Photo by Kevin Horvat on Unsplash
Decisions, Decisions: Jr. Pentester vs. Jr. Security Analyst?
Path to Cyber Security Expertise
Table of contents
Bismillah
More often than not, we arrive at crossroads and are faced with a choice to make. In a grocery store, do we pick coconut oil or vegetable oil? Do we go for the latest Mercedes Benz or the latest BMW in a car yard? And for me in cyber security, do I pick a path toward "blue team" or "red team"?
Context
In May 2021, I enrolled for the alxafrica Software Engineering course to improve my skills in Software Engineering and also get employment in the same. However, if you know the course, then you are aware that the two options offered by the platform are frontend and backend engineering.
For a guy with ambitions/interest in a variety of fields(Flutter, Bug bounty, Quantum Computing, and Machine learning) I decided to leave the course after the foundations phase of the program, meaning I was not eligible for employment on the room platform.
I took some time off and even started a YouTube channel for showcasing my journey in mobile development with flutter and more. However, the platform changed from that to the current Young and Ambitious in Africa pivot.
Ps: I have another YouTube Channel where I'll be vlogging my Security journey starting May this year.
Fast forward to this month. I enrolled on the TryHackMe platform and saw a variety of paths:
Junior pen testing --> Red teaming: to be a pentester, do Bug bounty on the side, to eventually grow my skills in Red Teaming.
SOC level 1: to start a career in Security analysis, doing bug bounty on the side, to eventually become a red team operator.
What Should I Choose?
Now, you're probably thinking that the choice is obvious, the former since both paths eventually lead me to offensive security and red teaming right?
I thought so too, however, I would also like to get a security job as soon as possible, and in Kenya, I think defensive security is much more common in comparison to offensive security.
So, should I pick the Junior pen testing role, and scavenge the internet till I can find a remote role in the same? Or should I pick the Junior Security analyst role and find an internship and job within my country that I can work on?