Cyber Security CV/Career Advice

[Megahurtz400]

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[malachi]

Foreword: I've just finished writing this post and didn't realise it was going to be such an essay, has been quite helpful to actually get all this written down, but yeah, sorry for the essay!

Hi all!

After 10 years in my current role I've finally plucked up the courage to start again in something new that I'm passionate/interested in in my early 30s!

Current role is running a small family business with my cousin in the motor trade, selling car detailing products. We've taken the company from almost nothing to one of the major players in detailing industry (UK and worldwide) and I've been part of every single aspect of the business. If I had to put a title to the role it would probably primarily be "Sales" based, but with such a small team (now at 5) I've always been the "tech" head and installed and set up and educated non-technical staff on complex WMS solutions and handled pretty much every IT aspect of the business. I don't think there's a single thing to do with "running a business" that I haven't done, bar complex accounting stuff because, accounting...

I think that the last 10 years have given me a incredible set of soft skills, so while I don't have any specific "technical" experience I feel that my willingness to learn and lifelong interest in technology (combined with a lot of work out of hours!) is going to play a pivotal part in actually securing a role in a new industry.

While it's a great job overall, it doesn't light a fire inside of me as cars have never been a big passion of mine, and now the business is at a stage where it's running smoothly i'm ready to take a leap into a new industry that will!

I'm wanting to move into the tech/IT space, ideally Cyber Security. The Cyber Security world has always interested me, the cat and mouse games between threats and blue teams, and the fact the the landscape is constantly changing. I love learning something new, love to understand how things work in depth and solving a complex problem.

The last few months I've got the CompTIA A+, Net+ and Sec+, as sadly I don't have a degree so thought that some certs to show that I can actually learn would be a good idea, and am now currently working my way through all of the TryHackMe learning paths to work with as many tools and get some practical experience.

Also thinking of getting some basic vendor specific certifications under my belt (AWS, Azure and the like).

I'm thinking that SOC Analyst role is probably going to be my best route into the industry, as I'm looking to stick to the technical side rather than end up in another sales based role.

Reason for the thread:

1. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Is there any vendor specific certifications that you'd say are worth getting? Anyone in the industry and aware of new trending tools that could set me apart from other candidates?

2. I'll be leaving this role early 2025, so am starting to keep a proper eye on the job market and am going to start putting a CV together soon, and I'm struggling/worried about how I'm going to advertise myself due to my lack of relevant experience in a Cyber Security role or even tech based role. Also just designing a CV, I haven't had one for over a decade and am trying to figure out how to across the message of "I may not have had any specific role based experience before, but i'm a great learner and am a great employee!" Any advice to get this across without sounding like a total novice would be great!

Exciting but scary times, basically I just need someone to tell me it will all be ok

Thanks

Take a look here https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/career-change-cyber-security.18977962/