How to get the most out of your cybersecurity career?

Everyone has a different theory of how they should succeed in their career and what they should be doing to get the most out of their professional lives. Clearly, everyone has their own unique way to handle their professional life, but there are a few standard mantras or rules or things that one should do, that will make sure that you are able to squeeze out the most value and return out of your job.

1. Set goals

Setting goals is what gets your motor running. Chalking out your daily, weekly, monthly and yearly goals will help you see farther and guide your professional life according to your personal goals. You can get a kick out of completing your goals and build a habit of transforming your professional life consciously this way.

2. Record your learnings

Whatever you learn in your career today will help you in your career tomorrow. While you will learn something every day, you will also end up applying those learnings someday. The best way to imbibe your learnings is to record them. For example, if you are a CEH course  holder (an ethical hacker), then the things you learn in one project could be highly useful to you in your next project. Recording your learnings can be done in a personal notebook or even a blog.

3. Build connections

Building and maintaining connections is one of the strongest ways to get more out of your professional life. Talk to more people and make an effort to know them. Understand why you need to build connections in the first place. There is something that you can learn from every person and humans work best in groups, with like minded people. Therefore, networking is something you should be doing from an early stage in your career.

4. Train others

Share your learnings with people, become a mentor for them. There will be opportunities in your professional life where you will get to train others. Make sure you don’t let them go. When you help guide others, somehow, your own path gets lit and you automatically become better at your own work. If you don’t get such opportunities, go ahead and create them!

5. Find a mentor

As much as helping others can help you, taking someone’s help can also accelerate your growth. Don’t be shy to ask for guidance. There are plenty of people who will be happy to help you out. Some people prefer learning on their own, but it is always easier to learn from other people’s mistakes than to make your own.

6. Commit to the work

Whatever you are doing, do it with purpose. Know that you are making a difference with every ounce of your hard work. If you are working in cyber security, you are already making a direct improvement in people’s lives through your work. It is important to give your complete self while you are at work, in order to get the most value out of it.

7. Acquire skills when you are young

There is no age to learning, but young minds are better designed for learning. When you are young and new in your career, you will be more fitted to grasp new information. Acquire as many skills as you can every year, without affecting your daily work. If you are a network defender, why not learn ethical hacking course as well? You can learn an ethical hacking course in a few days from the comfort of your home.

In conclusion, to get the most out of your cybersecurity career, or any other career for that matter, the mantra is to give the most you can. It’s a simple matter of return on investment. The more and smarter you invest in your career, the more value and growth you will receive in return.