There are so many looking to break in and are discouraged because of “rejections”, limited opportunities of hands-on, not being given a “chance,” or just a lack of direction.
Here’s something that helped me:
💢I leveraged my soft skills like “out of this world.” 💪🏽
💢I wrote down every skill I had, every technology I worked with even a little, and every responsibility I could think of…and I determined what could be transferable based on my roles of interest.
💢I studied companies and job descriptions and filled skill gaps by doing some at-home labs and virtual trainings.
💢I enrolled in free courses during my free time and added skills to my resume.
💢I got a few mentors and coaches.
💢I leveraged LinkedIn and some of these amazing groups out here, like Women in Cyber Security (WiCyS), Blacks in Cybersecurity, Women’s Society of Cyberjutsu, and so many others to network and make valuable connections.
💢I mixed up how I applied to roles (LinkedIn, company sites, Indeed, Dice, etc.) — using LinkedIn to do initial hunting and then applying directly through the company site has always worked best for me.
💢I created an eportfolio to demonstrate various skills. The videos don’t have to be long-perhaps 4–8 mins.
As a teacher, I learned that most attention spans are usually not much longer than that — people get bored beyond those first few mins…even hiring managers 🙂, but being able to showcase those skills in a few short minutes will make you standout amongst others as a newcomer.
These are a few things that contributed to my successful pivot.
Don’t lose sight and don’t be afraid to take a risk.
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