How I Went from $33k Helpdesk to $200k Cybersecurity Architect (Self-taught without a Degree)

so how did I go from help desk to cyber security architect with no boot camps or college degrees so glad you asked in this video today I'm going to share my story I'm going to give you the step-by-step Playbook that I took that took me from the help desk to become the senior security architect for the world's largest airline and eventually earning over 200 000 a year as a cyber security consultant are you ready for this let's go [Music] thank you hey cyber Heroes welcome back to my channel and if you're new I'm Boyd clewis an internationally recognized cyber security expert and I help it guys upgrade their jobs into a six-figure cyber security career if you want to join me on this journey be sure to subscribe to the channel and hit the red bell so that you're notified every time I drive new content guaranteed to help you take your career to six figures and Beyond in cyber security alright guys so let's Jump Right In I'm going to take you back to 2005 when I was a lot skinnier at the University of North Texas I enrolled there as a freshman on the track team shout out to the mean green track Squad I was a high jumper triple jumper and long jumper anyway I went to school for accounting I had no inkling that I was even interested in it so it never even occurred to me I went to University of North Essex I was there for a couple years and then I filled out due to some personal circumstances so I find myself in 2007 with no skills and needing a job so what I did was I actually took a job at a copier company and I was working in accounts receivable and I was making thirty three thousand dollars a year here and yeah that wasn't a lot of money especially I had a wife and kids and everything it wasn't a lot of money so I was working in the the billing department in counts receivable doing bill and regular sale at Rick kiss silly ER billing reconciliation there we go I freaking hated it it was a lot of work it was a lot of work the company was based in Dallas I live in Texas right but um the headquarters was actually in New Jersey so whenever a computer would break from one of our my employees co-workers or whatnot they would literally have to box up the computer and ship it to New Jersey for them to fix it I was like okay all right but here's the challenge with that when the person's computer was down it was New Jersey I had to do the work and I was not having that so guys if you look back to my video last week when I talked about getting promoted one of the things that I told you is when you see problems look for Solutions don't just gripe about it so I saw a problem the problem was computers have have to be shipped back to New Jersey and then I have to do all the work not happy with that at all so what I did was I got on the Googles and I figured out how to repair the computers that were broken myself so they didn't have to get shipped back I started and that was actually that gave me an interest in it and then the iPhone came out and it was just on for there I'm doing these computer repairs still not getting paid for it right I'm also setting up users access to new printers whenever new employees were coming I'm doing a little troubleshooting work just by things that I'm reading on Google and I'm liking this so then you fast forward three years into doing this or so the company decided to shut down operations and move operations to California me making thirty three thousand dollars a year was not going to make it in California oh my goodness not at all I was laid off fortunately for me when I was laid off one of my co-workers she knew I was interested in it and she sent me this thing that's called creative Ventures from CompTIA so this Foundation was actually providing free I.T training for people that were laid off and so I just so happened that I was selected as one of the people that could receive free training so they gave me access to an online training program it was all self-paced that eventually taught me the skills that I needed in order to get the a plus certification and they also provided the voucher for that so it was pretty cool I ended up getting laid off from the job I was unemployed but within about 60 days or so I was able to get the a plus certification and then I was on cloud nine because you know what they say right you get certifications then you go get the job and then you go get the money no that's not how that worked and so guys I want y'all to understand this like where my passion is when I talk about like these certifications and skills because my entire business and everything that I've built is literally based on my experience I don't fabricate nothing I give it to you real so I got this a plus certification and I did exactly what you're doing right now you're probably watching me on one screen and then on the other screen you're probably applying for jobs right now because you just got your certification yeah as soon as I would submit those job applications and with my new certification they were rejected they're rejected rejected rejected rejected rejected and that's when I knew it was like certifications don't help you land the job so what I did was I had to Rebrand myself so what you need to do is you need to look at your resume and ask yourself does this person on paper align with this position I'm applying for so if in my position I Was An accounts receivable person applying for tech support roles and it did not line up so here is a major key for you that you need to understand your experience is your experience and you can tell it however you want to tell it so what I did is I rebranded myself I pulled that resume back out and I removed all accounts receivable information from my resume and what I did was I replaced it with all the tech support work that I did in my accounts receivable job so my job title on paper was customer service assistant support something like that so I updated my resume job title to tech support which is true because in the company I functioned in the role of tech support as I was fixing computers removing viruses installing patches configuring printers and software and that's the information that I actually put on my resume boom I started to get a lot more traction now because I have congruency with my certification with my skill set and the jobs that I'm applying for so I actually ended up going to Craigslist and applying for a junior network technician role and I went and interviewed at the company and they were like hey boy you don't have the skills that we're looking for but we like your attitude so we're going to hire you and we're going to train you and I was like yes this time I've been unemployed for about 90 days I get my first offer in it and it is forty thousand dollars so I've already increased my income seven thousand dollars in just a few months by Landing my first IIT job now keep in mind that a plus Certification did absolutely nothing for me it was the knowledge that I learned when I went through their actual training is what helped me get the job so that is the first part so now we're at forty thousand okay guys so the second part happened so I'm working as this junior network technician for a company that is an MSP which is managed service provider they had about 40 different companies that they were providing I.T services for and I was the main technician from the onset it was a bit overwhelming but eventually I learned to love it because I was able to learn so many new technologies across different business verticals that helped me become the man that I am today so it was really cool but it was a lot of hours so it's a junior network technician I'm making 40K I'm doing support I'm removing viruses I'm troubleshooting I'm running cables in the ceiling getting dirty I'm getting the full it Gambit like all the way around and that was a really cool experience and I used that as a launch pad to get to the next phase of my career so I did that for a few years and then I made the transition into server support all right so I went from accounting to tech support and then I moved to server support so I started working for a software company and the software company was paying me sixty thousand dollars a year so now I'm making even more money and this is where things start to get a little interesting I'm at the software company and um I decide that hey I'm at this point where I'm making sixty thousand dollars now I'm doing um server troubleshooting and monitoring I worked in the knock which is the network Operating Center and I worked overnight and so while I'm working overnight I am finding every resource I can online to study for new certifications because I figure the more certs I can get the more money I can make and so that was a thought process that I had so I started accumulating certifications left and right left and right but here's the deal I didn't pay for these certifications right what I did was I brokered a deal with my company I told them that I would study on my own to get the knowledge to pass the certification I just need y'all to pay for that test and so if you're taking notes write this down www.cbtnuggets.com they are one of the I.T training companies that I trust personally because they help me pass so many certifications I'm talking about cisp the Microsoft mCP all that good stuff right so I had a membership with CBT Nuggets I went through the training because my workload was very very light so I accumulate all of these certifications I got CompTIA Network plus Security Plus come to your project plus I got Microsoft mCP this is over a span over about three years I got all these certifications and so because I got these certifications I started to submit my resume out trying to get to the next level I wanted to be making a hundred thousand dollars a year I'm submitting these resumes I got my experience now and I got all these certifications but nothing was happening what I did was again refer back to the video from last week when I talked about getting promoted I figured I would go the route of promotion instead of exit so I intentionally expressed my interest in cyber security to my leadership so I had already got the cyber security certifications then I started doing risk assessments on our company so I would look at how we were processing payment transactions how we were processing data how our servers were configured and I put together a risk assessment list and they actually found it very very valuable and what they did from that is actually created a security analyst position for me and they gave me a raise so at this time now I'm at seventy six thousand dollars a year we're getting closer to the 100K Mark right and that was really really exciting for me but here's the deal at this time I got a laundry list of certifications and I'm only making seventy six thousand dollars a year now keep in mind I got a plus Network plus Security Plus project plus Microsoft mCP Microsoft MTA solarwind certification that's like eight certifications and I'm making seventy six thousand dollars a year something's not right something's not right but let me tell you what actually when it all changed all right guys now I know this story is interesting but this is a really good time for you to click that subscribe button down there and like this video now let's get back to the story okay so I'm making seventy six thousand dollars a year working as a security analyst for a software company and then something very interesting happens now at this time I'm still working nights I'm still working nights in the knock and so I actually get a call from my manager and he asked me to come have a conversation with him during the day shift and I'm like oh I don't know about that seems kind of interesting but I did it anyway and he's asked me he's like hey boy I need your help with this thing would you be willing to do it what he was asking is if I was willing to help out with the cyber security assessment because the company was actually on the verge of failing it and I was like why why I thought we were good you know I did that risk assessment anyway he's like go look over in the conference room and then come back and you tell me I go over to the conference room and I have a look and I immediately see it the guy that is running the security assessment for the company he is in there and he is snoring dead sleeve in front of the security auditor yeah that really happened so I was like sure I didn't know anything about this security assessment but what I did know is I know how to study and how to consume knowledge so one of the things that you guys have to understand is like with everything that I'm telling y'all all the certifications I got everything was self done I essentially curated my own curriculums and I became engulfed in this like this wasn't just a job for me it was a career transformation it was a way for me to provide for my life I didn't know anything else outside of it that was going to get me to the level of income to provide for my family so I was serious about it so when they gave me this opportunity I immediately went over to um the PCI security standards website and I downloaded the security framework because this assessment that we're talking about was the PCI DSS assessment and I had no idea what that was so this is around um around 2014 mean I had no idea what it was so I downloaded the standard I went home over the weekend I just engulfed myself in it like what do these requirements mean what's expected from the company and then I eventually took over the assessment and helped the company pass the Auditors were like hey man you could actually be really good at this and I'm like but I don't want to do what you're doing because like you're asking me questions and interviewing and I'm showing you all this stuff but I get to do all the technical stuff I get the support servers I get to do patch management all the technical stuff and I was like so I'm just curious so how much you guys making here's like a hundred fifty thousand I was like what okay clearly I'm in the wrong space so after I helped the company complete that assessment I had a whole different vision for my career and what it was that I was going to do so I convinced the company to send me to PCI training I went to the training I aced it established some really good relationships with people at the PCI Council and so now I am a certified PCI guy that has been through some assessments I got experience I am marketable marketable I took immediate action on that so I started doing my research online and I started seeing how many PCI jobs were available and what the skill sets that were required for them and I was like I can do this I can do this and then that's when the strangest thing happened I actually ended up getting a call from American Airlines for a position now this was uh was actually a six-figure roll but it was for vulnerability management I had at this time I had the company pay for my cisp so I had the pcip certification which is payment card industry and I had the cissp I went to American Airlines I interviewed I smashed this role and they still don't hire me at this time I probably have like 10 certifications and they still did not give me the job and like I was crushed from it I was crushed here I am still have all these certifications and I'm trying to get to a hundred thousand I'm stuck at 76. it was frustrating it was very very frustrating but I didn't give up what I did was I decided to dig deeper I started to engulf myself even more in the PCI DSS I started joining forums I started going to events I just realized like this was going to be my way out okay so I didn't get the job at American Airlines but that didn't stop me so I went back to the software company and I buckled down even harder on the PCI DSS framework helping my company get through the next assessment also redesigning our Network so that we could process payments even more securely implementing new ideas to increase security so I had a really good time working there while gaining some practical experience even though I was still only making 76 000 a year 18 months later I get a phone call again from American Airlines to interview but this time instead of a vulnerability management position it is for a senior security architect role I went I interviewed and I aced it AC interview they asked me some questions about the PCI DSS requirements I explained in great detail my knowledge and what I've done and they were blown away and they offered me the job on the spot so at this point in time my compensation package included flying free around the world it was pretty cool hundred fifty thousand dollars so I go from 76 000 to a hundred and fifty thousand dollars I didn't add any more certifications I didn't do anything what I did was I focus on mastering the piece CI DSS framework because I knew the impact that this framework would have because if companies don't comply and they get breached and they're found to be non-compliant there could be fines of millions of dollars millions of dollars so it only made sense that was my Niche I landed the job at American Airlines and I immediately began diving in and it was great so I became an internal consultant I helped redesign some of your favorite apps that you might use at American Airlines give them my input around security and compliance I got to fly around the world to different locations to advise on physical security network security to make sure that we were meeting PCI DSS requirements so I'm talking about I got to go to South America I was able to go to Australia I was able to go to Italy I went into so many locations absolutely free because the standard is not just a us-based thing it is an international standard for any company that stores process or transmits credit card data so now I'm 150 000 and I am loving my job doing an internal internal Consulting as the senior security architect for the world's largest airline I did that for about three years after about three years Making Connections around the world a consulting company approached me at a conference that I was at and they were like hey man we've heard that you've been doing good things in the PCI space and we would love for you to come work for us I was like really so what they were wanting me to do was come become a external otter at PC act USA which is qualified security assessor when companies have to go through a PCI assessment they have to engage with a company to perform the security audit for them I had been working at American Airlines in the software company as an internal employee preparing for the Auditors to come so now I was switching size I was going to become the otter so I accepted it it was real really cool really really cool I was able to travel the world I was able to go to India um Ireland oh my goodness I could man which is all over the world performance security assessments absolutely free flying first class in the process again they didn't have to add any more certifications no college degree none of that and this time my salary is around 200 000 a year so let's put this into context the way my salary looked I had a base salary of a hundred and eighty thousand plus I had bonuses that were based on company initiatives and whatnot and so my annual compensation rounded out about two hundred thousand dollars every year that's what I did before I decided to quit yes I quit at two hundred thousand dollar job so that I could help people just like you watching this video get to the end part of my career where you're making the money in the PCI space not doing the help desk work not doing the server support working overnight for 70 grand but helping people bypass that part to go into six-figure careers as payment security specialist and by the way if you want to learn the skills that can help you become a payment security specialist you know what to do click the link in the description or go over to boydcleous.com forward slash GRC apply to join the Baxter clearance training academy and I would be glad to lead you teach you the skills and help you think like a cyber security specialist so that you can change your life and make the money that you really deserve so guys question for you did you realize that you can make over 200 000 a year without a college degree or skills like hacking or coding did you know that let me know down in the comments well guys that's it for this video I hope that you found some value from my story and remember to like this video subscribe to the channel so that you notify whenever I drive new content guaranteed to help you take your career to the next level and Beyond in cyber security I see you guys on the next one foreign [Music]

Channel: Boyd Clewis: The Six-Figure Tech Career Coach

Views: 167,003

Keywords: #cybersecurity, #cybersecurityawareness, #cybersecuritytraining, #cybersecuritynews, #cybersecurityexpert, #cybersecurityengineer, #cybersecuritytips, #cybersecuritymonth, #cybersecuritythreats, #cybersecurityjobs, #cybersecuritymajor, resume, how to get a cyber job, #tech

Id: vApjw9nwPGE

Length: 21min 53sec (1313 seconds)

Published: Sat Nov 26 2022