Hello, Hoodies!
2024 is almost ⅓ of the way done. Which is insane.
Most gave up on their New Year’s Resolutions by now.
It’s past the second week of January, so the gyms are empty again.
And everyone regained the weight they lost in the first two weeks.
Oh, and most who promised themselves that they’d get their network+ by february are still sitting in their dead end jobs, no better off than they started. They heard two words about the OSI model and checked out. Rocket League, Netflix, and Door Dash.
Here’s a bit of hard truth. And I’m writing to myself as much as anyone else.
When you numb the pain of your loneliness with alcohol, leisure, and distraction, you don’t even get to enjoy it. There’s always that sinking feeling that you know you’re not doing what you should.
When you do a 2h workout at 6am, you enjoy your leisure. You earned it.
Pizza doesn’t taste good when you’re 30lbs over weight. It tastes like greasy distraction. Followed by guilt. Followed by an elevated heart rate from your glucose and saturated fat induced bingeing, reminding you that you messed up. Again.
So what do we do?
We distract ourselves. More netflix. More rocket league. More junk food. We double down and own it in the worst possible ways.
Life gets better with direction. Not distraction.
You’re not afraid of hard work. You’re afraid of failure. You’re afraid of putting in all that work for nothing. If you knew you’d be successful, you’d get your ass in gear.
Religious or not, Solomon was right. We work so we don’t sin.
When we don’t have a goal, we get ourselves in trouble.
If this sounds like you, the good news is you’re still never more than 90 days away from changing your life and starting your cybersecurity career. You can start now.
And I want to help.
Part of that is knowing the job market as it stands today.
There are some trends that I’ve picked up on during the last 4 months of things that I’ve noticed placing about 10 new students in 2024.
So let’s dig in:
1. Remote Work
I have some news.
And I wish it was better.
As you may have heard previously, I thought the remote market was like a pendulum.
0 before covid. 100% after. Push back to the office dropped it to 30%, then we started swinging back to the 40% mark.
But we’re quickly receding again.
The availability of remote work is so low for even seasoned professionals that it’s all but a pipe dream.
Can you get a hybrid role as a first job? Absolutely.
Can you get a helpdesk job remote? Probably but less reliably and you’ll make $20-$30/h.
Can you get a remote cyber job in 90 days? I wouldn’t count on it.
2. Salaries
The good news here is that there isn’t much change. If anything, its ever so slightly trending up. Not enough to keep up with inflation but it’s still far better than the average salary in the US.
3. Opportunities
Demand continues to increase.
It’s easier than ever before to get an on site job.
I was talking with a guy who’s interested in partnering with the bootcamp to find qualified applicants for his cybersecurity contracts. These jobs pay at or near six figures, fully remote, and he’ll sponsor people for a clearance.
From our conversation the yesterday, he told me that it really is impossible to find talent.
Color me surprised.
Put in the work and good things will happen.
THE BOTTOM LINE
There’s still a job for you.
Put in the work.
Get your certs.
Learn your skills.
Live in or be willing to relocate to a metropolitan area.
Apply a lot.
And you’ll be golden.
Ready to get started on your journey?
2 ways:
Subscribe to the substack (cheap but more work)
Apply for bootcamp express and get 120 days deferred tuition (expensive but less work)
However you do it.
Just do it.
Don’t look back in 6 months wishing again that your life changes.
One thing is certain.
If nothing changes, nothing changes.
This is your off-ramp.
Make a decision and get to work.
Or stay mediocre forever. Your call.
That’s all for now.
Keep grinding, Hoodies.
Much love,
Evan Lutz (BowTiedCyber)