u/Embarrassed_Sky7147

Hi everyone,

I’m 19 years old, a rising sophomore studying Business Administration (currently in my university's Honors Program and serving on the E-board), and I work part-time as an IT and computer repair tech at a shop in the financial district of SF.

My daily tasks mainly involve:
\\- Hardware repair and hardware logistics
\\- General helpdesk support
\\- Local network management
\\- Some endpoint security monitoring (overseeing corporate computers with Huntress)

My absolute long-term career goal is to become an Incident Commander / Cyber Crisis Management Consultant.

I plan on staying at this IT job for the next three years while I finish my degree because the hours are incredibly flexible, the pay is good, and it accommodates my full-time course load. I plan to graduate early, but I wanted to ask:

1. Is this IT helpdesk/hardware role a strong enough foundation to pivot into an entry-level SOC, GRC, or Cyber Advisory role once I graduate?

2. Should I be pushing my current employer to let me take on more security-focused responsibilities, and if so, what would that look like in a standard MSP/repair environment?

3. What specific projects or certs should I be doing on the side to prove I'm ready for a strategic cybersecurity role when the time comes? (I'm currently self-studying for Sec+ and plan to do my uni’s free cyber training they offer in collab with OPSWAT).

Any advice would be highly appreciated. Thanks!

Hi everyone,

I’m 19 years old, a rising sophomore studying Business Administration (currently in my university's Honors Program and serving on the E-board), and I work part-time as an IT and computer repair tech at a shop in the financial district of SF.

My daily tasks mainly involve:
\- Hardware repair and hardware logistics
\- General helpdesk support
\- Local network management
\- Some endpoint security monitoring (overseeing corporate computers with Huntress)

My absolute long-term career goal is to become an Incident Commander / Cyber Crisis Management Consultant.

I plan on staying at this IT job for the next three years while I finish my degree because the hours are incredibly flexible, the pay is good, and it accommodates my full-time course load. I plan to graduate early, but I wanted to ask:

1. Is this IT helpdesk/hardware role a strong enough foundation to pivot into an entry-level SOC, GRC, or Cyber Advisory role once I graduate?

2. Should I be pushing my current employer to let me take on more security-focused responsibilities, and if so, what would that look like in a standard MSP/repair environment?

3. What specific projects or certs should I be doing on the side to prove I'm ready for a strategic cybersecurity role when the time comes? (I'm currently self-studying for Sec+ and plan to do my uni’s free cyber training they offer in collab with OPSWAT).

Any advice would be highly appreciated. Thanks!