Page 28 - Cybersecurity Career Guide for UT Austin

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28
Two-
Year
Plan
Whether you’re fresh out of
high school or looking to pick
up some new skills to boost
your career, community colleges are
an excellent resource for budding cyber-
security professionals. A cybersecurity
program at a community college can be
a stepping stone to a bachelor’s degree,
an entrée into the work world, or both.
Campus-based or online, these courses
are low-cost and offer the sort of hands-
on training that employers love.
An associate of applied science de-
gree, or AAS, offers a variety of concen-
trations, all of which equip students with
practical skills needed to get hired in en-
try-level roles. Areas include threat anal-
ysis, monitoring a network for indicators
of compromise or penetration, and digi-
tal forensics analysis to determine who
hacked a system and how to prevent
future compromise. To a lesser extent,
students also study the engineering of
computer hardware and software.
Community colleges offer
hands-on experience prized
by employers.
Be on the lookout for companies pro-
viding scholarships and resources for
students — particularly students from
low-income families. Microsoft, for ex-
ample, just announced a major initiative
to help students interested in cybersecu-
rity careers with an array of financial and
educational benefits, including assis-
tance up to $500 as well as networking
and technical learning opportunities.
Most community college graduates
continue their education at some point,
because bachelor’s degrees are impor-
tant for long-term career development.
community college
Forsyth Tech,
Winston-Salem, NC