Q: “HOW MUCH MONEY CAN I MAKE??”
A: The ABSOLUTE FLOOR for a starting salary in cybersecurity is $60k. If you’re looking to get into tech at large, the floor is about $40k. These are your junior network admin jobs and helpdesk jobs (depending on location). Average is about $80k for my students in the US. The record is $110k as a FIRST cyber job (done three times, if I recall). As a second cyber job, I have one bootcamp graduate working two jobs and making about $300k/y (not included in the Hoodie Counter). THIS IS NOT NORMAL. DO NOT EXPECT THIS WILL HAPPEN TO YOU.
You can expect between $60k and $90k on average but there are a variety of factors at play. I don’t have a crystal ball to tell you what your exact future salary will be. Have I seen people get $110k in 90 days? Yes. Have I seen people take 8 months to make $40k? Also yes. There are A LOT of variables at play. The harder you work, the faster you meaningfully get through the material, and your willingness to relocate will determine what your salary is and how fast you can achieve your goals.
I’ve helped my students make over $1.4M this year alone at the time of this writing. (Current figures are past $4M)
On that note:
Q: How do I KNOW your numbers are legit?
A: This is based on the self reported data of my students. In the same way that certain coding bootcamps with a martial arts bend (you know the one) claims they have 15k+ alumni. At some point, you just have to trust them. I believe they really do have 15k+ grads from their program. Is it better than mine? I’ll let you decide.
I’ve done my best to keep as accurate of a running total as I possibly could have since the beginning.
The way the Hoodie Counter works is as follows:
Someone self reports that they got a job. They give me the numbers: annual salary, sign on bonus, stock options, etc.
We sum all that up to their annual salary for the first year. Then we add that number to the hoodie counter.
A few of my students have documented their journeys on social media, in public from the beginning. Even still, some folks are still skeptical. All I can say is I’ve been doing this for two years and if people weren’t actually getting jobs, the truth would have come out by now. I stand behind my numbers.
I’ve had hecklers say “We want to see verified employment”
What good would that do? If you think I’m capable of paying someone to say, publicly, that I helped them get a job, during a 3 month journey where they’re getting the exact certs I recommended, what makes you think I couldn’t also pay them to say that they got their W2 because of me? I’m not worried about satisfying your burden of proof. I’m not making you buy the course. Or the substack. Or to follow the free roadmap. I’ll let you decide if this is something you should try. If you don’t believe me and my numbers, please go find someone you do trust and best of luck on your journey! No matter who you are or how you get there, once you do get a job, let me know so I can celebrate your wins with you!
Q: “What does a day in the life of a cybersecurity professional look like?”
A: It totally depends on the role. Or if you even end up in cyber vs a more general tech role (about a 50% chance with this approach). In office vs working from home. Company culture. Total number of meetings. Tasks for that day. Etc etc etc. Although there are a few commonalities you can expect across just about any tech role:
You’ll directly report to someone
You’ll have some type of ticketing or results tracking process
You’ll do a lot of research to figure out how to do stuff
If you’re new, you’ll likely be asking a lot of questions at first
You’ll probably end up breaking stuff that does some real damage
When I worked in the office, I pretty well had my list of tasks for the week that I was working on and would do a weekly meeting to give an update, push code, etc.
When I worked from home, I had a set of weekly tasks and would do a daily meeting to go over my progress for the week.
Outside of that, there are 1M different things you could be doing on the day to day.
Q: “HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE??”
A: Depends on you.
It’ll take *about* 300 hours of total study.
Are you spending 30 minutes a day? Probably a year+. Are you doing 6h/day of bone crushing study? Probably a few months (6-12 weeks). I founded a 14 week cybersecurity bootcamp, and let me tell you, my students GRIND to have a job at the end (or to be close to applying).
A quick note on the bootcamp:
You DO NOT need it to get a cyber job. It’s for those who have the money, time, and see it as a worth while investment to expedite their career with deep mentorship.
Now onto the more in depth Q/A:
Q: “How do I get a cyber job?”
A: Follow the roadmap. Simple as that.
Related Qs:
“What if I have no experience?”
“What if I have some experience?”
“What if I have x cert?” (except CCNA - see below)
“What if I have a clearance?”
“What if I don’t know any programming?”
“What if I do know some programming?”
The answer to every single one of these questions is to follow the roadmap.
I don’t mean that to be callous. I mean that because IT WORKS.
If you’ve read the roadmap, you know that it start with getting your net+ and sec+.
The ONLY exception to this is if you already have your CCNA or greater, then skip Net+.
But you don’t need my content to get those certs? So why sub now?
Community and commitment.
Access to the discord and paying $20/month, or even better, $199/y, is motivation to actually study for your certs and see it through.
Don’t try to game the system. Believe me - it’s already gamed enough. People have threatened to kill me for this process because it’s so good they think it’s a fake.
Follow the process and good things will happen.
If I thought you stood a BETTER shot at getting a cyber career by waiting to sign up until after you got your certs, I’d recommend that.
Do it now.
Speaking of discord…
Q: “How do I get in the discord?”
A: Link is right here and it is available to any paid subs in the stack who’s been subscribed for 6+ months.
This is a tremendous resource.
Q: “What kind of job can I get with your program?”
A: There are A LOT of jobs you can get using this substack. Here’s the full breakdown.
Related questions:
“What jobs should I be applying to?”
“On what websites should I be applying?”
“Should I be writing cover letters?” (The answer is No)
All covered in that post.
Q: “What do you do in a cyber job?”
A: Check out this “Day in the life” post. I break down an average day in both my past and current jobs:
Q: “What’s BowTiedCyber’s story?”
A: You can read all about it here :)
Q: “Do I need to learn programming?”
A: No, but you should. You don’t need much. I put all of the necessary programming you’ll need in the stack as lessons starting from this post:
There are about 10 total posts explaining Python in a way that a lot of people find interesting. We build up to making Linux daemons which is super useful.
Q: “What Linux distro should I use?”
A: Ubuntu. Here’s how to install it for the first time. Then go through the rest of the lectures for more fundamentals of Linux and industry level alpha.
Now for some rapid fire:
Q: “What kind of machine do I need to learn cybersecurity?”
A: A shitty used laptop. Check the roadmap.
Q: “Should I get my A+?”
A: No. Check the roadmap.
Q: Should I get a helpdesk job?
A: No. Check the roadmap.
Q: “I’ve been trying to get a cyber job but have had no luck. What do I do?”
A: Check the roadmap.
Q: “How do I know it’s for me?”
A: You try it and find out.
Q: “How do I know I’m smart enough to do it?”
A: Pass your Network+.
Q: “I hate networking. Can’t I just learn how to hack?”
A: No.
Q: “Can I get a job if I have a criminal record?”
A: Maybe. Felonies are hard to overcome but not impossible. Probably a good industry to be in for that since a lot of famous hackers are ex cons. Anything less is a non issue including misdemeanors from what I’ve heard (not legal advice). I did have ONE STUDENT who got a job as a convicted felon. And then he got promoted. This is RARE but clearly there’s evidence of it happening once. I don’t have enough data to comment on if this can be expected for the average felon. Regardless, it’ll be an uphill batter, sorry to say.
Q: “Can my teenager use this program to get a job?”
A: Absolutely. As long as they can handle some crude humor and swearing in the substack posts (and they can - your perfect little angel isn’t as innocent as you think).
Q: “Can you review my resume?”
A: Sometimes in the discord as I have time. Otherwise this is a dedicated service for bootcamp members. If you post it in there, I’ll probably look it over and give you a few pointers.
Q: “Will you be my mentor?”
A: If you’re in the bootcamp, yes. Otherwise, I just don’t have the time to personally mentor everyone. I engage in the discord as much as possible.
Q: “What if I’m not in the US? Can I still get a cyber job?”
A: Yes, but not likely in the US. It’s possible if you’re in the western hemisphere (North, Central, or South America).
I had one Indian student who did EVERYTHING right and still had no luck. Sucks but that’s reality.
Outside of the western hemisphere, expect to get a cyber job in your home country.
This also goes for those in UK and Canada.
Q: “Can I get a remote cyber job as my first job?”
A: Potentially, but unlikely given current market conditions.
This surely is not all of the possible Qs but I’ll add more as they come up.
Thank you for all your love and support.
Now go out there and make me proud!
See you around the discord!
WAGMI
Your fren,
-Cyber