I recently separated AD after a stint of about ten years, in a career unrelated to cybersecurity.
I have a TS/SCI, bachelor’s in cyber, and Sec+. No experience.
Every time I ask anywhere, I get people on two vastly different sides of the fence.
On one side I hear “Yeah you’re golden, recruiters will be looking to snatch you up”.
On the other, “Claw your way up the ladder with helpdesk somewhere, cyber is not an entry level field.” (which I get, not knocking the advice)
Then I hear/read experiences of people snatching up great jobs just with Sec+ and a clearance. No experience. Obviously, most of those are in an ‘it’s who you know’ situation. I don’t know anyone.
Anyways, I’ve tossed around many resumes over the past couple of months and heard zero response, so obviously I’m going about this the wrong way.
Thoughts?
I’m sure anything is possible, but I’ll share my experience. I haven’t seen anyone without experience jump into a mid to upper level position in a technical field, whether it be in intel or cyber. Experience is king, a degree is a block check, and a cert is proof of competency. Even outdated experience can limit what roles you can fill.
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6 months ago, you could have been hired sight-unseen. I know 6 colleagues who were hired without an interview (just a phone screening). They were desperate for warm bodies with active TS/SCI. Now, not so much. Federal jobs are being cut so lots of former feds are about to start flooding the contract space. Budgets are being cut so contract agencies are being extra conservative with their hiring. The administration is now handing clearances out like M&Ms. So it’s a triple-whammy. If you get an offer, take it. Hopefully things will calm down over the next 2 years.
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The administration is now handing clearances out like M&Ms + “to themselves.”
Yes, I promise they are.
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This is unequivocally false, unless you’re a top White House aide. Otherwise, nothing about the process has changed.
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What I can suggest to you is use chatgpt or claude and help it make you a resume based on your experience in the military that directly translates to IT/Cyber security.
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