Just another cyber blog

What my journey looked liked into cyber...

Job Path #

  1. Lead chef for a multibillion dollar corp. (McDonalds)
  2. Army (25B)
  3. Sharepoint Specialist
  4. Went to college and moved back home.
  5. Lead IT Helpdesk
  6. Helpdesk for DCSA
  7. Sysadmin
  8. Deployment Engineer
  9. Security Engineer

I'm going to do a high overview of what it looked like. This can give you.

McDonalds #

During this time, I was in my junior year of high school and was already messing with Ubuntu and being a pirate. When I realized there was a career in keeping up systems, I wanted to learn fast and how to. My living situation was good, but I could have done better, so I enlisted in the Army.

Army #

This was the best way forward. They will pay for my education and training. It's too bad that only a few leaders want to send juniors to get that training. I learned a lot during AIT, but it was dumped the second I got to my first unit. It all depends on the unit and what you will be doing. Some jump into networking and systems or be a glorified helpdesk ticket submitter. At this point, I knew I wanted to work on servers. I still have no experience other than working at the helpdesk and SharePoint. So, when I got kicked out of the Army. I failed my PT test twice. Before that, I considered staying in and getting one of those juicy warrant positions. I hated being in charge of people and not being technical in my job.

College #

I went to a community college to study Computer Information Systems. COVID hit right at the end of the semester, and I didn’t enroll for another semester. It was good to recoup and think about where I wanted to go. Either continue in the path of IT or use my GI bill for something else. I was thinking of becoming a welder or machinist or joining the union for Low voltage. I decided to stick with IT since I knew many different paths existed. Still, up to here, I didn’t think about cyber.

Lead IT Helpdesk #

I stayed here for about a year. I was the sole IT guy, along with one contractor in charge of the environment. I got into some Fortinet training, and from there, I was hooked on trying to do something security-minded. It didn't matter if it was systems, networks, SOC, or GRC. I just wanted to be in that field. However, this position didn't keep my security clearance at all. I decided it was best for me to keep it up. I learned many soft skills and let me tell you...it was worth it.

Helpdesk for DCSA #

I was glad to be back in the defense sector. This was just a steppingstone to something more. I still wanted to do security, but I knew I needed to gain the skills for systems and networking. My next logical step was to become a network engineer or sysadmin. Since my last job, I created a home lab and got into networking. I was studying for my CCNA and was just here until I got it and jumped on the next ship.

Sysadmin #

Wild that I got here. I drove from CA to FL with the help of my friend, who recommended this job. I thought I would have been on the networking path, but nope. I just did SCCM from here, and when the Linux sysadmin left, I helped. This job helped me get more into scripting for Powershell and Bash. It got me into a grove with compliance (I still hate it) and just grew my skillset with Windows and Linux. I worked closely with the Tenable guy, helping with whatever I could. During this time, I was able to get interviews for security positions, but I didn't qualify enough. I could never compete with people with the Tenable and McAfee experience. That's the DoD for you...I still got into vulnerability management, though. The Tenable guy would say hey, here are the vulnerabilities we are seeing. I would get approached by the help desk guy to help fix it through SCCM. So, I would whip up scripts and deploy them to our environment.

Deployment Engineer #

My old NCO, when I was at Fort Bragg, helped me get this job. They were building a team and just got in at the right time. This job sucked. We were upgrading WAN controllers and never got to do the physical part. I only got to do virtual surveys. If you don't use it, you lose it. This applied so much that I never touched a system here. I tried to keep up with my home lab but needed more. I was looking and applying.

Security Engineer #

Honestly, I just got lucky. I got a call from a recruiter and set up the interview. It went very smoothly, and I couldn't wait to start. What helped was the experience in systems and scripting. I could answer some questions, and they liked that I had a home lab. They asked why I did it and went in-depth with some of my projects. The vulnerability management and scripting helped. So now I am here growing and completing my BS in CSIA from WGU.

There is no one path to X. Hopefully, you can mold that path for yourself and get there. Starting at the helpdesk is an excellent choice because you never know where you will go. There are so many different paths to choose from in IT, and cyber is just one. Thank you!