Lost in life need advice(reps)

[conics]

Just turned 27
Graduated in cs undergrad this may doing just driving Uber since then. Doing the math I’ll make at most $18k with that job which is pretty bad.

Never had a job or internship

Feel like a failure and want to get my life together and get a job and secure my future.

Since the semester went online everything became easy and haven’t touched any cs material related since I graduated.


Basically I forgot everything I learned in cs even tho I got good grades and learned a lot.

So my question is what can I do with a cs degree if I don’t know anything?

My friend is telling me to just learn Linux and get a system admin/it job

That’s what im thinking of doing since I hate coding.

Thing about cs is u gotta do it constantly do it everyday otherwise u will forget it

I also don’t like coding at all

I just wanna make 50-70k for now, sure more money is better as I level up.

How can I get my first job?

[bernipes]

Just turned 27
Graduated in cs undergrad this may doing just driving Uber since then. Doing the math I’ll make at most $18k with that job which is pretty bad.

Never had a job or internship

Feel like a failure and want to get my life together and get a job and secure my future.

Since the semester went online everything became easy and haven’t touched any cs material related since I graduated.


Basically I forgot everything I learned in cs even tho I got good grades and learned a lot.

So my question is what can I do with a cs degree if I don’t know anything?

My friend is telling me to just learn Linux and get a system admin/it job

That’s what im thinking of doing since I hate coding.

Thing about cs is u gotta do it constantly do it everyday otherwise u will forget it

I also don’t like coding at all

I just wanna make 50-70k for now, sure more money is better as I level up.

How can I get my first job?

Learn Linux and get a system admin is a pretty good idea. If you like it, go for it.
If you like Web Marketing and stuffs, learning SEO can also be a good idea.

[conics]

Learn Linux and get a system admin is a pretty good idea. If you like it, go for it.
If you like Web Marketing and stuffs, learning SEO can also be a good idea.

Is Linux pretty easy? I feel dumb cuz I have a cs degree and I’m not even using it

[conics]

Bump

[Burgerbuger]

Whose going to hand you an admin job without exp? Any company that's worth a damn will want you to have 5-10 years of experience before they might even consider you for this position.

It's pretty obvious if you want 50-70k right now the only way you will get it is if you become a programmer, and being that you have a CS degree it's the most logical path to take. Now if you hate coding that's a totally different problem and there's no point wasting your time doing something you hate.

[FingerFood]

You are 27, get a help desk job at a good company.

Just get an entry level IT job and start from there. If you learned anything in school you should move up quickly. Your CS degree will help you more when you apply for the higher level jobs, but do not expect to start there. Even management jobs generally expect a degree.

You are overthinking this. At 27 I was completing my Masters and making $1500 a month doing basic office IT support.

General advice for anyone, just do not be a weirdo. You might already know if you are one and may need to take some time to work on that.

[Visel]

Cyber Security.

I'm a comp sci graduate who didn't want to code either. Took some flavorful electives during the curriculum to pick at things and see what I like, but cyber security is where I wound up. Helps to have a little knowledge about networking, followed by standard cyber security principles. I would advise getting a part time job somewhere at an IT desk, maybe dedicate yourself to working there for 6 months. During that time frame, study for and acquire an entry level Networking certification (Networks+, MTA, CCT), and an entry level Security certification (Security+, GSEC). Once you've done that, start applying to Cyber security teams with entry level openings at any company, or try looking for something like an MSSP. By this time your work experience in an IT related job will help as well, and employers will be flabbergasted that you have a Comp Sci degree.

The vast majority of cyber security coworkers I've met have irrelevant degrees, like finance/business/polisci, but they have 1-3 relevant certifications and can handle themselves in a technical interview. I know some very successful individuals in the field who don't even possess a Bachelor's degree.

Something to consider at least. Entry jobs in the Cyber Security industry start at $60k in my area... and it's a low CoL area too.

[Visel]

How is Cybersecurity work? Are the certifications difficult/time-consuming to obtain

The entry level certifications have really good YouTube and other media outlet content out there. Would recommend Professor Messer for Network+ and Security+, making sure you do the newest version. If you get through his videos, take some notes, review the notes, and take some practice tests on the side, you'll pass easily. Depends on how many hours you can throw at it per day but I'd think if you're gungho enough, 1 month per certification, start to finish.

A lot of these entry level certifications require "renewal", either by retaking the same cert, taking a higher level cert from the same cert provider, or applying credit hours on their websites. Usually certifications last 3-5 years depending. Some certifications are "permanent", but they're fewer and usually some higher level ones.

As for the work itself, it's a lot of log reading, email review, sandboxing URLs and files, engaging other teams. It's sort of like being a detective, you get a few IOC's like a bad URL, file hash / file name, and you start looking into your tools to see whether or not there's any prevalence in the environment. Once you get good, and with a bit of luck too in some cases, you can deduce the full timeline of threat activity for users/systems, and make conclusions from your findings. It's kind of rewarding, but gets a little systematic after you've done it for several years, until you move on to new types of security alerts or work.

What I described is just an incident responder or similar type of job role. There's engineering for security tools, content creation for rule logic, management, threat hunting, threat intelligence, red teaming, etc. Lots of variety in the "cyber security industry".

[conics]

The entry level certifications have really good YouTube and other media outlet content out there. Would recommend Professor Messer for Network+ and Security+, making sure you do the newest version. If you get through his videos, take some notes, review the notes, and take some practice tests on the side, you'll pass easily. Depends on how many hours you can throw at it per day but I'd think if you're gungho enough, 1 month per certification, start to finish.

A lot of these entry level certifications require "renewal", either by retaking the same cert, taking a higher level cert from the same cert provider, or applying credit hours on their websites. Usually certifications last 3-5 years depending. Some certifications are "permanent", but they're fewer and usually some higher level ones.

As for the work itself, it's a lot of log reading, email review, sandboxing URLs and files, engaging other teams. It's sort of like being a detective, you get a few IOC's like a bad URL, file hash / file name, and you start looking into your tools to see whether or not there's any prevalence in the environment. Once you get good, and with a bit of luck too in some cases, you can deduce the full timeline of threat activity for users/systems, and make conclusions from your findings. It's kind of rewarding, but gets a little systematic after you've done it for several years, until you move on to new types of security alerts or work.

What I described is just an incident responder or similar type of job role. There's engineering for security tools, content creation for rule logic, management, threat hunting, threat intelligence, red teaming, etc. Lots of variety in the "cyber security industry".

Solid posts
My friend is telling me to learn Linux from udemy and then do a Linux certification and exam
He says to do cybersecurity after I've learned Linux. Thoughts on that

Also how much can I make after I've done cybersecurity after an entry level job

[pissbag]

Remain strong brother. This difficult will pass - stay safe and be good to yourself.