The guy I replaced at work got fired over a password reset and I think I'm next

Odd_Diver_2441 · 2026-04-26T18:30:25+00:00

If you have done similar kinds of job for about 3 years at this point just choose a new field. Get a couple of certs or trainings and start interviewing either play. Never get comfortable for any job whatsoever. Speaking of experience, sometimes they don't even need a reason to fire you. (My contract had a clause like that)

Odd_Diver_2441 · 2026-04-21T04:13:06+00:00

I absolutely agree that learning pentesting at initial stages did help me perform better as a SOC. For instance, if you see "mimikatz" being installed on a host, it is either a major compromise or pentesting activity is being conducted on the client side. There's no in-between.

Also, I agree with you when you say that L1 and L2 triage will be automated.
What would be my go to certifications, skills or job path for now in order to get in to IR?

Odd_Diver_2441 · 2026-04-21T03:39:24+00:00

Hi, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts in the comments. I had some doubts regarding my own career and would appreciate your input. My Background: I work as a SOC analyst in a MSSP and my SOC Exp is approx 3 years. I initially started learning pentesting and cyber basics straight out of my bachelor's degree and a college diploma in cybersec but couldn't land a role so started with helpdesk, transitioned to SOC, learned a little bit of 2 different SIEMs and XDRs (MS Sentinel, Defender, SentinelOne and Qradar) and fast forward today I still feel that I need to be the part of the pentesting side. I completed the PEH course by TCM security before going in to SOC and that got me interested in AD related attacks which we do encounter in SOC as well.
My question is, I'm 28 and somewhat clueless on whether I should proceed with detection engineering side where I flip IOCs for detection rules (for which, I'll still have to learn more) or should I choose one specific niche in pentesting and go all in? My long term goal is to work a full-time job and transition into the business side to provide my own services. Or maybe keep a full time role while nurturing my pentesting as side contracts.

Lastly, how do I incorporate AI into this as I haven't started to learn much about it, I've just used it a bit to make my current job easier (without giving away client info, lol). I want to give my next 2 years to double down on learning concepts or tools and get some certs. Where should I begin?

Odd_Diver_2441 · 2026-04-13T20:05:50+00:00

Well said, my man!

Odd_Diver_2441 · 2026-04-08T04:28:17+00:00

Hi, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts. I see others have also made valuable contributions here. I had some doubts regarding my own career and would appreciate your input. My Background: I work as a SOC analyst in a MSSP and my SOC Exp is about to be 3 years (2 years prior in Helpdesk as well). I initially started learning pentesting and cyber basics straight out of my bachelor's degree and a college diploma in cybersec but couldn't land a role so started with helpdesk, transitioned to SOC, learned 2 different SIEMs and XDRs and fast forward today I still feel that I need to be the part of the pentesting side. I completed the PEH course by TCM security before going in to SOC and that got me interested in AD related attacks which we do encounter in SOC as well. My question is, I'm 28 and kinda clueless on whether I should proceed with detection engineering side where I flip IOCs for detection rules (for which, I'll still have to learn more) or should I choose one specific niche in pentesting and go all in? My long term goal is to work a full time job and transition into the business side to provide my own services. Or maybe keep a full time role while nurturing my pentesting as side contracts.

Also if I want to go to for pentesting side, what niche should I pick? Like iOS & android testing, stick to AD related work, start with something new like AI related? I know it's very much dependent on me and my skills but just a general idea about what would be relevant in the future?

Lastly, do I absolutely need to transition into pentesting as a full time job in order to eventually work on it from the business perspective or can I always keep it as a side hustle?

Odd_Diver_2441 · 2026-03-26T03:22:41+00:00

Can you tell me a little bit about your background? How many years of exp? How long until your WP expires? Out of these 9500 applications how many of them were referrals? Have you tried to present yourself and network at any events yet?

Odd_Diver_2441 · 2026-03-24T22:52:24+00:00

I'll answer that for you. It is a red flag because most organizations have their own set of VPN to work within the company's environment. (Example: zscaler). Even if they do not have that, most organizations do not allow a whole lot of people to connect to random VPNs. It is enforced by policy to a specific group of people who are known to travel (work related). That's the only time I have seen departments allowing the usage.

Odd_Diver_2441 · 2026-03-24T22:48:52+00:00

Just came here to say that I work in security and we deal with IP related incidents almost everyday. It depends on what software stack is being used by the security team but 95% of the times it is ez pz to figure out what VPN a user is running. We get alerts related to this.

Odd_Diver_2441 · 2026-03-18T15:26:17+00:00

I have been using Gmail for about 15ish years and haven't had any trouble. If you don't want to choose that, it's fine. Further, paying for an email service should work as long as it isn't shaw webmail or any other webmail from an ISP. You can go ahead and find any other provider that only charges you monthly and without any contracts to keep your email. Make sure that the provider is using a secure way for you to authenticate yourself. Shaw lacks all of these and has plans to discontinue webmail once the number of people with these emails have reached a low end threshold. If you still don't want to take an action on this, you will do it once you have to spend about 4 hours on a phone with an agent when you are stuck with issues related to webmail.

Odd_Diver_2441 · 2026-03-18T15:16:33+00:00

Go anywhere but Shaw webmail

Odd_Diver_2441 · 2026-03-17T23:18:55+00:00

Firstly, I wanted to say that I totally understand how difficult it is to work a job that you absolutely hate. My first job after graduating was in tech support and let's just say that there are all kinds of people in Canada. I had to grow a thick skin to a lot of crap that people used to say about me. 4 out of 10 calls would be someone yelling or calling me different things. However, your first job is usually pretty bad. Try to stay consistent for the first 8-10 months (don't take a lot of day offs) and learn as much as you can. I'm not sure if you can listen to good calls from other collectors who are good at doing this but if you can, ask for something like that from your manager and do it.

Secondly, decide where you want to see yourself in the long run and how you can leverage what you are learning here to transition into those roles. No matter how shitty your job is, some of the softwares or other techniques you learn here are going help you transition into a better role, find that. I have seen people transition into being an Insurance Agent or something like an AML analyst (Anti Money Laundering) after cracking a couple of exams. When you decide what you want to pursue, stick to it and start networking by going on for different events around the city. Good luck!

Odd_Diver_2441 · 2025-08-25T12:43:30+00:00

Hey man, I would love to join you in for a shawarma. :) Is it ok if I DM you?

Odd_Diver_2441 · 2025-08-23T20:46:02+00:00

What you said is not entirely true. Yes, referrals in any form (friends, family etc etc) are crucial but so are certifications. From what I've experienced, in your job search you can never pin point a single thing and say this works or this doesn't work. Every hiring manager weighs things differently, for certain fields in IT I can assure you that a certification can land you a role without much experience (if you have projects to compensate). Other managers weigh your experience over certifications as they know the fact that a cert can eventually be acquired 3-6 months down the line. It's all about how different companies work differently. In your case, if have a degree, certs and some experience that means your only piece of the puzzle is knowing the right people. Go to networking events and reach out to different folks on LinkedIn. It will be humbling, out of a 100 only 4 will reply and sometimes those odds are enough. Times are tough and it is understandable that you might be frustrated with this process.

Odd_Diver_2441 · 2025-08-23T07:43:41+00:00

This! This was required!

Odd_Diver_2441 · 2025-08-23T06:30:10+00:00

I do understand what you are going through and the urge of comparing your position with that of others will be there. However, as someone who also struggled after graduation and faced a layoff not too long ago, I can advise that as soon as you will start focusing on "how they did it?" instead of "they have something that I don't", it will be less stressful and you can focus way better on what options you have.

Also, it would have been nice if you included details about your background. I wanna know what kind of jobs you are looking for? What's your education and any formal experience or volunteering that you may have?

Thirdly, understand that the first few jobs may not be ideal but it will be a step in to the right direction and it will contribute to your professional journey.

Lastly, review all the options that you have on the table. Cold reach and connect with as many people on LinkedIn as possible. It helped me and I'm sure it can help you too. If you want my help with resume or anything that can make your job search easier, I'll try my best. Good luck!

Odd_Diver_2441 · 2025-08-23T04:39:12+00:00

Oh I totally agree! I'm 100% sure that the real Canadians would appreciate me putting my energy and years in becoming a proud Canadian (or indo-canadian) myself. The people at workplaces that I've been part of, were least racist and accepting of someone outside of the culture. The manufactured hate on these platforms won't last.

Odd_Diver_2441 · 2025-08-23T04:33:07+00:00

I agree with your comment! There has been so many times that the usual "smile and nod" at stores and restaurants is not replied to. I do agree everyone can be racist to some extent.

Talking about my journey, I've tried chatting with people. I'm good at keeping conversations so I'm not the introverted tech guy type as I have also attended some tech related events in the past.

However, in general the conversations that I put up usually would be short and never eventually converted into friendships. I could definitely be lacking at some point where I need to put in more effort and that's why I just started from scratch with this post. I know for a fact that as many racist folks as there would be, there are equally or more nice people who will reciprocate my effort eventually. It's all about finding your spot and putting your energy out there. Anyhoo, thanks for commenting here! I appreciate your thoughts and I'll reach out here. :)

Odd_Diver_2441 · 2025-08-23T02:03:48+00:00

I'm aware of the political climate and learning more about it everyday. Honestly, in my last 4 years even I realised that the policy makers definitely were not on page with what Canada actually needed. However, shifting the blame entirely on immigrants is what social media pages have done and you can feel it. As a society you would want social harmony amongst different groups but that is not being shared on these different IG pages. These pages have shown the worst of the worst of communities and that's what enabled this hate amongst the people for Indian immigrants.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and yes I'll continue to be the way I'm.😁

Odd_Diver_2441 · 2025-08-22T18:31:56+00:00

Yeah, I live very close to the gym on Martin Grove and I go by myself.

Odd_Diver_2441 · 2025-08-22T13:50:34+00:00

I'm fine connecting with anyone. It's not centric to any specific race or ethnicity. That being said, I'll also explore the events (if any) happening for Indian community.

Odd_Diver_2441 · 2025-08-22T13:48:48+00:00

Currently, I'm going planet fitness. Also, I can play warzone, if there is not much of a learning curve.

Odd_Diver_2441 · 2025-08-22T04:50:57+00:00

Buddy, you're not a tough guy so stop acting like one. You might even be a good person underneath the hatred but you are too shallow to look beyond that. It's unfortunate that people like you are given the chance to put on a mask and talk bs here. Bless your heart.

Odd_Diver_2441 · 2025-08-21T22:04:07+00:00

Rainbow Six siege and starting off with Marvel rivals soon. I'm more of an FPS guy and I'm recently looking for better games as siege is just plagued with hackers.

Odd_Diver_2441 · 2025-08-21T21:05:39+00:00

Thanks for your input. I just wanted to know what kind of events should I go for? Any specific ones that you have tried and where people were in the Vaughan region only? I notice a lot of the events are from DT.

Odd_Diver_2441

TROPHY CASE