In looking for a job in the Raleigh/Durham area, every information security position has CISSP required, or 5+ years experience in information security required. This doesn't add up. Every day I hear about infosec's massive job growth, and "how can we get the young people interested in security?" Plus the Research Triangle is a decent tech hub. I'm graduating with a CS degree, CNSS 4011 cert, and soon will have Security+. This seems like an ideal posture to have being a recent grad trying to break into the industry. What am I missing here?
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2That's part of the paradox. You need 5 years of experience to qualify for the CISSP.– John DetersMar 25, 2016 at 2:49
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@JohnDeters I just noticed that. Lol.– Mark BuffaloMar 25, 2016 at 2:50
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1You need to look for entry level, or junior positions. They do exist. In 30 seconds I was able to find this one.– XanderMar 25, 2016 at 3:02
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@Xander is correct. You need to look for entry-level jobs. You may feel that you have more knowledge than what those entry-level jobs require, but you can't expect to take a mid-level job just out of school.– h4ckNinjaMar 25, 2016 at 4:41
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@Xander Thats really funny, because I applied for that one already– Cole InmanMar 25, 2016 at 18:57
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1 Answer
Just to clear some confusion and be constructive: CISSP is nothing but a certificate that says "I have worked in the field of IT security for at least 5 years". It's no formal education, it's just a piece of paper stating exactly this. So when a CISSP is required for a position, this translates to: "Bring at least 5 years of experience with you". In other words, a senior position.
If you are a recent grad you should realistically not apply for a senior position. There are various ways of acquiring the work experience necessary, probably the easiest way is getting a job at an (ideally security focussed) systems house as developer or admin, depending on which aspect of IT security is more relevant for you. Don't forget that IT security is an aspect of all IT related jobs.
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I understand I need an entry level job, but the way I see it entry level essentially means developer. Will that put me on a track to get a job in security? Junior Security Analyst seems like the title I should go for, but I rarely find it. Mar 25, 2016 at 19:00
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Well what do you want to work as? The two central domains of IT security are either development or administration and while there are transitions like DevOps, this rule generally applies. Both paths potentially lead to penetration testing/auditing and consulting, the developer path also has a potential to lead to security architecture / analysis. Mar 25, 2016 at 19:20
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Either would be fine, I have basic networking skills and job experience. I have a good amount of programming experience from my education, so I feel like development would be a more likely path. If I had to do a non security based job would, software testing be a good first one? Mar 26, 2016 at 22:17
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Remember that either administration or development have a strong connection with IT security. It is obvious that for example developing for an insurance or bank company is actually a highly security related job. Even if you would work at a regular systems house, these do also have specialists for IT security related questions. Same goes for administration - managing a network of a bank, company or hospital is definitely security related. So if you look closely, you will see that a huge amount of jobs are actually straight on line with an IT security career. Mar 27, 2016 at 11:53
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I would even argue that it is hard to find any NON IT security related development job at all. Even if you do front end web design for a marketing company, you could state that it's important to design XSS- and CSRF-safe interfaces. Malware and code analysis is just the tip of the iceberg. Of course there are administration jobs which are less connected to security, like managing non critical networks. Mar 27, 2016 at 11:57