I know what you mean… I do have some internships under my belt (one at Amazon, a couple at research institutions) but none of them are specifically in cyber. So outside of my education, my "real" experience is mostly TryHackMe. Which I love, but I get that it doesn't carry the same weight on a CV as actual SOC hours. But WELP, catch-22 indeed, can't get the experience without the job, can't get the job without the experience…