Cybercrime has reached new heights in the last decade. And the pandemic only added fuel to the fire. In fact, 2020 may have been the worst year for data loss so far. The same year, the average cost of a data breach reached a whopping $3.86 million. 

Needless to say, an increasing number of businesses are hiring cybersecurity analysts to fend off vicious online threats. It’s one of the fastest-growing roles in the tech industry. It is also a multifaceted role that involves controlling file access, managing credentials, maintaining firewalls, ensuring network updates, and proactively hacking systems to detect vulnerabilities. 

If you’ve always wanted to be a cybersecurity specialist, now is your time to shine. But, your journey to becoming a cybersecurity analyst should be built on education, experience, and skills. That’s how you will easily get on the radar of IT recruitment agencies. 

Let’s explore a few tips that’ll help you in this regard.

1. Conduct ample research.

As the battle against cybercrimes intensifies, more and more tech recruitment agencies are looking for skilled cybersecurity analysts. But as mentioned before, this is a broad role. As a result, you might feel overwhelmed by the range of opportunities available to you.

Depending on your career choice, you may need specialization, such as a certification course or an internship. That’s why it is necessary to understand what tech careers are out there and which ones are in your alley. In other words, you will need to spend some serious time on research. 

Remember, tech recruitment is changing rapidly. As industry experts are looking for highly specialized roles, you need to define your tech careers path from the get-go. Once you know what position you are looking for, find out the specialization you need, and start working on it as soon as possible.

2. Apply for internships.

Yes, a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity or a relevant IT field is a must. But that alone isn’t going to cut it. With bad guys finding new ways to steal data, a tech recruitment agency is likely to choose candidates who can hit the ground running. Nowadays, it isn’t uncommon for businesses to hire cybersecurity analysts with experience, even for entry-level tech jobs. 

That’s where internships come in, especially for fresh graduates. On-the-job training makes you more marketable. It helps you:

• Gain exposure to the world of cybersecurity, its challenges and opportunities. 
• Apply the skills and knowledge you acquired in the real world. 
• Learn how a real-life workplace works. 
• Develop soft skills such as communication, problem-solving, teamwork, and leadership. 
• Improve your skills through real-life feedback. 
• And most importantly, start building your professional network.  

Given these benefits, you should start looking for an internship as soon as possible. Talk to your peers, career counsellors to understand your internship opportunities, and be sure to pick the one that best suits you.

3. Sign up for certification courses.

Most people may dismiss certification courses as optional. And that may have been the case a few years back, not anymore. Cybercrime is evolving more rapidly than ever, and cybersecurity experts need to keep up. If you want to work as a cybersecurity analyst for a reputed company, you would want to keep honing your tech skills. 

One of the best ways to keep honing your skills is to update your cybersecurity knowledge. Most certification courses will help you understand how to take on the new variants of cyberthreats. As a result, IT recruitment agencies often view a certification as a validation of cutting-edge technical skills. 

But you have to choose the certification carefully. Your career may have kicked off with a general certification such as Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). However, you’ll need to specialize in a particular sub-set of cybersecurity as your career progresses. You can consider one of the following cybersecurity niches. 

• Data Architecture 
• Data Loss Prevention
• Ethical Hacking and Penetration Testing
• Firewall and Network Security 
• Identity and Access Management
• Incident Response and Forensic Analysis
• IT Governance, Risk, And Compliance
• Secure DevOps
• Secure Software Development

4. Develop your soft skills. 

Most successful cyber security careers have two things in common, exceptional technical skills and equally brilliant soft skills. That’s right! You will need to have both to advance your career in the IT security industry. 

• Communication: As a cybersecurity analyst, you would be working with a team of fellow IT security experts and colleagues from other departments. In addition, you would be dealing with clients who will most likely not have a tech background. So, you need to develop your communication skills, both written and verbal. It will help you convey technical information effectively to everyone concerned.
  
  
• Problem Solving: Problem-solving is at the heart of cybersecurity. You will need to come up with creative ways to deal with ever-evolving cyber threats. Even entry-level cyber security jobs require excellent problem-solving skills.
  
  
• Attention To Detail: Another critical soft skill you will need in your day-to-day work is attention to detail. It’s the only way to identify potential vulnerabilities in your network or system. The sooner you can identify these issues, the less damage your network will suffer. You will need to learn to pay attention to details from day one.
  
  
• Desire To Learn: Another important soft skill in cyber security recruitment. If you want to stay ahead in a fast-changing field like cybersecurity, you need to keep updating your knowledge base. Apart from the core technical skills, you also need to learn about the latest industry trends, governance guidelines, and best practices. All of this boils down to keeping your desire to learn alive throughout your career.

In conclusion.

Cybersecurity analyst is a brilliant career choice in an increasingly tech-driven world. It comes with plenty of opportunities. However, you do need to work harder to succeed because this is an intensely competitive field. Hopefully, these four tips will help lay the foundation of your career as a cybersecurity analyst. 

And RED Global can help you get there. As a global leading tech recruiter, we can help you find the job you want. If you are looking for a cybersecurity job, go to our cybersecurity job search or contact us today.