This is an automated archive.

The original was posted on /r/cybersecurity by /u/StrikingInfluence on 2023-08-28 18:46:37+00:00.

It’s that time of year where many people are enrolling in programs and starting / have just started college. As a part-time instructor I want to share some knowledge of students and their successes and failures along with the state of the industry.

Disclaimer: I teach for a medium sized community technical college in the Midwest and so we only award diplomas, AAS, AS, and AA degrees. Our most popular program is Cyber Security and we also have a Network Administration and IT Support program.

The Industry

I’d like to start off by saying right now is a very odd and difficult time to be looking for a job in tech. I had been passively looking for newer roles out of curiosity but I’m probably going to hunker down for a while. Layoffs are everywhere and in every industry. We are in a weird spot economically. Unemployment remains low, but inflation is high and people are realizing their buying power has diminished greatly. I work for a F500 company and have many contacts in tech and the overall tone is that companies are kind of tightening the latches. If a position is open - it gets removed or put on hold and a lot of money for new projects has seemingly been slashed. I will not mince words for you all - it’s difficult. This past month I’ve seen more layoff and looking for work posts on LinkedIn than I ever have in my entire career. A few years ago applying for roles was like shooting fish in a barrel for me. I had people non-stop reaching out asking me if I wanted to interview with them. Fast forward to now and it’s crickets. I’ve been actually ghosted by a few recruiters because they just don’t have anything and I’m a Senior Security Engineer with 8 years of experience + a CISSP and degrees. So if you’re out there struggling - it’s most likely not your fault.

Success Stories

Now onto some unlikely but very welcome success stories from students. I saw a few of my AAS students recently got placed in SOC Analyst positions with NO prior tech experience or knowledge other than our AAS program. To be honest, this is quite rare because as many here are aware - security positions aren’t necessarily entry-level tech positions. Most of our students start in Support Analyst or Help Desk type roles but a lucky few beat the odds. What I noticed differently about these students is the following:

  • They all attended and were heavily involved in CCDC (Official college activity but not required - volunteer).
  • A few of them were very active with TryHackMe (not required or part of our coursework)
  • A few of them actually went at sat for the Security+ (The Security+ class is required but getting the cert is not).
  • All of these students asked questions during and even outside of class.
  • All of these students were very personable and approachable. You don’t have to be a total extroverted socialite but being able to communicate with people and just overall be approachable goes so far.
  • These students were humble and knew what they did not know. They were also not afraid to say they were wrong or just say that they didn’t understand something.

Failures / Lessons to Learn

I really need to preface this with: these particular students are NOT entirely failures and are NOT bad people. I just observe that there are some notably different behaviors and actions taken between students who immediately got jobs and those who didn’t. Now obviously this is all anecdotal and some people may have connections or family and there are so many other variables. However, contrasting the first list, I saw some patterns that emerged.

  • Unwilling to put in effort outside of class. Whether this was simply asking questions or being involved in activities like the CCDC - most students simply do the minimum and this is a reality of most community colleges and that’s okay. Just understand that other students are doing a lot more than you so you better make up for it.
  • Unprofessional demeanor - as an instructor I’m not your colleague and I’m not really your boss. You pay money to learn from me. However, showing up late, swearing a lot, interrupting me, and just overall not being respectful tells me you probably take this behavior outside of the classroom. Treat college like your job because for a lot of students - it kind of is (at least temporarily).
  • Arrogance - my least favorite and probably the most unattractive to any potential employer. If you don’t know something, that’s okay. However, if you don’t know something and instead try to convince someone you know it - that’s just dumb.
  • Do not lie or resume fluff. If you took a CCNA class and list that as a course on your resume that is OKAY. If you took a CCNA class but did not pass or even sit for the exam - do not put CCNA on your resume or LinkedIn. I see it on LinkedIn and resumes where people list a smorgasbord of certifications that they don’t have. They took a udemy or college course for that cert but never sat for it. Having the certifications and going through the coursework are very different. If a company cares about that cert we will ask for your ID and verification - it will not end well.
  • Do not give yourself a job title on LinkedIn if you do not have that job. When people like me and hiring managers see that - we skip. It is okay to say you are open for a position of a certain type or looking for a “SOC Analyst” role but do not give yourself a title.
  • Present a unified and professional image. Get a good professional picture for yourself on LinkedIn, don’t trash talk people or employers. Do not share personal channels of social media unless you are okay with the world seeing your life. Discord and Insta have been notorious places where students share stuff that is way way NSFW even though they advertise these on their college contacts. Make your profiles private - honestly.
  • Be nice to your instructor(s) - I work a full-time job and I understand it’s frustrating to get adjuncts but without me this class wouldn’t exist. I also happen to have a lot of contacts and know people. If you’re cool to me and treat me like human being - odds are I will gladly help you when asked.