When To Obtain A Cybersecurity Degree?

This is one of the articles in our Cybersecurity Degree series, which looks at when is the best time to obtain a cybersecurity degree.

When discussing wether one should get a cybersecurity degree, it is important to understand that there will not be a single answer of single factor that will determine when one should get a cybersecurity degree. We will review some of the considerations and then provide some suggestions based upon our experiences.

If you are looking to get your first college degree; and deciding whether a cybersecurity degree is worth it now or later; and are about to enroll in college, then the time to get the degree is when you enter college.

For those who who are getting their 2nd or greater degree, whether it be a PhD, Masters, or another undergraduate degree, deciding to get a specific cybersecurity degree is a big decision and is not something typically decided lightly.

It is important to understand that a Masters Degree or PhD can help obtain a specific role that requires one of these degrees, to get promoted to more senior roles ahead, and when one wants to change fields. However, getting a job in cybersecurity and getting promoted in cybersecurity does not require a Masters Degree or PhD. To understand more about these factors about when it would be appropriate to get a masters degree or PhD, check out our article on the subject.

However, deciding when in ones career to obtain that Masters or PhD degree is important to consider includes whether to work for a few years before obtaining the degree, when in life to get a degree, whether online or in person degrees would work, job considerations, and if one should continue to work while taking courses. Lets take a look at these options.

Work Experience

It is often recommended to get a role Get job experience, make it easier to do courses since experienced the issues at work, better eunderstand what you do and dont want to do and take courses in certain topics.

When To Get The Degree?

If one is relatively young, in their 20s and 30s, there are seriously positive reasons to consider going back to get an advanced cybersecurity degree.

  1. One is already familiar with studying from college, so one wont need to take much effort to get back in the groove of studying
  2. Starting and competing young will really help out in the future because of kids
  3. If you know that you want to be in cybersecurity and get a masters, having one will open up more opportunities.
  4. Masters can attract more salary for more years down the road
  5. If you can get a cert to improve your situation now, do it for the short term and then start working on the Masters. If you can improve your situation with a certification like the Security+, then get the masters after the Security+.

However, the risks for going too early to get a masters or PhD degree include:

  1. Financial as obtaining a new degree might require debt when one might already have existing college debt
  2. Certifications might be cheaper and allow for one to get that next job sooner, so certifications would provide a return on investment in the short term.
  3. Being unsure what you want that degree or whether a specific certification is worth it.

If one is older, then one might have family and time restraints that might make it harder to study. However, being a bit older, one will know for sure what they want to do, so sure that it will go.

FullTime Student Or Work Fulltime And Take Night Courses?

Should one work fulltime and take night courses over a longer term period or should one return back to school? That is a crucial question, which isn’t easy to answer as it will change depending on the person. If the best option is to take some time off and complete the degree, then do so. However, working fulltime and doing the degree at night is really beneficial if work would pay for the degree and one has a great job that is financially stable. Of course, not working means finish the degree faster, but that might not be a smart move if that means leaving a good paying job.

Job Considerations (Time and Money)

Sometimes jobs will pay for some courses, which is great if they are willing and onboard to pay for it.

Job considerations for choosing when to take courses in regards to how much bandwidth one would have to take courses. This sounds dumb, but the issue can be that ones job could have one working late hours for 6 months of the year, preventing courses from being taken during that time. Moreover, a busy job could mean that a masters program with 10 courses would need to be done 1 course at a time over 10 consecutive semesters, rather than maybe 5 semesters of 2 courses or some variation of 2 courses per semester. Knowing which courses can fit into certain times of the year related to the job is important to being able to complete the necessary courses. This is important as one might be attracted to certain courses to better understand the subject matter, but the courses might only be offered at a certain time of year. This could be a hassle if the job doesnt provide the bandwidth to be able to complete the coursework.

Make sure to check back with youcaninfosec.com for more interesting articles like this and check out our social media at Twitter.com/youcaninfosec for more interesting content like this. We will be talking about these different types of jobs in upcoming articles, which will include career advice, interviews, and more.

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