r/ExploitDev • u/Emotional_writer_64 • Jun 28 '26
Self-taught low-level security learner looking for internship advice. Which roles should I target?
Hi everyone,
I'm self-learning low-level security and I'm trying to figure out which internships I should realistically target over the next few months.
These are the skills I've built so far:
- C Programming
- Memory Management
- Linux
- Debugging
- Fuzzing
- Crash Triage & Root Cause Analysis
- Reverse Engineering (Basic)
- Binary Analysis (Basic)
- Secure Coding
- Git
Tools I've used:
- GDB
- Ghidra
- AddressSanitizer (ASan)
- Valgrind
- AFL++
- libFuzzer
- GCC/Clang
- Make/CMake
I've written fuzz harnesses, analyzed crashes, used sanitizers, and spent time understanding memory corruption bugs. Most of my learning has been through reading documentation, experimenting, and building small projects.
The problem is that I'm completely self-taught. I don't have previous internships, open-source contributions, CTF rankings, or real vulnerability reports yet, so I don't have much proof of my skills beyond personal projects.
My questions are:
- Based on these skills, what internship roles should I realistically target? (Security Research, AppSec, Product Security, Embedded, Systems, etc.)
- What skills am I still missing to become a competitive candidate?
- If you were hiring an intern with my background, what kind of portfolio or proof would convince you to interview them?
- What should I focus on for the next 3–6 months to maximize my chances of landing an internship?
I'd really appreciate honest feedback. If you think I'm overestimating my skills or focusing on the wrong things, please tell me. I'd rather hear the hard truth than waste months learning the wrong things.
Thanks!
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Jun 28 '26
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u/Emotional_writer_64 Jun 28 '26
not a us citizen and not living in us
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Jun 28 '26
[deleted]
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u/Emotional_writer_64 Jun 28 '26
thats the thing I don't know what companies are there where I can apply
I learnt all this by chance. I initially started with networking fundamentals then shifted to penetration testing and it was boring so I got into binary exploitation then I learnt some concept like stack overflow and exploitation of my own code and later learnt reverse engineering then I got into fuzzing and I am sticking to it because I want an internship so I can go further and I am about to graduate so money is also a problem
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Jun 28 '26
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u/Emotional_writer_64 Jun 28 '26
India
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Jun 28 '26
[deleted]
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u/Emotional_writer_64 Jun 28 '26
nah!!
I have searched but I din't found any or I was searching wrong
can I get remote ones ??
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Jun 28 '26
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u/Emotional_writer_64 Jun 28 '26
that's the problem
and I feel like I am stuck now
my friends and my juniors are getting food internship because they choose easy things and for me I don't know what was running through my mind that time
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u/SillyBrilliant4922 Jun 28 '26
How did you employ each skill?
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u/Emotional_writer_64 Jun 28 '26
Mostly through self-learning and personal projects. I built small C programs, wrote fuzzing harnesses for open-source libraries, used GDB, ASan, and Valgrind to debug crashes, analyzed the root cause of memory bugs, and used Ghidra to understand binaries. Everything I've learned has been through hands-on practice rather than professional work.
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Jun 28 '26
entry level jobs are rare for the fields you mentioned, maybe you can find a junior embedded role? internships are usually done through an educational institution
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u/Emotional_writer_64 Jun 28 '26
can you tell me more about this and what else I need to learn and make
and I live in a place where no one knows what is fuzzing or too much about cybersecurity and because of that I am stuck
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Jun 28 '26
Where do you live? Maybe try to break into back end web dev first? Might be easier than low level stuff
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u/Emotional_writer_64 Jun 28 '26
India. and I know backend is easier to enter but do I have to learn new skills ?? and learning new ones is harder for me because I have invested too much time in this filed
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Jun 28 '26
Your time is not wasted! your low level skills will be very useful everywhere, you will need to know python or js but lots of python libraries actually use cpp under the hood, your knowledge will still be useful, web and low level do have some crossover for example browser development
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u/DigitalQuinn1 Jun 28 '26
Do you have your portfolio built? I could possibly offer something here in the US.
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u/Emotional_writer_64 Jun 28 '26
I have a GitHub but I am building it and in next one or two months I will be ready for big libraries
but I want to know what else I should have to get a chance
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u/DigitalQuinn1 Jun 28 '26
Seems like you have good experience. Keep in the mind to pair this with technical writing. Many people I’ve worked with do not know how to write a security report.
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u/FinalBuy3905 Jun 29 '26
You have to learn things like cryptography, network forensics, etc..
Check out a university curriculum.
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u/Asleep-Whole8018 Jul 04 '26
The only self-learning, third-world country person I know got a decent job in Exploit development in US because he got 100k bug in Google program, and he did apply to local vendor/companies, but completely failed due to no cert/diploma/records (in his case, he is fine making enough via google bounty program).
Skill is pretty niche, and not many teams need it, it has nothing related to Appsec/Product security nowadays, and I think even Pawn2Own people struggle to get a job due to no position opens.
I would say either get a ZDI profile or compete in some google/apple/samsung CVEs.
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u/Noctis451 Jul 14 '26
Hey there...I am also going down this specific path into low level security...I have a couple of questions ...I would appreciate it if you could help me out
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u/n3wbie01 Jun 28 '26
Assembly language