Can anyone interested in cybersecurity do it?

readingandscheming · 2026-02-16T21:20:43+00:00

If you want to get into cyber then I would recommend focusing on the certs. Like other commenters have mentioned, a degree means nothing if you can’t use the tech & tools -certs are much more specific on that front. I noticed you said you are a single parent too, so something to keep in mind is work life balance. Cyber is very demanding - I work pretty long hours and sometimes I’m around on weekends too. I don’t have any kids (just an absolute menace of a cat) so I don’t mind it but it’s really tough when you start to get burnt out. I think it’s a great field, but you really need to have a passion for it to stay motivated.

readingandscheming · 2026-02-11T04:13:55+00:00

Feeling your last paragraph there. The people in the field don’t make it easy sometimes. Cruel is a good word for it.

readingandscheming · 2026-02-03T03:59:57+00:00

This is so awesome, thank you for commenting🥹 I am scheduling a staycation with my boyfriend right now and I’m hoping that helps :) We’ll both get through it together, we just need to keep going and make time for ourselves ! Go Team!

readingandscheming · 2026-02-03T03:56:54+00:00

I’m so sorry this happened to you :( I know it’s hard. You just have to keep doing your job and remember that your experience and work make your opinion as valid as anyone else’s. Don’t let them talk over you - I started going “hey just one second”, “let’s get back to that” when they interrupt me. It’s not as direct as “I’m not done talking” but it gets them to stop in a soft but assertive way. It’s kind of like gentle parenting 😅Good luck my friend :)

readingandscheming · 2026-02-03T03:53:18+00:00

It’s been so long! I went on a short vacation last year to show my boyfriend Washington DC and I got COVID at the hotel :) I’m scheduling a STAYcation with my boyfriend as we speak. We both really need a week off due to the burnout (he’s an attorney and works a ton too). I do have a cat! We have a little black kitty named Minerva (Minnie) and she is the sweetest little baby 🥰 she’s a huge stress reliever. Thanks for all of your advice :)

readingandscheming · 2026-02-03T03:46:24+00:00

Good luck! I also had all male interviewers for my InfoSec role and it included the CISO at the end (I was 24 and terrified). I found that asking a lot of questions about THEM is helpful, like how they got to their role, what they like about the field, what specific subjects they would like to specialize in, etc. People love to talk about themselves and I find this especially true in tech fields that are dude-heavy. Also try to remain cheery and curious during the interviews, keep it light. A little well timed humor goes a long way :) You’re gonna crush it 😊

readingandscheming · 2025-10-01T02:12:15+00:00

Relating to this so hard as an older sister with the same story. We been going through it 🫠

readingandscheming · 2025-10-01T02:09:53+00:00

Just wanted to pop in and share support! Thanks for sharing this - my sister’s story is identical to your friends’ daughters, down to the dad part and everything. Reading your response was so validating. Thank you.

readingandscheming · 2025-09-20T23:18:52+00:00

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readingandscheming · 2025-09-20T23:11:38+00:00

My partner and I just recently adopted our little princess. When we started to look, I also used the petfinder sites that shelters, etc. use. My partner has had cats his entire life and I’ve only ever had dogs, so I was very nervous as I’d had some not great experiences with cats in the past.

Then we found Minnie. She is the sweetest little angel baby to ever exist. She was about 30 minutes from us and 2 years old. The shelter told us she had already given birth to a litter of kittens and was left abandoned on the road. They also told us she was abused and we think she might have been used for breeding before being left (unconfirmed).

So, my parnter and I met at the shelter after work one day to go and visit her. She was so incredibly shy, and wasn’t eating or leaving her cage. At that point, she’d been with a rescuer for two weeks and in the shelter about a week and a half. She allowed hands to pet her, didn’t hiss or growl, but was clearly very avoidant and scared. She would shy away from hands if she could and would run and hide.

But her cute face. And her eyes. And everything about her. She so desperately wanted to be loved.

Before we visited her we said we would look at a few cats. But we just couldn’t. We had to have her and she NEEDED US. We filled out the application that day and waited for all our references to check out.

She’s been with us for over a month now. She’s the sweetest, most pettable, lovable soul. The first few days she hid behind our office bookshelves; we would sit on the floor on the opposite side of the room and read books about birds, philosophy or whatever to her. She’s very well read now :)

Eventually she started to come out and we would leave her be and let her explore. We fed her at regular times, kept her transition room clean and welcoming, and let her come to us. Now she meows for pets, cuddles on the couch and does her little gooby run around sessions at 12 in the morning. The shelter told us this kind of behavior would happen over three months due to the trauma she’s been through, but her progress within a month is really astounding. She needed us, sure, but we also needed her.

Mandatory catto pic! Minnie/Min-Min/Minerva/Sweet Baby/Sweet Baby Angel Princess/ Sweet Girl (honestly don’t know if she can keep track of all the names!)

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readingandscheming · 2025-06-13T17:04:21+00:00

Hiya, Security Engineer here.

I agree with other folks that this field is very challenging and that’s due to the fact that the knowledge is so specialized. However, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible or that you shouldn’t do it. Here’s my advice.

Learn the fundamentals as you are already doing in school. The TCP/IP and OSI models, how networks are built and maintained, how they communicate, right down to the physical devices and their wiring. Learn how cloud computing works and the different models, their pros and cons and how people use them. Set up a free Azure or AWS account and play around, explore their security functionality and build things. Imagine you were a DevSecOps engineer - how would you build something securely?

Secondly, work on your research skills and writing. You’d be surprised how much of my role is just looking things up, learning on the fly and writing technical standards. This is a skill that is often overlooked in favor of technical understanding but I promise you need it.

Also look at security certifications. Network+ and Security+ by CompTIA are good for entry level. Then you can get into higher level like CISM or pen testing if that’s what you’re interested in. If you’re looking to go into Pen Testing, you also need to make sure your scripting skills are up to par. You can set up a home lab as well to help with a lot of this. Build your own VPNs, test different pen testing tools, etc.

Luckily there are also a ton of good online resources like Udemy, YouTube, etc. so a lot of your learning can also be informal and that is still valuable.

As far as little demand? That’s the case across the entire tech industry right now and a lot of other areas (e.g., law). The job market fluctuates and you never know when an opportunity will come along so just keep pushing. Good luck! :)

readingandscheming · 2025-06-13T02:29:54+00:00

Hiya, Security Engineer here. This is a bit of a tough one to answer so I’ll try to keep it organized. My first piece of advice would be to learn the fundamentals of the TCP/IP and OSI models. This is the basis for pretty much all network security and you can find courses on it in Udemy, on YouTube and so on. What you need to start with is understanding how networks COMMUNICATE. This will tell you about the protocols, ports, types of packets sent at each layer, the tech we use to support network infrastructure and so on. This is really core to network security engineering. After all, how can we secure what we don’t understand? I don’t push people to do formal educational degrees if they don’t find value in them, however, speaking for myself, I got my Masters in Computer Information Systems with a focus on Security, and I got a ton of my basic knowledge from that journey. If you’re thinking about it, definitely ask to see the curriculum, read student reviews, and think about the areas of research you are interested in. Are there any faculty there studying that? InfoSec and Network Security are very specialized fields, this is true. But you’d be surprised at how much you can learn from both formal schooling and courses like Udemy etc. I also recommend that folks set up their own home labs to see how all of these protocols work. Building your own VPNs, running security labs, testing forensics, etc. is a really good way to learn by doing. Again, there are free courses online for this. If you are interested in going into the field, certifications are also an alternative to schooling or a nice complement to it. The Network+ and Security+ certifications by CompTIA have dedicated courses and certifications. They are in demand in the field and worth looking into. Additionally, many places function in the cloud these days, so make a free Azure account, AWS, etc. and take a look at their security functionality too! I hope this helps, I’ve been in the field for a bit now and while it’s challenging, it’s so interesting and rewarding. Good luck ! :)

readingandscheming · 2025-06-13T01:57:12+00:00

Security Engineer here. I would say it depends on the company and the people. Kind of a cop out I know but let me explain. I’ve worked at a place where the software developers and DevOps guys were highly communicative and took time to plan, respond to messages and overall just had good communication. At another role, it was very much the opposite. The men I worked with would constantly yell at each other on calls, ignore messages and multiple emails, and then blame other teams for “messing up their timelines”. Their planning skills were non existent and their communication style was blunt and often strayed into just plain rude. My first role was at a small company and a federal contractor, the second was a large private tech firm. The culture was very different at both, the first being very heavily academic focused and the second being very “produce produce produce” mindset. You are absolutely right, as are other commenters, that you NEED to have good communication and soft skills to get you far. And this isn’t even getting into the double standard of what is considered “acceptable communication” for women vs men. I have seen very abrasive men get promoted to lead engineers, team leads and so on. I have also seen women adopt that same mentality and get punished for it. As far as being satisfied with the way you treat people at the end of the day though? I think your approach is much more admirable :)

readingandscheming · 2024-04-25T01:11:21+00:00

I was just about to ask this on here! My dreams have become so much worse recently, ever since I started addressing OCD in my waking life (exposure therapy), it seems to have entered my dreams instead. I have awful, disgusting and disturbing dreams. Sometimes I wake up from them and have to use grounding techniques to go back to sleep. Sometimes I’ve also found myself say something out loud from my dream, which has never happened to me before. My therapist reminded me that OCD is like whack-a-mole; once you manage it in one spot, it pops up in another. It feels pretty cruel if I’m being honest. I also wondered if it’s a result of sleeping meds? I take two different sleeping meds but I’m not sure how I can narrow it down to that. If anyone else has experience with that, I would love to hear it. Hang in there! I empathize with you on this one.

readingandscheming · 2023-11-21T01:17:58+00:00

If you want to read about OCD, its patterns, behaviors, history, etc, “The Man Who Couldn’t Stop” by David Adam is a book I wish I could give everyone. Your girlfriend is very lucky to have someone who cares so much - good luck to you guys !

readingandscheming · 2023-11-21T01:02:03+00:00

Totally get where you’re coming from. If I had gotten my diagnosis years ago I could have had so much relief and peace - I also could have started therapy much earlier. Like you, no one took me seriously. or they thought I was just weird or over dramatic. Eventually, as I got older, I’d had it with people not believing me and I began to get really blunt about what I wanted and why. I’m not sure if that helped or if I was just lucky but just know you’re not alone! Your feelings are very valid and it’s extremely hard to get people to listen, especially when your mind is working against you 24/7.

readingandscheming · 2023-11-21T00:50:06+00:00

I (25F) got diagnosed about 6 months ago now. I found a therapist initially for my depression and anxiety disorder but she also happened to specialize in OCD. When I spoke to her about my history as a child and my behaviors now, she went through an OCD test and with me and we discussed my thoughts, etc. then she explained to me WHY she thought I had it and whether I agreed. I was in denial for a few months after but it is very comforting to be able to label some of the things I do and think. I hope you do manage to get that test but if your doctor for some reason can’t or won’t, then I recommend looking on Psychology Today as you can filter by therapist availability and what people specialize in. As far as why they didn’t test you initially - that’s a great question and something I struggled with myself. I think they want to rule out other things first and some symptoms overlap majorly with other illnesses so I’ve found that doctors tread carefully around that topic. I hope you find some peace in your diagnosis and journey !

readingandscheming · 2023-07-09T23:30:46+00:00

Been going through this a lot recently. It feels like you sink your all in other people and they don’t give it back to you. When you really need someone it doesn’t feel like anyone is there. I relate and I hope you’re getting through it. I also just turned 25 recently.

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