Thoughts On Being Asked "How Do I Get Into Infosec?"

docrice

http://www.infosecisland.com/blogview/23080-Thoughts-On-Being-Asked-How-Do-I-Get-Into-Infosec.html

A lot of this hits home for me.

cgrimaldo

That was a good read...a lot of those points apply to IT in general. ..at least with my employer...lol

JDMurray

There nothing in that article that's inaccurate or incorrect. I think a many of the "Expect..." bullet points can apply to any job role in (or interacting with) a corporation, not just InfoSec. I'm also surprised that the author doesn't mention paperwork, report writing, documentation, and endless emails as part of the "joy" of a career in InfoSec.

The author really had me with the phrase, "I mainly focused on...what he thought he wanted out of pursuing a career in INFOSEC." With anyone that asks me the same question about a career in InfoSec (or pen testing or computer forensics or...), the first thing I do is ask them what they think they will be getting out of it. From there I can tell if their expectations are reasonable, questionable, fanciful, or farcical.

Overall, I'd have this article as a recommended read to any InfoSec hopefuls looking for some insight into their career goals.

Chantel

I am one of the people trying to get into Infosec. It is definitely a long hard road. I am older than the guy getting the advice so now I wonder if I am taking on the impossible. The list at the bottom seems to be the story of my life already. It sounds like dealing with people in the work world will be just as hard as raising children. Children don't want to follow rules, so I guess I have already had practice for this type of thing. I am attune with being frustrated on a daily basis (the author mentioned frustration more than once). I hate being frustrated, but I seem to thrive on it.

docrice

Not impossible. In some ways, being older is an advantage since you (potentially) have the some wisdom on your side. If you have professional IT experience with proven growth over time, it's even better. Maturity often means having better clarity of the bigger picture since many of the details that one struggles with at the beginning of a career has become more second-nature after a while.

Infosec can be daunting, tedious, and often an uphill battle with existing cultural mindsets which prioritizes convenience and "fix-it-or-secure-it-later" mentalities. A lot of times that's where the frustrations stem from, because you no doubt care about "what's right" (whatever idealism that represents). I'm in the thick of it everyday and frustration is just a natural part of it, along with all the competing priorities, last-minute needs, project changes, and justifying needs against an established perception that doesn't understand how the dark side of the Internet and human nature work. And the threats we defend against grow everyday and it can feel like a no-win scenario.

But if you love this stuff, it's fun in hindsight. While being older usually means you have somewhat of a disadvantage in less mobility (due to family and such), depending on your situation you'll have to find ways to be agile and push forward. It's probably about how well you can adapt your situation to make yourself stand out better for infosec roles.

JDMurray

I wouldn't engage in any thinking that would cause you to limit yourself because of your age. Whether your age hurts or helps you get a job is in the eye of the hiring manager, and there is very little you can do about that. If you miss getting hired because they are looking for a younger person then move on to the next interview. (Managers try to guess a candidate's age based on the data in their resume, so us older guys won't make it into those interviews anyway.)

Just make sure that you can impress visually and verbally in an interview as possible. You might change a manager's idea of age-acceptable for your case. Also ask a lot of questions to really understand what are the duties and expectations and for the position are, and if the workload is what you believe is suitable for you. You don't want to accept a position that the manager doesn't realize is really better suited for an over-achieving, ADHD 25-year-old--at least I sure don't.

The bottom line is that hiring managers want people who can complete assignments and get things done. With our older, longer resumes, we have more examples of how we have achieved just that.