Transferable skills
Author: Stefan Waldvogel
Find hidden skills for your Cybersecurity career
Analyzing your transferable skills can help you find your goal, and you can find a higher salary. You want to archive your destination at the cheapest cost in terms of time and money. Cybersecurity is vast, and you have transferable skills for many jobs in Cybersecurity.
Can we find transferable skills as a farmworker? Yes, a modern farm is full of electronics and network devices. Smaller farms do not have a lot of IT, but you learn how to work independently. You have to feed the cows every day at the same time. A cow gets sick when not milked. You are most likely a very reliable person without realizing it.
It is essential to invest some time in this task, maybe a week or more. Many of your skills are not visible to you because you use them every day. It is nothing special for you. If you do something during the day, think about it and see if it is transferable.
I was a Student Assistant for electrical engineering, but I learned many useful skills, even on the technical side. I worked with software-defined radio (SDR) and developed a course for students. Cybersecurity and SDR? Bingo… you want to “hack your Tesla,”… you can. At least five years ago, it was not a big deal. Do you want to play with it? Check this out: https://greatscottgadgets.com/hackrf/one/
Some examples:
As an electrical engineer, I had a lot to do with SCADA systems. Cybersecurity and SCADA? This area is a huge topic, but few people have the skills. You heard about Stuxnet… that is it.
You are working as a server…?
No technical or fancy skills? It might be, but most likely, you are stress-resistant, and you deal with “angry” customers in person. Again,… valuable skill.
You are a veteran, and you worked in Afghanistan and Iraq?
Stress resistance… dealing with problems the most effective and calm way? You might have unique skills. If your SOC/company is under heavy attack, you can handle this the best way. You do not flip out… you are trained for things like this.
These are examples, but you have unique and valuable skills if you worked in a special area. Do not underestimate this. If you only have “SOC Analyst” in your mind, you might miss something, and it is the salary thing. As a SOC Analyst, you earn maybe $50K to $60K. If you can work as a Security Adviser with a SCADA background and work for the right company… that is an entirely different world because you use rare knowledge, which is where you make money.
Do you want proof?
You can use payscale.com to see many details about skills and their corresponding value. These are just numbers, but you get the idea.
One example:
It is essential to invest some time in this task, maybe a week or more. Many of your skills are not visible to you because you use them every day. It is nothing special for you. If you do something during the day, think about it and see if it is transferable.
I was a Student Assistant for electrical engineering, but I learned many useful skills, even on the technical side. I worked with software-defined radio (SDR) and developed a course for students. Cybersecurity and SDR? Bingo… you want to “hack your Tesla,”… you can. At least five years ago, it was not a big deal. Do you want to play with it? Check this out: https://greatscottgadgets.com/hackrf/one/
Some examples:
As an electrical engineer, I had a lot to do with SCADA systems. Cybersecurity and SCADA? This area is a huge topic, but few people have the skills. You heard about Stuxnet… that is it.
You are working as a server…?
No technical or fancy skills? It might be, but most likely, you are stress-resistant, and you deal with “angry” customers in person. Again,… valuable skill.
You are a veteran, and you worked in Afghanistan and Iraq?
Stress resistance… dealing with problems the most effective and calm way? You might have unique skills. If your SOC/company is under heavy attack, you can handle this the best way. You do not flip out… you are trained for things like this.
These are examples, but you have unique and valuable skills if you worked in a special area. Do not underestimate this. If you only have “SOC Analyst” in your mind, you might miss something, and it is the salary thing. As a SOC Analyst, you earn maybe $50K to $60K. If you can work as a Security Adviser with a SCADA background and work for the right company… that is an entirely different world because you use rare knowledge, which is where you make money.
Do you want proof?
You can use payscale.com to see many details about skills and their corresponding value. These are just numbers, but you get the idea.
One example:
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