Can You Get a SOC Job Without a Degree?
The cybersecurity industry is ripe with candidates applying for jobs. In fact, its almost like the a scene in a movie where it’s havoc and every man is for himself clamoring over each job and every candidate like Gollum in Lord of the Rings. This is Can You Get a SOC Job Without a Degree?
The origin of the term “each man for himself” is in The Knight’s Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer (1340–1400). He is known as the Father of English Literature, but his meaning of the phrase was more akin to “If you don’t look out for yourself, no one else will.” It was not meant to be a selfish act.
Now days, it describes a situation or crisis in which people do not help each other, and just take care of themselves. That is very selfish.
Not only can you not get a job without a degree, but you can’t get a job with a degree because everyone has this same attitude, throwing each other under the bus to be the very best.
Let me put this into perspective, a SOC analyst job is an entry level job. No matter how good you are, you don’t know more than the SOC manager, and you don’t know more than your seniors that have been doing this for a decade. To us, you’re someone who needs to be plucked and cultivated and turned into something that is of maximum usefulness. It takes a lot of time to do this, and we have to spend a lot of time developing you.
Let me tell you, we don’t want to do this for a d*ck. If you’re out there throwing your peers under the bus to get this job, you’ll throw us under the bus as soon as you think you can. What we want is the very best candidate that we can find that is also a servant leader.
A servant leader is someone who prioritizes the needs and development of their team members over their own personal gains or authority.
Servant leaders genuinely care about the well-being and personal growth of their team members. They actively listen to understand the needs, concerns, and ideas of others. They focus on helping others achieve their full potential, both personally and professionally and they foster a sense of community and collaboration within their team.
When you’re looking to take someone fresh from the farm to prepare them for a career, you want the best person you can find. You wan’t to find someone you like and you can spend a lot of time with and it not be excruciating.
Interpersonal skills go a long way but what goes even further in your career is just being a genially decent person to your peers.
Now, there are companies that I have worked for where you are in competition with your peers. And if that is what you like, then good luck because these companies like the Big 4 consulting firms will dangle a carrot in front of a huge group of people and you’re right, someone will get that carrot. I hope you’re have an ungodly amount of time to devote to competing against one another, and still not win, but for the rest of us, we’ve found much better balance and success in life competing as a team.
Cybersecurity is full. Packed. Crowded. Bursting. Crammed. Glutted. Jammed. Teeming. Saturated. Chock-full. Jam-packed. Brimming. Overflowing.
So, you really can’t get a SOC job without a degree because you’re thinking you’re competing by who has the better credentials and you’re just not going to win that way.
You’re going to win by being the best person for the job. There are minimum qualifications like a Network+ or Security+ and a baseline of technical skills, but beyond that what is going to make you stand out is your ability to be communal in your pursuits, sharing your success with others, helping to grow the community, sharing your advice, pointers, and projects with your peers. Volunteering where you can. Because these are the people you want to work with.
You always want to make your SOC manager look good. They aren’t going to hire you if they think you will make them look bad. When you complete an assignment, your manager is going to take credit for it and he’s going to give it to the entire team. There is no John Smith, SOC analyst, instead there’s Steve Galley, SOC Manager’s, team, of which you’re a part of.
Everything you do is for the team and that’s how you need to approach getting a job. Where your team is everyone else who is looking for a job. Its not good enough to be the smartest.
Tyler Wall is the founder of Cyber NOW Education. He holds bills for a Master of Science from Purdue University and CISSP, CCSK, CFSR, CEH, Sec+, Net+, and A+ certifications. He mastered the SOC after having held every position from analyst to architect and is the author of three books, 100+ professional articles, and ten online courses specifically for SOC analysts.
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