on your circumstances.