How To Change career From Accounting To Cybersecurity

Are you in finance and are looking for a career change to cyber security? If so, you’re in luck. In this article, we will discuss how to career change from finance.

Let’s go!

Research and Validate You Want A Career In Cyber Security.

If you’re considering a career change from accounting, then cyber security is a great option, mainly because accounting and cyber security have many similarities.

This means that you can make a move to an industry that does not render your accounting skills and knowledge redundant.

Accounting requires professionals to be detail oriented, analytical and good with numbers, skills that are also required in cyber security professionals as well. Forensic accountants especially have many of the skills needed to make an easy transition to the field of cyber security.

But still it’s important to really ask yourself if cybersecurity is truly for you. What career opportunities will be available to you?

What do Cyber Security Specialists Do?

Cyber security is the practice of defending computers, mobile devices, servers, data, network and electronic systems from potential attacks that can lead to data theft or hardware and software damage.

Cyber security specialists are the professionals in charge of providing security during and after software and network development. They manage and monitor potential attacks and threats.

This means the responsibilities of a cyber-security specialist typically include;

Monitoring, detecting, investigating and responding to security threats
Performing security audits
Designing and implementing security standards, policies and guidelines

The work of a cyber-security specialist is very important and in demand in today’s technology focused world, making the number of job opportunities in the field continue to grow.

What is the typical career path for a cyber-security specialist?

As someone that’s new to cyber security, it’s common to start out in an entry level IT role. Depending on the organization this role can be acting as a help desk technician, network administrator, software developer or as a junior information security analyst.

Help Desk Technician: Help desk technicians respond to customer queries and provide technical assistance related to computer systems, hardware and software.
Network Administrator: Network administrators are responsible for keeping an organization’s computer network up-to-date and operating to meet the organization’s needs.
Software Developer: Software developers identify customer needs, then conceive, design and build computer programs to meet these needs. They also test software and make improvements.
Junior Information Security Analyst: In this entry level role, you’ll be involved in identifying and preventing cyber threats to a company under the supervision of a senior cyber security analyst.

As a cyber-security analyst, you can then decide to specialize in different roles depending on your skills and interests. You can decide to specialize in engineering and architecture of security systems, incident responses, management and administration, consulting, testing and hacking.

More advanced level cyber-security roles include cyber-security manager, engineer or architect.

Network with Cyber-security Professionals with an Accounting Background.

Before taking a big step and enrolling yourself for any information science coursework it’s important to network with cyber-security specialists that share a similar background to yours.

The goal of networking with these professionals is to gain detailed insight into the challenges you are expected to face when making this career transition. Professionals with a similar background to yours have already experienced these challenges and will be able to outline them for you.

To find these cyber-security professionals there are actually a good number of networking professional cyber security organizations specifically designed to meet professionals and alert members about job openings and professional development opportunities.

The Digital Guardians list of the top 50 cyber-security networking groups is a great place to start.

Other good places to meet professionals is on internet forums. Sites like Quora, Facebook and Reddit among others are filled with professionals that will be willing to answer any questions you may have.

The key is knowing what to ask, try typing “experience switching careers from accounting to cyber-security” in your browser and make sure to add the name of the site you want to search as well, “experience switching careers from accounting to cyber-security quora”.

See if any of these professionals will be willing to talk to you, a well worded and polite comment or direct message can go a long way.

Get Training And Qualifications in Cyber-security

The next step on this career roadmap is building on the foundational knowledge that you’ll need to become a cyber-security specialist. This involves earning the basic degrees and qualifications that are required.

Just like a lot of other careers, most cyber-security jobs require some formal education. Some jobs may ask for a bachelor’s or even master’s degree in cyber-security or a related field. Although pursuing a formal education may open more opportunities, cyber-security is a field that doesn’t explicitly require a tech degree to work in. Certifications and experience can also easily work in ones favor when applying for jobs.

Some common cyber-security certifications that give solid foundations for understanding things like operating systems,, hardware and troubleshooting include;

Security+, a CompTIA certification that covers risk management and threat assessment
Network+, a CompTIA certification that covers networking infrastructure and operations
The Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), an advanced certification designed for professionals with no less than five years of experience in the field.
The Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification, another advanced certification that requires applicants to have years of work experience. The CEH is designed to educate applicants on how to improve threat assessment and mitigate skills during cyber-attacks.

There are many more cyber-security certifications that an aspiring specialist can acquire. This is why it is important to take notes of what kind of certifications employers you’re interested in may be asking for.

If you’re not sure what certification you may need, you can take a look at the CompTIA Cyber-security Career Pathway

These certifications will also introduce you to some skills that will be necessary to learn after making the career switch to cyber-security, including programming skills, cloud infrastructure and security, encryption and security foundation initiatives.

Acquire Cyber-security Experience.

Alongside earning your qualifications and certifications, acquiring actual work experience in the field is a great way to prepare you for a career as a cyber-security specialist. Employers value both technical experience and practical experience.

Work experience is advantageous on two main fronts.

Firstly, acquiring work experience will show employers that you have an understanding of the techniques used in cyber-security. It will also show them that you understand how to use these techniques in practical applications.

Lastly, work experience in the field will let you stand out among other candidates when applying for jobs in the industry.

Work experience will help you gain some necessary soft skills you’ll need to excel in the profession. These include; analytical skills, problem solving skills, creativity, attention to detail, discipline and dedication. It will also demonstrate that you possess the hard skills a cyber-security specialist needs to have; including a good knowledge of programming languages, hacking, forensic skills and an understanding of operating systems.

The best way to acquire work experience in cyber-security is through internships. Internships will allow you work in an environment with professionals in the field whom you will be able to learn from.

Another way to gain experience is by working on small projects on your own. You can start your self-learning process by enrolling for certification trainings or even through watching YouTube videos. You can follow along with tutorials that teach how to program, code and build software then upload these projects to a repository like GitHub or GitLab to build your portfolio.

Update Your Personal Brand Assets

Changing your line of work from accounting will require you to change and fine tune the way you present yourself professionally. Reviewing your CV, personal websites and Linkedln profile can go a long way in making your career change experience smoother.

Personal branding is all about marketing yourself and attracting recruiters and more job opportunities for you. Some good paces to start are;

Your CV: Highlighting your skills and experience on your resume in a way that fits the requirements for a cyber-security specialist is important. Your CV is an effective way to show employers how you will be a great asset for the position you’re applying for.
Your Linkedln Profile: As someone moving into a new career it’s also important to let recruiters know that you’re open for hiring and looking for new opportunities.

Optimize the headline section of your profile by listing major skills that will be required in your new profession. Also optimize the summary section of your profile by highlighting your work experience, certifications, projects, technical skills and expertise.

Your Personal Websites: Your personal websites include all your social media accounts. A good tip is making sure all your social media accounts show you in a professional light; if possible let your social media activity reflect your interests and activities you may have carried out in relation to your new field of work. Make posts on topics that you’re passionate about and connect with professionals working in your field of interest.

Bonus Tip: Take Action

Changing careers will always be a scary and daunting thing to follow through, but the good news is that it is very doable. The opportunities for cyber-security specialists in today’s world are rich and plentiful.

Be committed to making this career change an actual reality. Motivate yourself and surround yourself with like-minded people who are ready to support you.

After using this guide to draft out your action plan the only thing that’s left for you to do is to get up and start doing it.

Be patient with yourself, but also give yourself a timeframe for achieving this dream of yours.

Changing careers can be a difficult thing to do, but with the right tools and attitude, you can make it happen! The six tips in this article are tested and proven when making the action plan that’ll you’ll need to make this career change a successful one for you.

Do some research into how a cyber-security career best fit your experience, skills, personal needs and wants. Network with professionals who have a similar accounting background with you, build on your foundational knowledge by acquiring more work experience, skills, technical degrees and qualifications you’ll need for your new role.

Update your professional brand assets to align with the requirements for a cyber-security specialist and market yourself as a perfect candidate for opportunities in your new career path.

Finally, take action and treat your career change as a job in itself. Make sure to invest your time, energy and any other resources you require into turning this dream of yours into a whole reality.

Cyber-security is a great second career choice for previous accountants, equipping yourself with all the experience, skills and qualifications that are needed to succeed will help you do things right and will make the transition much smoother for you.

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