The term cyber security is becoming exponentially more popular due to the influx of detrimental cyber attacks like the solarwinds software company breach or the colonial pipeline hack. With cyber security receiving this sudden growth in popularity there also comes a plethora of opportunities. The real question is, has the job market caught up to itself or are opportunities still as fresh and available as they were a few years ago. There are about 465,000 open positions in cybersecurity nationwide as of May 2021, according to Cyber Seek, a tech job-tracking database from the U.S. Commerce Department, and the trade group CompTIA. The demand for knowledgeable assets in the cyber security field has never been higher with opportunities ranging from private businesses to government agencies and most of the job openings are located in California, Florida, Texas and Virginia. That means anyone that's looking to switch careers and who's considering a job in cybersecurity, there's no greater time than now to find work.
"An eight-week online course could help someone land an entry-level job as a 'pen tester,' a network security engineer or an incident response analyst....Those jobs can pay between $60,000 to $90,000 a year" said Michelle Moore, who teaches cybersecurity operations at the University of San Diego. She also added that "switching careers to cybersecurity now could be as easy as grabbing a Network+ or Security+ certification".