Nothing beats hands-on experience in cybersecurity.
In the cybersecurity field, technical and practical skills are very important. You will deal with physical or virtual devices requiring you to operate them.
Practical skills involve applying your knowledge to real-world situations. This includes using cybersecurity tools, conducting security assessments, and troubleshooting vulnerabilities.
PROJECTS
Projects serve as an imitation of a real-life problem. Once you do a project, you get a similar experience to someone working in the field.
This is why recruiters and interviewers always ask, ‘What have you done? What can you do? Show me your portfolio’.
Projects are as important as certificates, if not more important, as they prove that you are not all talk but can do.
IMPORTANCE
As it is important to do projects, it is important to do the right project.
Knowing a little about everything in cybersecurity before majoring in your niche is great. This will go a long way, as most things in tech or sciences are usually interconnected.
I want to tell you a personal story before we continue.
STORIES
My team and I worked on a project in cloud security last year. This was my first project in the cloud.
So, imagine my surprise when I had to use Kali Linux tools to brute-force into a cloud instance. I have used Kali Linux before, but the cloud would have a different way of handling things like this.
Now imagine what would have happened if I wasn’t conversant with Kali Linux tools or other tools not directly related to cloud security.
NOTE-WORTHY
I never did an interview where I wasn’t asked about my projects or portfolio.
Getting theoretical knowledge is important, but it is just the basis of practical or technical skills.
Cybersecurity deals with action.
You must know what to do or the steps involved in taking action to succeed in cybersecurity.
FINALLY
By now, we have established that technical skills are important.
Your portfolio or projects should include the following topics: operating systems, networking concepts, defense, offense, cloud, risk assessment, etc.
You can check my projects part on my LinkedIn page to see the different projects I have been involved with, both the ones that required hands-on skills and the ones that required research and reports.