Almost 2 years ago today I stumbled across this website, halfway through a CS undergrad and hoping that security would be for me, because software development probably wasn’t (isn’t?). At this point in time, I wouldn’t even qualify as a script kiddie. But dammit if hacking wasn’t way cooler than anything I was learning in university (bubble sort and linked lists, anyone?). I grew a lot in the last 2 years, and I owe a lot of that to this community. I would have never gotten OSCP certified, or this position if I didn’t have the incredible support everyone has shown me. Seriously, I think I might have failed my computer architecture class if it wasn’t for some timely advice from one of you who shall remain nameless*. I even managed to build a modestly functional hacking tool while I was at it all!
What I’m trying to say is that this place is really special, and for anyone who comes across this place that wants to learn information security: You absolutely can. Even with minimal prior experience, you can change your career or start your first one with enough luck and the right support. Some members of the newer classes at what is now my alma mater reached out to me, and asked how they could get started in security. I told them that they only need two things: A strong internal drive to learn and work hard, and to find a community of friends to study and work with. A community like this one.
Best,
Rain
*If I start naming people who helped me I’d have to try to name everyone in order to be fair, and then I’ll end up with a list of every regular member except one whose name I forgot and we’ll both feel bad about it as a result.
That’s awesome, I’m in the position you were in 2 years ago and I can’t believe you’ve achieved so much in so little time!
Reading your post gave me hope that I might also be able to get my OSCP in a relatively short amount of time. I was thinking it would take me 4 years at least. But meh, I’ve always been bad in guessing how long something takes lol.
Well, I had such a bad resume no one would give me internships - so I found myself with a whole summer on my hands and very generous parents who were willing to pay for 90 days of lab time. At the time, I felt like if I didn’t get the cert, I wouldn’t stand out among my peers and have a hard time finding a job (seriously, I did come close to flunking). But you could probably get the OSCP in 3 months with minimal prior experience, as long as you’re willing to devote yourself to it like I did. Hopefully you’re a better student than I was, though!
Well, congratulations on your graduation! Yes, I can agree, this forum is amazing. Everybody is mature, and everybody communicates and helps each other which is good as you don’t normally see that across most forums.
Congrats! For my site, I in IT for about 10 years, still undergraduate. Working as a tester but not penetration tester. In this summer I wan to take labs and start preparing to OSCP. I don’t know a lot but I will try my best.
