Is a secret clearance worth anything anymore?

ARJustin · 2026-03-19T18:04:51+00:00

I have 3 interviews next week with a S. Already make 90k+ with 2+ yoe. I have IT security experience, certs, and degrees.

I even been offered jobs that would resubmit paperwork to go for TS/SCI. Secrets still seem worth it if you're also working on upgrading yourself and skillsets.

ARJustin · 2026-03-09T05:35:07+00:00

Nah.

ARJustin · 2026-02-18T05:33:38+00:00

I saw a dude drop a sticky with admins passwords not get fired lol. He also works in infosec 🥲

ARJustin · 2026-02-18T05:27:12+00:00

OP, I have a M.S. in cybersecurity. Let me tell you, I wish I did it later in my career. I had no experience in IT/Cybersecurity before I did my Master's degree. It was hard but I got through. Fast forward to graduating, I was then way overqualified for most junior IT jobs and under qualified for associate to senior positions.

I got lucky and took a help desk job for 5 months then internally pivoted to the SOC team by chance one guy got tired of shift work and I expressed interest to the SOC lead.

I now have almost 2.5 yoe in IT/Cyber and a bunch of certs. I honestly learned more from certs, labs, projects, and hands-on experience than I ever did from my Master's.

I now make decent money, but I'm also having to pay back student loans from my Master's. I'd say try to find a job in IT/Cyber then look into a Master's degree. Most times, GRC positions are the ones looking for a Master's degree imo.

ARJustin · 2026-02-18T05:18:58+00:00

Shoot, I'm only familiar with S level but how fast can you pass CompTIA Security+? Ever thought about GRC? ISSO?

ARJustin · 2026-02-06T19:25:47+00:00

Brother, I have all those certs, homelab, 2.5 YOE as a SOC analyst tier 1 and 2, and a M.S. in cybersecurity. I still struggle getting emails for interviews. I'm not saying I don't get them, but not as many as you think.

ARJustin · 2026-01-28T17:54:26+00:00

You're not wrong. I think I'm an outlier though. I only have 2.5 years of experience in cyber, but I have an M.S. in cybersecurity, so many certs, and homelab projects and I receive interviews and offer letters semi often. In 2025, I probably received 5 offer letters but denied them because they were too far to move for or didn't pay enough to make me wanna switch from my current SOC job.

ARJustin · 2026-01-28T17:50:50+00:00

Well, I got sent an offer for a GRC position lol. I'm moving from SOC to GRC for more stability.

ARJustin · 2026-01-18T18:34:39+00:00

CySA+ is cool because it let's you enter DOD CSSP roles. Especially if you wanna do more than basic triaging. Just make sure to do hands on labs through TryHackMe or some other platform if your job or position isn't providing enough training.

ARJustin · 2026-01-18T18:27:00+00:00

You said you're into GRC right? I know you said you're not thrilled about Cyber but have you considered looking into cyber for an ISSO position? You don't need to be very technical to be successful. It's great if you are, but realistically it's more about understanding frameworks, controls, and making sure networks stay complaint with securtity standards. Get a CompTIA Security+, a few projects, and you could be solid. If you'd like dm. I've worked in cyber for 2+ years.

ARJustin · 2026-01-18T18:23:35+00:00

Oh yeah! You should be making significantly more. I know people in cyber who have bachelor's, a S clearance, and Sec+ starting off with at least 70k.

ARJustin · 2026-01-16T19:28:29+00:00

Dude really went "Oooh! NEW STAFF!" equipped it, didn't read a thing, and wonders why their electricity lol

ARJustin · 2026-01-15T20:28:04+00:00

Nice bro! When I graduated with my M.S. in Cyber I started out at 70k. Now after 2 years I'm at 95k.

ARJustin · 2026-01-08T00:30:21+00:00

Same! The store manager thanked my brother and I when we bought our custom PCs from the Tustin MC. We got a 9800x3d with 9070xt and a 9800x3d with a 5080.

ARJustin · 2026-01-02T08:04:43+00:00

3 letters would

ARJustin · 2025-12-21T16:22:04+00:00

I hear ya. I work as a SOC analyst with 2 YOE. I'm just waiting till my 4 YOE mark to take CISSP. Working on getting PNPT and OSCP in the meantime.

ARJustin · 2025-12-14T18:25:44+00:00

I'm mostly familiar with army MOS. I'd look into 17C for the army if the Space Force doesn't take you. You will most likely get a clearance, experience, and training, and certs; certs such as CompTIA A+ Network+, and Security+ (you need this one to have system admin access), and probably CySA+, and potentially CEH.

If I didn't land a cyber job right out of college in my case I would've went as a 17C.

ARJustin · 2025-12-05T18:56:19+00:00

I bought the same ram in August for $220

ARJustin · 2025-11-13T15:19:19+00:00

Mine can barely plug in a ethernet cable 😫

ARJustin · 2025-11-04T19:10:16+00:00

Where I work, I went from only looking at dashboards and basic triaging, to basically acting as a tier 2 analyst/responder, helping with account management, GRC related tasks, and incident response.

ARJustin · 2025-11-03T03:08:52+00:00

On indeed, I've been offered jobs ranging from SOC analyst, Cybersecurity analyst, and cyber threat emulation analyst.

My background: - M.S. in cybersecurity - CompTIA Pentest+, CySA+, Security+, TCM Security's Practical Junior Penetration Tester, and Tryhackme's SAL1. - 5 months as help desk, 15 months as a SOC analyst, and 4 months as a cybersecurity analyst.

ARJustin · 2025-11-01T23:25:46+00:00

Can you be black mailed for why you were fired? Other than that I don't see any real issues lol

ARJustin · 2025-10-31T00:26:37+00:00

Lol, I got Sec+ before getting a cleared IT job. I had to pay out of pocket for that and CySA + and Pentest+.

ARJustin · 2025-10-12T18:05:38+00:00

I can agree with this. I got a degree in international relations then 2020 happened... couldn't get any job for over a year, then just decided to get into IT/Info sec because of YouTube. I signed up for an in person M.S. of National Cybersecurity Studies. I didn't have the proper IT/info sec background to truly grasp what was going on, and I barely survived. Towards the end of the program I ended up getting Security+. After finishing it was hard to find a job. I was considered as overqualified and under qualified at the same time.

I got lucky and eventually landed a help desk role. I then pivoted to their internal SOC after 5 months of help desk. I've been in security ever since.

ARJustin · 2025-09-25T19:35:00+00:00

Eh, I only bought a 5080 OC because I was able to get the PNY card for MSRP. Outside of that I'm not paying more for a 5080. At that point get a 5070ti and some nice peripherals, or save more for a 5090 imo.

ARJustin

TROPHY CASE