How to Get into Cybersecurity without a Degree

You can certainly land into a cybersecurity career without a degree. Nonetheless, you will need a lot of determination and training to start your career.

Cybersecurity is one of the fields that are expected to boost employment over the oncoming decade. Occupation specialists report that information security jobs are going to expand by more than 30% by 2030 showing faster rates of development than any other branch in IT. Security engineers, virus technicians, and vulnerability analysts will gain steady positions in the market unlike many careers undermined by the global COVID crisis. If you are looking forward to getting a truly rewarding and stable job, take a closer look at cybersecurity. Even if you don’t have a technical degree or IT background, you can still find a place in the sun. Here is how to do it.

Realize that Your Chances to Get into the Field Are Real

You may have plenty of reasons for not having a computer science degree—or any other degree at all. As a high school graduate, you may not know which profession will work best for you. Or, you may find college education too expensive, which is especially true when it comes to degrees in technology. However, you can certainly land into a cybersecurity career without a degree—plenty of specialists have done it already. Cybersecurity isn’t regulated by strict measures, like medicine does for example, so every employer is free to choose their best candidates. Nonetheless, you will need a lot of determination and training to start your career.

Find the Job You Can Target

Irrespective of whether you have a college degree or not, it mostly matters whether you possess any technical hard skills. If you come from an IT background, you can easily count on a range of cybersecurity jobs, like security engineer, virus technician, or penetration tester. In case you possess no technical skills, you can be a technical writer, cyber policy analyst, or network administrator at the very least. We recommend checking IT companies in your area and finding out what they have to offer.

Define Prospects for Your Future Development

In case you possess no technical degree, you realize that you cannot get to top positions in cybersecurity right away. You always have to start from an entry-level job, and over time you will be able to proceed to more technically demanding posts. It depends on whether you acquire an interest in this field and whether you’re ready to proceed with learning. Remember, that you can enter cybersecurity as a junior assistant anytime and without a degree. However, you will need to learn a lot of theory and practical skills if you wish to proceed to become an engineer or developer. There are several options for studying for a cybersecurity career.

Enroll in a College Cybersecurity Program

Some colleges offer decent IT degrees for a reasonable price. You may consider remote studying or taking separate courses to get ready for your future certification. You have to learn cyber technology anyway, and it is worth looking for a school to enroll in. You can start as an assistant and proceed with your degree at the same time. If you find it difficult to combine job and studying, get some professional help from essay writers. You can reach academic experts online anytime and ask them to assist you in conducting research or writing papers. This way, you will get more time for your job and learning technical skills while an online writing service will help you complete minor essays for your degree on time.

Start as an Intern or Join the Military

If you cannot keep up with college now, consider an internship at the company you are interested in. Of course, you will have to do with not very important duties and minimum salary as an intern. Nevertheless, companies are usually interested in promoting their interns even without sufficient college education. In a while, you will find the best way for you to learn technical skills and get promoted further. Being in the military is another ticket to cybersecurity jobs. If you have served a few years in any of the military branches, you can easily move back to civil life and request a job at a tech company. Again, you will be supposed to learn more technical skills for your career.

Get Ready for Cybersecurity Certification

As in every job, you have to pass certain exams either at the beginning or in a while. In the cybersecurity field, you will need either Network+ or Security+ certificates. You can take courses online and study when you have time for it. Having passed your first tests, you will become a certified entry-level technician. Online education is a good alternative to enrolling in a college technical program.

Reach out to Recruiters

You can do it before you start learning or when you have acquired a basic certificate. Hiring managers will either help with employment at their company or will direct you further in your studies. In any way, the market has prospects for technical specialists of various levels of competence. Don’t be afraid to refer to recruiters if you are still a beginner. Start from minor positions and you will progress with your career as you learn.

Be Ready to Keep on Learning

Whatever your reason for not getting a college degree, it won’t stop you from getting a job. However, you must keep constantly learning to get to a new level in cybersecurity. After all, if you aim at stability and development, be ready to work hard on your technical skills. Remember that no job will slip away if you possess enough knowledge and practical skills to manage, test, or improve safety technology.