Mid-career Traisition to Infosec #0x07

In March 2022, I released the first part of this blog series. Today, 15 months and 7 posts later, I write to share the exciting news that I have recently embarked on a new chapter as a Cyber Security Engineer. In my new role, I will be focusing on offensive security and engaging in a variety of impactful activities, including red teaming, adversary simulations, and security research.

You're probably wondering now, how did it happen? Have I finished the transition and completed all the training? Have I been applying to different jobs and eventually got one? None of that has happened yet - my training is far from done, and I haven't started applying to infosec jobs. So, how did it all come about?

As I mentioned in part 005 of this series, at some point, I decided to go out and share the news about what I was up to, my goals, and the steps I was taking to achieve them. This is when I also decided to publish this blog series, talk to friends, people I worked with at that time (and those I used to work with in the past), and even my (now former) employer. I was very open and honest about my aspirations, and I would share them with anyone who would listen. Surprisingly, as soon as I started sharing my desire to move into infosec, I began receiving some job offers, and eventually, I decided to go for the one that I thought was the most suitable for me.

Of course, this would not have been possible without hard work and dedication. As you know, my approach was to obtain the most difficult certifications available, as they would prove that I'm ready for the job. However, if I had kept my goals and aspirations just to myself, I would still be stuck in my old job.

Is the transition finished?

Well, I could say that my transition is finished since I've moved into infosec. But let's be honest, I've just entered a field that focuses on life-long learning. Whatever you know today is never enough, and with new technology emerging every day, there is a constant need to hack/secure it as well.

What's next?

I'm starting the new role, so this will be my main focus, especially since I want to gain as much experience as possible, as soon as possible. I'm still going through the OffSec trainings. I aspire to become OSCE3 (by obtaining OSEP, OSWE, and OSED), so this is what I will focus on in my personal time. Although in one of my previous posts I hinted that I was starting to train for OSED, in the end, I decided to further enhance my web penetration testing skills and went for OSWA. I recently passed the exam, but I will write about it in another post. Currently, I'm preparing for OSWE.

What will happen to this blog?

I want to take this blog series and summarize it in one coherent blog post. I would like to collect all the most important bits and pieces and write some sort of guide about how to transition to infosec. Throughout my journey, I've met many people trying to get into the industry, and quite a few of them are doing this mid-career too, so I think they might find this useful. Additionally, I will continue writing here, and while these will be standalone posts, they will focus on offensive security-related subjects.

If you are still reading this, thank you for staying with me throughout this journey. Your support means a lot to me. And if you also go through a similar journey of your own, don't be afraid to reach out to me or others in the field - most of us are a friendly bunch!