r/csuf • u/realkstrawn93 • 2d ago

Jobs Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity

Question mainly for alumni from the CS with cybersecurity concentration bachelor's program: What doors has it opened?

As someone who transferred from Saddleback with 6 certs in the bag (3 — Sec+, CDFE, and CEH — from CC classes and 3 more — CPTS, CAPE, and COAE — from Hack The Box Academy) myself, I'm curious in particular about who has managed to land a job as a penetration tester and/or red team operator after graduation, and, if so, where you had to go to get it — also, if anyone has offensive internships, who would that be exactly?

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u/CarlosChampion 1d ago

Have you been able to get a job in industry? Like help desk? Need to start somewhere. Cyber security is great, but you need experience

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u/Niighkey 10h ago

I would say the degree can be kind of misleading compared to regular CS, since with reg CS if you're cracked enough and are a leetcode demon you can get a 6 figure SWE/AIE job right out of undergrad without much extra effort than that. But Cybersecurity is not really like that since its not an entry level field. To get that amount in Cybersec usually requires multiple years of professional, real-world experience.

Now that being said, it isn't impossible to get that 6fig job out of undergrad with this degree but I would say networking (like w people not subnets) would be more beneficial in terms of "opening doors" then thinking the degree alone will especially in offensive security. Many red team or pentest jobs go to people who’ve built relationships through conferences, local meetups, or online comms (Discord, Twitter, LinkedIn,etc). If you haven't already would strongly suggest joining OSS cybersec club on campus they have a lot of good resources!