From English Teacher to Security Engineer — Practical Steps That Worked For Me
I set out on my journey in the workforce 23 yrs ago.
I initially thought I would be a finance guru, so I studied and worked in finance for some years.
Then, I shifted to #Education with a plan of being closer to my children (👀 lol). I ended up teaching Middle School English to hundreds to thousands of 6th, 7th, and 8th graders over the years. I even had my own children as students in class for a few years (I was mom and teacher, but that’s another topic for another time).
At the end of 2020 (September-ish), LITERALLY, by divine leading, I started pursuing #cybersecurity . I remember picking up a Sec+ book by Darril Gibson (Lord bless 🙏🏽) to self-study.
This was the beginning.
A few months later (Dec. 2020), I started applying for roles even though I didn’t feel prepared (I wasn’t)!! When are we ever, though? 🤷🏾♀️
Within 2 months from the time I started applying (Feb. 2021), I accepted my first role as a #securityanalyst — Less than 2 years later, I am fortunate to be growing in my role as a Security Engineer.
I’m called to it, and I’m passionate about sharing it with others — whatever that looks like at the moment (coaching, sharing resources or tips, training, etc.), especially those who are seeking to pivot as I once was but just need a bit of direction and push.
Why do I share this? Because there are so many looking to break in and are discouraged because of “rejections”, limited opportunities of hands-on, not being given a “chance,” or just a lack of direction.
Here’s something that helped me:
💢I leveraged my soft skills like “out of this world.” 💪🏽
💢I wrote down every skill I had, every technology I worked with even a little, and every responsibility I could think of…and I determined what could be transferable based on my roles of interest.
💢I studied companies and job descriptions and filled skill gaps by doing some at-home labs and virtual trainings.
💢I enrolled in free courses during my free time and added skills to my resume.
💢I got a few #mentors or coaches.
💢I leveraged LinkedIn and some of these amazing groups out here, like Women in CyberSecurity (WiCyS), Blacks in Cybersecurity, Women + Cybersecurity = Women’s Society of Cyberjutsu, and so many others to network and make valuable connections.
💢I mixed up how I applied to roles (LinkedIn, company sites, Indeed, Dice, etc.) — using #LinkedIn to do initial hunting and then applying directly through the company site has always worked best for me.
💢I created an eportfolio to demonstrate various skills. The videos don’t have to be long-perhaps 4–8 mins.
As a #teacher, I learned that most attention spans are usually not much longer than that — people get bored beyond those first few mins…even hiring managers 🙂, but being able to showcase those skills in a few short minutes will make you standout amongst others as a newcomer.
These are a few things that contributed to my successful pivot.
Don’t lose sight and don’t be afraid to take a risk.
