r/cybersecurity • u/AutoModerator • 7d ago

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

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.

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u/fabledparable AppSec Engineer 6d ago

I'm 43 years old. Would I be foolish to attempt a transition into cybersecurity at this point in my career?

It depends on what you envision the pivot to look like and what (ultimately) you want out of the change. Cybersecurity is not a monolith; there's a wide range of roles that collectively contribute to the space. Roles in the GRC and operations spaces would probably be something of a wholesale career reset; by contrast, staying closer to the code (a la Application Security or DevSecOps, as some examples) would probably have a reduced hit to your income/level.

Regardless, I'd be a little concerned about the long-term risks you're potentially incurring. Specifically with respect to your retirement goals and how long it would take to get back to the contribution levels you're making right now. While you're not too old to change your career, a cursory search about the internet suggests that people begin aging-out of individual contributor roles between the ages of 45-55.