The Opportunity
Every service member has asked themselves the same question, whether it be before or after they separate from the military. Now what? The military has been your chosen profession, but now it’s time to find a new one. As the 4th Industrial Revolution looms just over the horizon, the job market is changing quickly. What will the job market of the future look like? University of Oxford professor Yuval Noah Harari refers to the “twin revolutions” of information technology and biotechnology. Those technological revolutions will change the world and future jobs along with it.
Within the information technology revolution is a booming new career field, for which military members have a natural inclination: cyber security. Regardless of your MOS or branch of service, the military has taught you something that is difficult to teach in the civilian sector. It has taught you a defensive mindset. That is valued in cyber security.
Within the information technology revolution is a booming new career field, for which military members have a natural inclination: cyber security.
Rather than give a long argument describing the benefits of a career in cyber security, I’m going to give you three compelling numbers. First, the median salary for an information security analyst was $95,510 in 2017 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Second, the BLS forecast a growth rate of 28% for that job between 2016 and 2018 (compared to an average growth rate of 7% for all occupations in the US). Third, today there is a shortage of about 498,000 cyber security professional in North America alone according (ISC)2’s 2018 Cybersecurity Workforce Study.
The career field is rapidly growing and as CIO magazine put it, cyber security professionals are in high demand and highly paid. Let’s discuss how can military service members transition to a career in cyber security.
Cyber Bootcamp
Truth be told cyber security doesn’t really require a bachelor’s degree (despite what most job listings say). It certainly doesn’t hurt and I would never dissuade a veteran from pursuing her or his higher education. However, I’ve personally worked with some high quality individuals, who had not completed their degrees. They earned the skills (and certifications) to make themselves marketable by attending technology and cybersecurity bootcamps. In recent years bootcamps have been popping up all over the place to fill a void in the technology educational ecosystem. These boot camps allow motivated individuals to learn a technical skill (often from scratch) in a rather short timeframe.
Regardless of your MOS or branch of service, the military has taught you something that is difficult to teach in the civilian sector. It has taught you a defensive mindset.
Don’t think of boot camps as simply being an alternative to going to university. I’ve known more, than a couple non-technical MBA graduates, who enrolled in a coding boot camp after business school in order to learn a skill set that would help them enter the technology sector.
There are plenty of boot camps out there that will accept your GI Bill educational benefits. That’s all good, but what’s really cool is, if you can find a program like NPower—which has a focus in training veterans—that offers both a stipend and a paid internship. The Cybersecurity Boot Camp at the City College of Chicago was developed in partnership with the Department of Defense and also has a focus on veterans.
Higher Education
There are a lot of options for higher education as a route into cyber security. For starters there’s great value in the community college system. Besides being a cost effective, community colleges work to provide students with the practical skills that employers are looking for. A simple search for community college cyber security programs will yield pages and pages of schools with relevant programs. An associate’s degree provides options.
If a bachelor’s degree is more your speed, keep in mind that cybersecurity as a major is still pretty new. Majors such as computer science, computer engineering, and information technology will also make you plenty marketable. The upside of a more traditional education route is that your profile will align more closely with how many cyber security recruiters and hiring managers think your resume should look.
Not sure where to start to find a quality program? The National Security Agency (NSA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have teamed up to designate a number of two-year, four-year, and graduate level institutions as Centers of Academic Excellence (CAE). The NSA sponsors two types of CAE programs: one in Cyber Defense and one in Cyber Operations. These CAE programs are an excellent resource for a quality educational program to get your on your cyber security journey.
Graduate School
Military officers, of course, already have bachelor’s degrees, so graduate school is often the next academic stop for them. What should officers do, if they don’t already have a degree in technology? Fortunately, there are graduate programs that cater to students of various academic backgrounds. For example, the University of Pennsylvania has a Master of Computer and Information Technology (MCIT) program, which “is strictly for applicants with limited or no past experience in computer science.”
Fortunately, there are graduate programs that cater to students of various academic backgrounds.
New York University has an 17-week Cybersecurity Bridge Program, which is “designed for students lacking a background in computer science giving you a gateway to a graduate-level degree in cybersecurity.” There’s no need to have any regrets about your undergraduate major. There’s still plenty of routes to pursue a graduate degree in a technical subject.
Certifications
There is room for self-education in your transition to cyber security. This is a career field with a rich tapestry of professional certifications. They cover a wide variety of skill sets and levels of expertise. The CompTIA Security+ is a helpful entry-level certification to help get your foot in the door. If you’re inclined to start by diving into the deep end, you can take the (ISC)2 Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and maintain the Associate of (ISC)2 designation until you have enough relevant work experience for a full CISSP certification.
This is a career field with a rich tapestry of professional certifications.
I would be remiss, if I didn’t mention the GIAC Security Essentials (GSEC) certification. It’s another well recognized entry-level certification, but while I’m a big fan of the SANS Institute—which runs the training—their classes are a bit expensive. However, many employers will send employees to SANS training, so they can be pursued later.
Most everyone knows that you can use the GI Bill to pay for college or grad school. Did you know you can also use it be pay for certification exams too? Every bit helps, right?
Mentorship via LinkedIn
Who you know can matter as much as what you know. However, keep in mind that you have two great resources at your disposal. First, you have your fellow veterans. In the United States the military is the greatest fraternity in the land. You have a built-in connection with a wide network of veterans. Fortunately, many of them have been separated from the service for longer, than you have and can provide some mentorship on the private sector in general and on cyber security specifically. Even, if you don’t personally know any cyber security professionals, your network of veterans might.
In the United States the military is the greatest fraternity in the land.
The second great resource you have at your disposal is LinkedIn. A generation ago your veteran network would have been limited to people you personally knew and members of your local VFW. LinkedIn provides the ability to connect with veterans all around the country and the world. (Yes, there a plenty of US veterans living overseas.) If you ask veterans for advice and help in a professional manner, you’ll be surprised how many are willing to make time for you. Those weak ties—like a fellow veteran you met through networking—can be instrumental in finding your first cyber security job.
Obtaining a job in a new career field can be challenging, but the work is worth. Remember that cyber security has a shortage of professionals and would benefit from more veterans joining the field. The transition of more veterans into cyber security is a win-win for everyone.
Are you ready?