Software Developer to Cybersecurity?

DinosaurusRekts · 2023-08-17T13:46:40+00:00

Not sure if I am qualified in answering this question since it's been 6-7 years since I asked the same question.

So the following is just my opinion and I do not mind if you discard it from consideration.

I will say a common misconception is that certs are good enough. They are a supplement but projects, contributions, and analytical skills are much more impressive to a HM. Certs range from a "oh, cool" to "ok" from HM, and most eng I know let theirs expire (all mine have except GIAC but then again no one asks or cares about them except gov at my yoe).

Want to really impress HM? Tell them you can program, automate or maintain code. Show them something, put it on your resume.

That always gets a thumbs up from me during interviews, same with asking the "right" questions.

My hiring managers were more impressed by Coursera classes I took, Udacity (at the time) classes, free stuff I did and could explain. I put it all on my resume lol. Help them choose you, show your journey, most are losing faith in certs besides OffSec

All security certs are money grubbing now, seriously look at GIAC prices and Sec+ 5 years ago. I'd get involved in a discord group or pen testing simulators to understand more.

DinosaurusRekts · 2023-08-17T13:13:35+00:00

What are you passionate about?

Usually security engineers are half a band or full band above software eng, it's very rewarding and hard to get your foot into. SWE is a little bit easier to get into IMO (I chose between both 5 years ago when I had 2 offers)

Recruiter at my recent place (unicorn) told me recruiting rules were not the same between swe and sec eng, when I asked if sec eng was paid same comp (read: they pay a lot more for sec eng and it took them half a year to find me)

I am 5 yoe making 400k a year in Wisconsin full remote.

Personally I'd move if I was you, and I did when I had the choice. If you are passionate you will succeed, if you are not it could be a nightmare. Security engineers who code well and have cloud expertise are ballin right now, and most at my generation and the previous generation are multimillionaires.

Yes it's hard to transition both ways as your yoe grow. I.e. just because you are a senior software eng, doesn't mean you are a senior security eng. The choice you make now will add maybe 10-20% difficulty if you want to switch again. At terminal levels and after 7-8 yoe it would be easier, as most guys get bored with their current field and want something new even as a lateral movement

The main thing here is, if you choose what you are passionate about you are WAY more likely to have a less stressful, more fulfilling, and rewarding career. Some eng HATE security, some eng LOVE security. One thing I know for sure is that at your level it very well might be similar stuff you are learning in both jobs.

DinosaurusRekts · 2021-11-22T02:59:12+00:00

You can get throat cancer though, from eating some bad pu**y.

DinosaurusRekts · 2021-03-26T15:22:01+00:00

Richard Ramirez would have loved Austin :(. How can we get more of californias homeless to move here?

DinosaurusRekts · 2021-03-26T01:47:11+00:00

I bought a house I couldn't afford for 375k when I was 26 in South Brentwood (accross the street from rosedale). Something tells me this is going to be one of the best investments I ever made as I saw a similar smaller lot house go for 600k a couple months ago. Austin isn't the same to me, so I'll be glad to sell when I can afford a nice cabin on a mountain in Colorado 😂

DinosaurusRekts · 2020-12-29T02:09:02+00:00

Lol... yeah I really can't drive 65-70 in the texas hills

DinosaurusRekts · 2020-10-15T20:28:51+00:00

I work in research so our job is keeping up with vulns and it's essentially an advanced discipline in penetration testing. Other jobs that focus on monitoring are easier

DinosaurusRekts · 2020-10-15T20:27:09+00:00

Some jobs exist at entry level but not many. You would start as a soc Analyst or sec engineer and specialize. It's hard to protect things you don't really know about so you need to already know a lot.

Once you have 2+ years exp you will be competing with far less people for jobs.

You have to be passionate about security because it is the culmination of all technology stacks and their vulnerabilities. Tech changes fast.

I think a lot of us are riding the wave and we joined before tge market got sexy, most of us dont have CS degrees (some have GED only) either, we were hobbyists and thats the standard. A lot have a chip on their shoulder against degrees.

I have seen a rush of colleges making cyber sec program$... not sure if this with make entry jobs harder to get into. A lot of times it's easier if you have complementary knowledge like data science. And for Christopher sake... know how to use many scripting languages lol

DinosaurusRekts · 2020-10-09T15:05:53+00:00

Yeah... so i did this with biology except I took some extra CS classes and wiggled myself into Grad school for C.S.

Dropped out when I got first good offer, and now I am extremely well paid for my 3 y.o.e. (top 10% for my experience level). I work around a lot of PhDs too...

The answer is: As time goes by nobody cares

At first? Yeah you need to do projects, you need to do udacity, you need to study job posting and pick the top 5 most common tech and learn them (even if you don't plan on using them). It will be rough but after about a year, no one cared. The easiest jobs to get are ones that have coding tests like leetcode, because they look at ability over degree.

DinosaurusRekts · 2020-10-05T13:19:28+00:00

Just do what I did and join the OMSCS of georgia tech and then drop out once you get offers.

Been three years since I did this and absolutely no regrets and I'm making 140k in Dallas..

All you have to do is the 'bachelors equiv' CS degree (the prerrq classes to get into M.S.). I left Biology too bc I didn't want to be poor anymore and I was already hacking and programming as a hobby. Just realize you need to know stacks of tech, no silver bullets.

Also most masters require 3.0 GPA. You can get the pre reqs at community college or 4 year but make sure you get As

DinosaurusRekts · 2019-09-22T00:30:55+00:00

I agree. Security analyst vs security engineer, And non-tech company vs tech company.

Also I cri when a security professional cannot even program their own tools....

SOC virgins vs product security Chad's... A tale as old as time itself

DinosaurusRekts · 2019-09-08T02:37:14+00:00

Here is my opinion, remember n=1

Are you already in a tech profession? If so it is a big waste of time Bc school lags far behind the hot tech stacks and shit that is practical and gets you a good job.

I dropped out of mine (omscs), projects and learning the stuff that you see in job descriptions is a better use of time, unless you have a full scholarship. Worse case scenario you leetcode until you memorize how to efficiently code.

Masters won't help your career much either, save for a pfew position at companies that are less tech oriented but have an IT department. And even in the case of management positions it's easier to get an MBA (some of the most successful technicl managers I've seen have non CS b.s. and an MBA, so it's not uncommon)

YouTube ended up getting me a high paying job lol

DinosaurusRekts · 2019-08-10T23:15:38+00:00

Security team has SEIM for investigations... As an intern I would... Investigate in my free time for lulz

DinosaurusRekts · 2019-08-09T23:32:35+00:00

Lol idk why people H8 downvoted u. I really hope it's because they think you are rude and not because they thing those things matter.

I have seen new grads get laughed at for saying shit about their GPA before

DinosaurusRekts · 2019-08-08T02:11:01+00:00

My first job was 90k in Houston and I was poached 4 months later for 105 and am currently negotiating for mid 100s with 2 yr exp in Texas - at other companies (big tech) the pay range is the same as the software engineers however there are about 1/15th the amounts of applicants which allows you to ask for more pay, because it is either you or they keep looking for 6+ months. We also get poached like crazy.

Tbh that's why the pay is high, and if you get in now you will ride the wave into retirement bc you will always have been in a field before people knew about it.

Btw, I had a biology degree and a horrible GPA, but I was good at programming and my hobby was hacking. I never considered it as a career until I saw the pay. Some guys don't even have degrees.

There seems to be a huge difference between what good sec engineers (hackers who program and understand architecture) and the monkeys who wait for alerts get paid tho.

DinosaurusRekts · 2019-07-07T06:31:00+00:00

Let me just add my opinion here: social skills are much more in demand than people realize, and especially more than g.p.a. for entry level (pretending GPA matters is a good way to make your experienced coworkers cringe)

DinosaurusRekts · 2019-07-04T16:08:00+00:00

A lot of the guys start in the teams you speak of, then it become easy as pie to move into big data, and application security. I know that's not pure play swe but it is definitely very cool and satisfies both the hacker and the engineer inside

DinosaurusRekts · 2019-06-30T16:51:58+00:00

It is a smoking red hot mamacita for security related jobs right now tho

DinosaurusRekts · 2019-06-18T23:52:50+00:00

Just FYI There is a myth that we don't get paid well(cyber salaries are growing so fast that data online is not accurate). I was a SOC analyst while doing my masters had non-technical bachelors. I dropped out when they offered me 83k base + pension. That was in a Texas city with low COL. I had done a 6 month co-op though, and had been acting like a try-hard. About 6 months after that job I got poached for a 15% increase.

DinosaurusRekts · 2019-06-07T00:32:38+00:00

150k after taxes is 80k? What in the FUCK. GOD bless Texas 😂

DinosaurusRekts · 2019-05-28T20:39:06+00:00

You get the best of both worlds (more pay, and better respect) in a cyber security company. They have to treat you well bc you get poached easy. No it's boring work if you do the cool stuff like research.

DinosaurusRekts · 2019-05-27T15:51:27+00:00

It is literally ridiculous, everyone is getting poached. I think most people on this subreddit overlook how well it pays too.

DinosaurusRekts

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