How to land a career in cyber

Finally, the lack of representation in one’s environment is critical. Many interviewees lamented not knowing fellow- political science students in cybersecurity, therefore networking was imperative. Most reached out to countless cyber professionals for coffee meetings. Internal networking in one’s current workplace is also an option, and one can more easily access an organization’s cybersecurity activities. Cultivating such networks allows most non-IT professionals to land their first cybersecurity job. Babins urges, “Don’t wait for a job posting to come up that matches your skillset exactly. Cold email, cold message and cold call.”

Beyond networking, our findings also show one should heavily invest in learning. Familiarizing oneself with basic cyber terminologies is a fundamental first step before graduating to complex concepts. Certifications and formal training is another way to further understand the topic area, but also to signify subject matter engagement. There is a growth mindset that permeates the industry: “Passionate cybersecurity professionals are usually pretty excited to talk about their work with someone willing to learn,” as Ng highlights.

These learnings should be built upon one’s transferable skills, which constitute the cornerstone of our very project. We start each skills mapping by asking individuals to map their self-reported skills and knowledge gained from their field of study. When it comes to political science, we found three primary transferable skills: communications, strategic thinking and analytical thinking.

Communications consistently came up as the top transferable skill. Political science graduates process large amounts of information and translate complex concepts into understandable language for decision-makers in various media forms. They are also big picture strategic thinkers who understand organizations, whether a state, society or a business, and their institutions and power, and are therefore able to identify the decision-makers and evaluate the impact of cybersecurity on the larger organization.

Analytical thinking can also be measured by their research skills. They know how to conduct original practical research and analyze the “so what” from a broad range of resources, distilling what is coherent and actionable in business-ready terms. Of course, these transferable skills are not sufficient by themselves. Being a successful cyber professional also requires “an inherent interest and drive in learning about cyber,” as an interviewee notes.