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4 min read · Study Skills · Career Advice

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Prefer watching? This post is based on my YouTube video.
Cybersecurity is HARD, but it doesn’t have to be. Hi, I’m Noah, a cybersecurity student and continuous learner. Throughout the past couple years I have been refining habits, skills, techniques, and routines that have put me at the top of my class.

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1. Classes are not enough

  • Cyber is changing every day, and you need to keep up with it.
  • Work outside of class will cement in-class theory (theory coupled with hands-on work).
  • TryHackMe, or literally any other online resource. If you’re gonna consume content, try to make it cyber related:
    • NetworkChuck’s networking series
    • IppSec
    • John Hammond
    • Tyler Ramsbey
Classes do an okay job of teaching theory and tools, but until you spend some time learning on your own via guided platforms or even homelab projects, you won’t be able to see the connection from class to the real world.

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2. Create and cultivate a second brain

Don’t isolate your notes by class.
  • Tech is naturally interconnected, so while your class notes can be separated, it is important to take a step back and connect everything. Obsidian has a cool mind mapping tool that makes this process easy.
  • Cyber is a bunch of building blocks on top of each other. You want to be able to reference the foundational stuff 1–2 years down the line to make sure that the complex tools and techniques are rooted in the right foundations and understanding.
Notion, Obsidian, even Apple Notes all work, so long as you stick with it and stay organized. Keep a learning list that you can refer back to at any point in the future.

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3. Set and understand your goals, and your ideal path post-grad

“Cybersecurity” is a very broad field, and an even broader degree.
  • Narrow the scope of your career.
  • Early on, it’s better to be broad and shallow, but as you get closer to graduation it is more important to understand the roles of cyber, how they interact with each other, and which one you want to pursue.
  • After picking a role, repeat steps 1 and 2 to deeply invest yourself into that role.
By choosing a role or “path” and investing time into learning things about that path, you will naturally prove yourself above everybody else who isn’t putting in the extra time.
Let curiosity be a main driver for your learning. It’s healthy to fall into rabbit holes and be curious about everything.

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Wrapping up

There are a lot more strategies and habits that I would love to talk about, so if you’re interested in more tips, let me know in the comments on the video.