When Everyone Went Coding: A Cybersecurity Rant
When the crowd chased safety, some of us chose curiosity. A rant about careers, conformity, and why cybersecurity was never the wrong choice.
The College Herd Mentality
To be honest, Most of us didn't take college seriously...We were busy having fun and enjoying the college life, until the placement season started.
Suddenly everyone started getting serious about career paths. Now some of them always knew what they had or love to do, so they were clear. But many didn't know where to start.So what did they do?, they looked to their peers or maybe some "social media tech content creator" and heard-
"Learn Development bro." "Become a Software Development Engineer"
Some said- "Data Science is also good man". And in 2025 - "AI is the future."
Let me ask you , how many people have you seen speaking about Cybersecurity? I am sure it would be different for different places/colleges but compare it with others?
Very few.
So what people did?They took their resumes and mimic'd their path.
Because nothing feels safer than following the majority..Right?
The Job Market
Now you can't blame them entirely.I mean just go check yourself--- "Software Developer jobs in India"(Or anywhere) "Cybersecurity jobs in India"
You'll see a very big difference.Now it doesn't end here, if you'll filter only "Entry Level" or "Fresher" jobs the difference will get even bigger.
Yes , the job market maybe bad today, but that doesn't mean one shouldn't do what they like.
For roles such as "Junior SOC Analyst" , SOC Analyst L1, Pentester , Information Security Engineer why is there a big disclaimer stating "Experience 2-5 years"?
Community Arguments
In recent times, people started telling these stories on Linkedin and communities.Now there were arguments accepting this fact and some reasoning from working professionals asking to gain hands on knowledge , building projects , Home labs , Demonstration to prove your talent.
If you'll go online on youtube/instagram or linkedin you'll see enthusiasts and experienced professionals giving you guides on certifications. "Certifications are not required" Some say do free coursera certifications.
But what you see? Companies asking Security+ and CEH for a junior role.Nobody cares about your free certification even if they gave same knowledge as so called "Professional Experience".
All talk, no action
Even though in recent times, people are talking about cybersecurity as a concern with new technologies in trending such as AI and Cloud.A VP/CTO on linkedin quoting "Cybersecurity is now a board level concern".Investors asking "What's your security posture".Because high level officials who ignored cybersecurity are now attending conferences and webinars to understand its importance.
Even governments are talking about "AI , Cloud and Cybersecurity" being the future.But the question arises what has been done for that?
How many students or graduates are trained in that?What opportunities have been provided in terms of upskilling? I don't see these costly RS 50,000-70,000 certifications being sponsored for the students or fresh grads. Talkin about "Security being a board level concern" but don't want to hire enthusiastic cybersecurity graduates.
So yes it can be a concern but one can't provide professional training to already skilled people.
Final take
People chose cybersecurity out of passion and curiosity, they upskilled and tried to give 100% to mimic real world cybersecurity scenarios to understand how "Security Posture" is set.Yes we didn't took the most explored and crowded route for a professional career, but indeed a pretty important one.
Hence, keep focusing on finding vulnerabilities , analysing Malwares , Hunt for security anomilies and analyse logs, not because it is/not beneficial for career, but if not you then who will?