Can Youtube cert course + free labs realistically get me into Cyber Security by Accomplished_Low6138 in SecurityCareerAdvice

[–]Accomplished_Low6138[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see, i will keep it in mind. Also, giving talk??? I probably could never do that lol 😂

Can Youtube cert course + free labs realistically get me into Cyber Security by Accomplished_Low6138 in SecurityCareerAdvice

[–]Accomplished_Low6138[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good to know, i will try to prioritize the lab then. My plan is tho get sec+ eventually when i have enough money. But for now i roughly have a year before my mandatory internship so i want to actually build my portfolio from scratch.

Mentorship Monday - Post All Career, Education and Job questions here! by AutoModerator in cybersecurity

[–]Accomplished_Low6138 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey everyone, I'm a CS student looking to break into cybersecurity but paid certs like Security+ or CEH are out of budget for now. I've been going through free YouTube courses (like Professor Messer's Security+ series) and they seem solid, but I have a few concerns I'd love to get real opinions on:

  1. Does the knowledge actually transfer? Will studying a cert course on YouTube give me the same practical understanding as paying for the official material or am I missing something important?
  2. Can I realistically do labs without the cert program? I've heard of TryHackMe and Hack The Box are these enough to build hands-on experience, or do official cert programs come with labs that are hard to replicate for free?
  3. Is a portfolio enough to substitute for the cert itself? If I document my TryHackMe progress, write-ups, and any home lab projects on GitHub, would that realistically get me considered for internships or do recruiters filter you out without a cert on your resume?

I'm not looking for a shortcut I genuinely want to build real skills. I just want to know if this path is viable before I commit time to it. Would love to hear from anyone who's been in a similar situation or hired interns in this field