How much time do you need?

Author: Stefan Waldvogel
Editor: Thomai (Tammy) Tsaousidis

The next picture shows what I did after my decision to move into Cybersecurity:

What should you take out of this picture?

First, think about your own goal. I want to become an Information Security Engineer, but this is most likely not your first goal. Later, under time management is a path to a SOC Analyst position, there you will see a vast difference between both paths.
See it as a journey. Fifteen months ago, I started with little knowledge, and I added one brick after another. You can do the same. Do not panic!
Breaking into this field takes time. It would be best to dedicate a lot of time to reach this goal. Do not expect fast results. You want to earn the big bucks, which means your knowledge has to be hard to get for an employer.
It took me >15 months or >3,000 hours to reach this point. If you want to work as a SOC Analyst or in another entry-level position, you do not have to do so much, but if you do not get a job, you can and should add skills until you are a "unicorn."
You want a Cybersecurity job; you compete against Network Admins, me, and other people with a similar background. It does not matter where you are, but the last picture gives you an idea about how much effort you have to do to reach your goal. If you look for a job, relax and add knowledge every day. Do networking and make friends during your job hunting time.

Some people look for six months, a year or more for the first job… this is valuable time. Increase your value every single day!

If you reach a reasonable level and know the right people, you will get job offers. For your motivation: On average, I get about one to two actual job offers a week. Even so, I am not looking for a job right now.

Next: Calculate & evaluate knowledge