Tips to Stand Out in Cybersecurity Applications

Trying to land a job in cybersecurity? Here's the secret: Skills matter more than credentials. And the best way to build those skills? Practice. Here’s how I’d start if I were you: -Set up a home lab using tools like Snort, Suricata, or Zeek. -Simulate attacks using Exploit DB and Kali Linux. -Document your findings on LinkedIn, YouTube, Medium, or GitHub.   Want to take it up a notch? -Compare IDS systems (ex. Snort, Suricata, Zeek, Wazuh etc.) -Compare integration methods (ex. Splunk vs. ELK Stack) -Present work at a conference. -Write a paper. (Ex. https://lnkd.in/g9uZmnxH)   ✍️Certificates/Degrees are great, but you won't go far if you can't talk about the concepts! Projects show initiative. Plus, it helps with small talk during interviews. Here’s a few examples with links: 1.Monitor Your Home Network: -Set up Snort: https://www.snort.org/ -Ex. Use it to log and analyze traffic—like web browsing or SSH connections. 2.Simulate Attacks in a Safe Environment -Download Kali Linux and Metasploitable2: https://lnkd.in/gzebUBeE -Ex. Run mock attacks (port scans, brute force attempts, etc.) and test detection ability. 3. Write Your Own Rules -Create custom Snort rules to detect behaviors: https://lnkd.in/g7PUp4H2 -Ex. Blocking access to admin pages or spotting malicious uploads. 4.Visualize Your Findings -Integrate Snort with Splunk or ELK Stack to build dashboards: https://www.splunk.com/ -Ex. Visualize alerts, traffic trends, and risks. 5. Practice with Real Vulnerabilities -Use the Exploit-DB to explore known exploits: https://lnkd.in/gGs8QHfT -Simulate attacks in your lab and see how Snort responds. Start small. Experiment. Build confidence. You GOT THIS! 🤩

This is the biggest problem with finding a job in cybersecurity. 👩🏻💻 I recently had a conversation with someone who told me they’ve been in the job market for a year and still haven’t been able to land a role. The biggest issue they were having was that they weren’t qualified for any of the jobs they were applying for and because of that, they just did NOT apply to them. My advice? You will never be 100% qualified for a job. And if you are, that job will not challenge you enough to help you grow in your career. 🌟 This is what you should do instead: Look at the top 3 job listings you’re interested in and find the common skills and qualifications they’re looking for. Then take the top 3-4 common skills and look for ways to incorporate them into technical projects on your resume. The best thing about cybersecurity is the fact that there are so many open-source tools or community-edition licenses that you can use for free in your personal projects. The ones who get ahead in cyber are the ones who put in the work to get hands-on. You can no longer just rely on a company to get technical experience, but with the resources that are available online, there are so many options to get the experience you need through labs, simulations, building your own SOC, etc. 💻 Even if you don’t hit all the job requirements, you’ll still be 10x more valuable as a candidate with this new experience under your belt. The next time you see a job you really want to apply for but don’t hit the qualifications, look at the skills they’re looking for and challenge yourself to get at least one of them into your toolbox. This is the best way to grow as a cybersecurity professional. 🤖 You got this! 💪 💡 You can also get my FREE Cybersecurity Beginner Roadmap Guide for anyone who’s looking for where to get started in their cybersecurity career: https://lnkd.in/eY79cbZ3 #cybersecurity #cybersecurityjobs #cybersecurityanalyst

Your Resume is Only Half Your Problem If I'm looking at your LinkedIn profile, your Dice profile, or your resume, and it says that you're a senior person with this and that skill… Then, I expect you to be able to share your experience by leveraging the skills and technologies that you've listed in your resume or profile. Here’s what I mean. I've seen resumes of people wanting to break into cyber security in a vulnerability management position, and their resumes would say something like this… Ran vulnerability scanner Listen, you are never going to get an interview with bullet points on your resume like that! I’ll tell you why. Identifying what you do is not what gets you hired. It’s the benefit, what you provide to the company, that gets you hired. So, instead of merely identifying the task you performed, identify the impact you’ve had on the company due to your particular skill set. For example, “I removed 500 vulnerabilities from critical systems while operating the Qualys vulnerability scanner,” communicates your value in a much more significant way. Now, when you’re in the interview you can talk about your process. Things like, how you downloaded the reports, how you analyzed the data, how you worked with teams to explain what needed to be fixed, and so on. But, if you have a weak resume, you’re never going to get to the interview! So you must remember to identify the value you bring, rather than the tasks you can perform, on your resume.

If you are applying for Cybersecurity jobs, you need a cybersecurity resume. It seems obvious. But so many people get it wrong. I recently had a woman reach out to me for support. She had completed a degree in cybersecurity back in the Spring and had yet to secure a job. Despite her training and degree, she got ZERO calls for interviews. When I saw her resume I understood why. Her resume communicated that she has a cyber degree (in fact, she has two!) but NOTHING else in her resume communicated she has any technical skills in cybersecurity. Her resume was written off of her previous industry. Her skills section told that she could perform the tasks necessary for her job in retail. If she wants to land a job in cyber, she needs a cybersecurity resume. A resume should tell an employer what you can do for them that is valuable to THEM. A cyber hiring manager doesn't need to know that you have skills in retail, they need to see your cyber skills. Think of it this way. If I go to buy a car and the salesman tries to sell me a boat...well, I'm walking away. I don't need a boat; I need a car. If your resume is written off a previous industry and doesn't expressly highlight your cybersecurity skills, knowledge, and experience.....well, simply, you won't get a call. If you don't have paid work experience in cyber, then you need to go back into your training and pull out the skills and competencies you learned. You need to highlight the tools and programs you used. You need to talk about your projects and competitions. These are your hands-on-experience and the foundation of your cyber resume. If you have the training and the degrees, and are ready to shift... Bottom line: You need a CYBER resume.