Top 10 Entry-Level Cybersecurity Jobs in 2026 (Roles, Pay Signals, and Skills)

Table of Contents

• Choosing the Right Entry-Level Cyber Role
• SOC Analyst
• Cybersecurity Analyst
• Identity and Access Management Analyst
• Compliance and Risk Analyst
• Cybersecurity Technician
• Cloud Security Analyst
• Network Security Administrator
• Junior Penetration Tester
• Incident Response Analyst
• Threat Intelligence Analyst
• How to Choose and Start Your Cybersecurity Path
• Frequently Asked Questions

SOC Analyst

Picture yourself in a dim room with three monitors glowing in front of you. Instead of code scrolling in a movie-style “hacker” montage, you’re looking at dashboards, alerts, and logs. Your job: decide which alerts are just background noise and which might be the start of a real breach. That’s Tier 1 SOC work in a nutshell, and it’s why so many guides - from Coursera’s breakdown of cybersecurity jobs to university career pages - list SOC Analyst as the classic first step into security.

What a Tier 1 SOC analyst actually does

As a Tier 1 SOC Analyst, you sit in or support a “security operations center” (sometimes virtually), handling the first wave of security alerts. You’re the person who hears the alarm and decides whether it’s burnt popcorn or a real fire:

• Monitor SIEM dashboards like Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, or IBM QRadar
• Triage alerts, separating false positives from genuine threats
• Escalate serious issues to Tier 2/3 analysts with clear documentation
• Run basic investigations: log searches, IP/domain lookups, checking endpoint alerts
• Create tickets and write incident notes that other teams can act on

CyberSeek’s career pathway explorer highlights SOC/analyst roles as a common starting node for cyber careers, and many employers now accept candidates with certifications and bootcamp training instead of a four-year CS degree. That’s a big deal if you’re switching from help desk, retail, or a non-technical field.

Skills, AI, and the tools you’ll live in

The core of this job is pattern recognition and clear thinking under a steady stream of alerts. To function in a modern SOC, you’ll want:

• Log analysis and basic networking (IP addresses, ports, protocols, common services)
• Hands-on familiarity with at least one SIEM platform
• Awareness of common attacks: phishing, brute force, basic malware behavior
• Clear written communication for incident notes and handoffs
• Beginning “prompt engineering” - using AI tools to summarize logs or generate hypotheses without ever pasting in sensitive or regulated data

“2026 will reward teams that focus on understanding their environment... and treating AI as a force multiplier rather than a magic bullet.” - Rapid7, Key Takeaways and Top Cybersecurity Predictions for 2026

That mindset is perfect for SOC work: you’re not trying to out-click an AI tool; you’re using it to sift noise faster while you make the actual judgment calls about risk and escalation.

Certifications, salary, and why SOC is still a strong first move

On the hiring side, Tier 1 SOC Analyst remains one of the most accessible roles that still pays solidly. Recent research puts Tier 1 SOC Analysts at about $65,000-$85,000 in the U.S., with some “Security Analyst (SOC)” postings averaging close to $99,400 in higher-cost markets. With overall information security analyst roles projected to grow over 30% this decade, SOC work stays high on the priority list for large organizations and managed security service providers (MSSPs).

Analyses of entry-level cyber pay show that CompTIA Security+ can add roughly $10,000-$15,000 to starting compensation compared to similar candidates without it, especially for SOC and analyst roles. That’s why it shows up so often in job ads and in guides like Indeed’s overview of entry-level cybersecurity job requirements.

A realistic path into SOC (without cutting legal or ethical corners)

Breaking into a SOC role is less about memorizing tools and more about showing you can think like an analyst. A practical path looks like this:

1. Build foundations plus a cert. Study for Security+ over 2-3 months using official materials, then pair that with 3-6 months of hands-on labs on platforms like TryHackMe or Hack The Box - always in their legal, sandboxed environments, never against real companies or systems you don’t own.
2. Use a structured bootcamp to simulate real work. For career-switchers, programs like the Nucamp Cybersecurity Fundamentals Bootcamp are designed around SOC-style tasks: a 15-week schedule at about 12 hours per week, 100% online with weekly live workshops, tuition around $2,124 (vs. $10k+ at many competitors), hands-on labs in network defense and ethical hacking, prep for Security+, GSEC, and CEH, a ~75% graduation rate, and a 4.5/5 rating on Trustpilot from nearly 400 reviews.
3. Practice with free tools at home. Spin up a lab using free SIEM options (Splunk Free, Elastic Stack), generate test logs, and write three mini “incident reports” you can post to GitHub or a portfolio site.
4. Apply to the right titles. Target “SOC Analyst I,” “Security Analyst - Entry Level,” or “Cyber Defense Analyst (Junior).” Many of these postings explicitly accept bootcamp grads and certification-focused candidates, reflecting the skills-based hiring shift you see across modern cyber teams.

Handled this way, SOC Analyst becomes less of a mysterious “Top 10” label and more of a concrete starting line: specific tools, realistic salary expectations, and a clear plan to prove you can handle the alerts without burning out - or breaking the rules.

Cybersecurity Analyst

If SOC work is like running fast laps around a track, the Cybersecurity Analyst role is more like an all-terrain run: you still deal with threats, but you’re also navigating risk assessments, policies, and conversations with non-technical teams. It’s less about staring at alerts all night and more about being the bridge between “what happened on the network” and “what this means for the business.” This broader scope is why the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Information Security Analyst category - which heavily overlaps with this role - is projected to grow about 33% from 2023-2033, one of the strongest outlooks in IT.

What a cybersecurity analyst actually does day to day

In a typical week, you might spend part of your time in tools and part of your time in documents and meetings. Common responsibilities include:

• Monitoring security tools (EDR, SIEM, email security gateways) and following up on notable activity
• Running vulnerability scans and helping teams prioritize which findings to fix first
• Updating or reviewing security policies and contributing to awareness training content
• Helping investigate incidents and making sure they’re properly documented and closed out
• Producing reports and dashboards that explain risk and trends to managers or executives

Entry-level cybersecurity analyst salaries generally fall in the $70,000-$95,000 range, with some markets and industries (finance, healthcare, SaaS) listing roles closer to $74,000-$110,000, as outlined in resources like the Robert Half cybersecurity hiring and salary trends guide. That mix of solid pay and varied work makes this role a popular choice for career-switchers who don’t want to live only in a SOC.

Core skills and certifications for the “all-terrain” analyst

Because this job touches tools, systems, and people, you’ll want a mix of technical depth and communication strength:

• Networking and OS basics across Windows and Linux
• Understanding of vulnerabilities (CVEs, CVSS scores, basic patching strategies)
• Intro scripting with Python or PowerShell to automate repetitive tasks and parse logs
• Risk concepts like likelihood, impact, and control effectiveness
• Comfort writing clear, non-jargony reports for non-technical stakeholders

Breaking in from IT, support, or a non-technical background

Plenty of cybersecurity analysts start in feeder roles like IT support, systems administration, or network administration. Career path tools and guides - including those from Springboard’s overview of entry-level cybersecurity jobs - explicitly call out these jobs as common stepping stones into analyst positions. The key is to highlight any security-adjacent work you already do (patching, MFA rollout, access reviews, vendor questionnaires) and present it in the language of risk and controls.

1. Leverage a feeder role if you have one. In help desk or sysadmin jobs, volunteer for tasks like patch management, phishing simulations, or secure configuration projects. Document what you did and the risk it reduced.
2. Build a simple “risk register” project. Take a fictional or anonymized small business, list 10-15 assets (laptops, CRM, payroll system), identify major risks, and propose basic controls. Turn it into a short report or slide deck - this is exactly the kind of thinking analysts use.
3. Follow a structured learning path. Pair a foundational program (like a cybersecurity bootcamp that covers the CIA triad, threats, and network defense) with Security+, then add 1-2 small scripting or log-analysis projects on GitHub.
4. Apply widely to “Junior Cybersecurity Analyst” and “Information Security Analyst I” roles. Focus on descriptions that mention “willing to train” or accept a combination of bootcamp, certifications, and related experience instead of requiring a four-year CS degree.

Handled this way, the Cybersecurity Analyst role becomes a realistic next terrain, not an abstract “dream job” on a list - something you can train for methodically, step onto without burning out, and then use as a launchpad into more specialized areas like cloud, IR, or governance as your gait and interests evolve.

Identity and Access Management Analyst

Identity and Access Management (IAM) is where cybersecurity gets very close to how a business actually runs: who gets access to what, when, and under which conditions. As more companies move to cloud and adopt zero-trust models, “identity” has effectively become the new perimeter. That’s why many experts now describe IAM Analyst as a “secret gem” entry role for beginners - less crowded than SOC, tightly coupled to cloud growth, and highly resilient as AI spreads. Recent salary research places IAM Analyst roles around $75,000-$90,000 in 2026, while related cloud security analyst roles average roughly $108,000 in the U.S., reflecting the strong demand for people who understand accounts, roles, and permissions rather than just devices.

What IAM analysts actually do all day

On a typical day, an IAM Analyst is deep in user accounts and access rules instead of packet captures. You’ll manage user onboarding and offboarding, maintain groups and roles in systems like Azure AD, Okta, or AWS IAM, and keep multi-factor authentication (MFA) and single sign-on (SSO) running smoothly. That usually includes tasks like coordinating access reviews with managers, helping design role-based access control (RBAC) models that match job functions, and investigating suspicious sign-ins or unusual access patterns. Because you’re handling permissions to critical systems and sensitive data, this work sits at the intersection of security, privacy, and compliance - misconfigured access can be just as damaging as a missed malware alert.

Core skills and certifications that signal “IAM-ready”

To be effective in IAM, you need a firm grasp of how identities and trust are modeled, plus the patience to work through detailed access rules without cutting corners. The technical essentials include authentication and authorization standards like passwords, MFA, OAuth, SAML, and OIDC; basic directory services concepts (on-prem Active Directory and cloud directories like Azure AD); and scripting (often PowerShell or Python) to automate account lifecycle tasks. Soft skills matter too: you’ll work closely with HR, managers, and auditors, so you need to explain access decisions clearly and push back diplomatically when a request violates least privilege. A typical certification stack might start with Security+ for general security literacy, followed by a cloud or vendor-specific identity cert. Industry career guides such as IronCircle’s 2026 cybersecurity career outlook highlight identity and cloud as two of the most durable specializations as organizations modernize.

Breaking into IAM from support, ops, or non-technical work

Many IAM Analysts start in help desk, desktop support, or system administration, where they already handle account provisioning, password resets, and group memberships. To make the jump, you can deliberately lean into those tasks, document them as security work, and then build a small lab to show you understand modern identity patterns: for example, using an Azure trial or Microsoft 365 developer tenant to create test users, groups, and conditional access policies, then writing up how you enforced MFA or blocked risky sign-ons. For career-switchers from business, HR, or operations, your experience with processes and approvals can be a real asset; guides like WebAsha’s beginner-friendly cybersecurity fields overview note that areas tied to policy and governance are often more accessible than pure engineering roles. Wherever you start, keep ethics front and center: access data should only be used for legitimate business purposes, test environments should be clearly separated from production, and any automation you build must respect privacy laws and company policies rather than trying to “bypass” them.

Compliance and Risk Analyst

Maybe deep packet inspection and reverse engineering don’t light you up, but you’re the person everyone trusts to keep track of details, organize documentation, and interpret rules. That’s exactly the terrain where Compliance and Risk Analysts thrive. As regulations around data, privacy, and AI tighten, governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) work has moved from “checkbox” to core security function; analyses like Research.com’s cybersecurity career outlook point out that organizations now rely on GRC specialists to translate security threats into business and regulatory risk.

What compliance and risk analysts actually do

Instead of living inside packet captures, you spend your time mapping how the company operates against laws, standards, and internal policies. Typical responsibilities include aligning practices with frameworks like ISO 27001, SOC 2, PCI-DSS, HIPAA, or GDPR; maintaining a risk register and tracking mitigation actions; helping run vendor security reviews and due diligence questionnaires; coordinating internal audits and collecting evidence; and supporting security awareness campaigns and policy rollouts. You’re less “fighting fires at 2 a.m.” and more making sure the building is up to code so fires are less likely and less damaging when they do happen.

Pay signals and nearby roles in the GRC family

On the numbers side, entry-level Compliance Analyst roles tend to fall around $62,000-$79,000, while broader Compliance/Risk Analyst positions often start at about $70,000+. More specialized Information Assurance Analyst roles, which lean deeper into security and risk, average roughly $99,600 in 2026. Closely related jobs like IT Auditor commonly land in the $66,802-$75,000 range, reflecting the premium on people who can speak both “controls” and “regulations.” A number of high-paying-job roundups, including those covered by DigitalDefynd’s entry-level cybersecurity jobs guide, call out compliance, risk, and audit tracks as some of the easiest paths in for professionals with business, legal, or finance backgrounds.

How to start building GRC experience (without writing code)

If you’re coming from finance, legal, HR, operations, or project management, you probably already understand regulations, documentation, and stakeholder wrangling. You can turn that into GRC experience by learning a security framework like NIST CSF or ISO 27001 and doing a small project: take a fictional or anonymized company, list its key assets and processes, map them to a handful of controls, identify gaps, and propose pragmatic fixes. Studying for certifications such as CompTIA Security+ (for technical baseline) or, later, CISA-level material (for audit thinking) helps you learn the language of risk, even if you don’t sit the exam immediately.

From there, look for roles titled Compliance Analyst, Risk Analyst, or Information Assurance Specialist that mention “willing to train,” and be ready to talk through your mock risk register or control-mapping project like it was client work. As AI starts to summarize policies and generate draft controls, your value is in judgment: knowing when a control truly addresses a risk, when evidence meets regulatory expectations, and when automating a process might accidentally expose sensitive data. Above all, ethics are non-negotiable here - GRC professionals are the ones who ensure evidence isn’t fabricated, exceptions aren’t swept under the rug, and privacy obligations are honored rather than worked around.

“Governance, risk management, and compliance roles are increasingly critical as organizations navigate complex regulatory landscapes and growing cyber threats.” - Editorial analysis, Cybersecurity Careers Report, Research.com

Cybersecurity Technician

Cybersecurity Technician roles are where security meets hands-on IT: installing endpoint protection, locking down Wi-Fi, setting up VPNs, and helping real people when something looks phishy. If you’re already the “fix my computer” person in your family or you’ve worked in help desk, this path can feel like upgrading from a basic commuter bike to a well-tuned trail bike. Recent research places Cybersecurity Technician salaries roughly in the $55,000-$84,500 range in the U.S., depending on region and whether you’re in-house or at an MSP/MSSP, with broader entry-level cybersecurity salaries often climbing higher as you add experience and certifications.

What a cybersecurity technician actually does

Day to day, this job looks a lot like IT support with a security twist. You’re installing and configuring antivirus/EDR agents, helping set up firewalls and VPNs for remote staff, hardening workstations and servers (disabling insecure services, enforcing encryption and screen locks), and assisting during incidents by imaging drives or pulling logs. You’ll also spend a surprising amount of time educating end users on phishing and safe practices during support calls. Because small and midsize businesses rarely have full-blown SOCs, they often lean heavily on “security-aware IT pros,” which is why technician-style roles show up frequently in lists of accessible security jobs for beginners and career-switchers.

Core skills and the foundation cert stack

Success here starts with strong troubleshooting instincts plus enough security knowledge to make safe default choices. That usually means A+-level hardware and OS fundamentals, solid networking basics (subnets, routers, VLANs, VPN concepts), familiarity with endpoint security tools and hardening checklists, and basic scripting (PowerShell for Windows, Bash for Linux) to automate repetitive tasks. On paper, employers tend to look for a stack of CompTIA certifications that build from IT into security:

Industry analyses note that a bachelor’s degree in a related field can add roughly $25,000-$30,000 to baseline pay, while a certification like Security+ can boost starting compensation by about $10,000-$15,000 compared to similar candidates without it. That’s a significant jump for roles that are still very approachable from help desk or field technician work.

Using help desk as your launchpad

Many career stories highlighted in guides like IT Support Group’s complete guide to getting into cybersecurity start with 1-2 years on help desk, then pivot into more security-focused technician or analyst roles. You can accelerate that pivot by volunteering to lead MFA rollouts, patching projects, or endpoint encryption initiatives, then documenting what you did, why it mattered, and how you measured success. A structured program such as Nucamp’s 15-week Cybersecurity Fundamentals Bootcamp can help you fill in the gaps: roughly 12 hours per week, 100% online with weekly live workshops, tuition around $2,124 (far below many $10k+ programs), hands-on labs in network defense and ethical hacking, prep for Security+, GSEC, and CEH, a ~75% graduation rate, and a 4.5/5 Trustpilot rating from nearly 400 reviews.

Staying ahead of automation - and staying ethical

Because technician work can involve repetitive tasks, you’ll want to lean into automation and system thinking rather than resisting it. As one analysis on InfoSec Write-ups warns,

“If your plan is to build a career on manual tasks, you are stepping into a race against machines... 2026 will reward the people who evolve faster.” - InfoSec Write-ups, The Truth About the 2026 Cybersecurity Job Market

Cloud Security Analyst

Cloud isn’t a futuristic add-on anymore; for most companies, it’s just “the environment.” That’s why roles like Cloud Security Analyst and Cloud SOC Analyst are exploding: you’re defending AWS, Azure, or GCP accounts instead of just on-prem servers. Salary data from high-paying job roundups shows that cloud security analyst roles average around $108,000 in the U.S., even when you blend junior and mid-level positions, putting them among the better-paid early-career options highlighted in resources like Programs.com’s highest-paying cybersecurity jobs list.

What cloud security analysts actually do

On a typical day, you’re living in cloud consoles and security dashboards rather than racking physical servers. You monitor services like AWS GuardDuty, Azure Defender, or Google Security Command Center; review identity and access policies (IAM roles, security groups, conditional access); help enforce baseline configurations using standards like CIS Benchmarks; and investigate cloud-specific incidents, from suspicious API calls to misconfigured storage buckets. In a Cloud SOC flavor of the role, you’re also triaging cloud alerts in a SIEM, enriching them with context, and coordinating with DevOps to roll out security fixes as code. Because cloud environments change quickly, this work rewards people who can think in systems and stay calm when there are a lot of moving parts.

Skills, certifications, and why AI makes this work more valuable

To function in cloud security, you need the usual network and OS basics plus a clear understanding of at least one major cloud platform’s building blocks: VPCs and subnets, load balancers, security groups and firewalls, IAM policies, and logging services. Infrastructure-as-code concepts (Terraform, ARM templates, CloudFormation) are a big plus because many fixes now happen in code repositories instead of one-off console clicks. On the credential side, people often start with a baseline security cert like Security+ and then add a cloud associate certification (AWS Cloud Practitioner, AWS Solutions Architect - Associate, or Azure Fundamentals) before aiming for cloud-focused security credentials. The (ISC)² CCSP (Certified Cloud Security Professional) is widely cited as a differentiator, with some analyses estimating it can add up to $20,000 over baseline security roles once you have the required experience.

“AI will increasingly act as a force multiplier for security teams, enabling them to manage complex cloud environments without replacing human judgment.” - Darktrace, AI and Cybersecurity: Predictions for 2025

Breaking in (and staying on the right side of the shared responsibility model)

One practical route is to start in a general SOC or cybersecurity analyst role, then deliberately pick up cloud responsibilities as your organization migrates services. In parallel, use free tiers from AWS or trial credits from Azure/GCP to build a small lab: deploy a simple web app, configure IAM roles and security groups, intentionally misconfigure a storage bucket in your own account, then enable a detection tool like GuardDuty or Defender to see what alerts look like. Document the whole experiment as if it were a real incident report. Always keep ethics and the cloud providers’ acceptable-use policies in mind: never scan or “test” cloud environments you don’t own or control, never probe client or employer resources without explicit written authorization, and avoid pasting proprietary logs or account details into AI tools. If you treat AI as a helper for pattern-spotting and documentation, and treat cloud platforms as shared-responsibility environments where configuration is half the battle, Cloud Security Analyst becomes a powerful, future-proof lane rather than just another buzzword on a job board.

Network Security Administrator

If you’re the kind of person who enjoys sketching network diagrams on a whiteboard and troubleshooting strange connectivity issues, Network Security Administrator is a natural fit. Instead of just keeping packets moving, you’re responsible for making sure they move safely. Salary research places Network Security Administrator roles in roughly the $82,496-$130,000 range in the U.S., with the higher end typically in finance, telecom, and large enterprises. That combination of deep technical work and strong earning potential is why guides like Georgia Tech’s hot cybersecurity jobs overview still treat network-focused roles as foundational, even as cloud and AI take more of the spotlight.

What a network security admin actually does

Day to day, you’re designing, maintaining, and monitoring the “roads” everyone else’s traffic runs on. That usually means configuring and updating firewalls and VPNs, managing network segmentation and access control lists, keeping intrusion detection and prevention systems tuned, and watching for anomalies via NetFlow, logs, or dedicated monitoring tools. You’ll coordinate closely with SOC and incident response teams when they need network-level blocks or packet captures, and you’ll often be the one translating business requirements (“partners need access to this app”) into secure architectures (“they get a dedicated subnet and tightly scoped rules”). Because misconfigured rules can either expose critical systems or bring down whole segments, attention to detail and a methodical change process are non-negotiable.

Skills, certifications, and how this differs from generic networking

The core skills look a lot like a senior network engineer’s skill set, but with a heavy security lens. You need strong knowledge of the OSI model, routing and switching, subnetting, VLANs, and VPN technologies, plus hands-on experience with at least one enterprise firewall platform. On top of that, you’ll want familiarity with IDS/IPS tools, network monitoring platforms, and basic automation using Python or tools like Ansible to manage configs at scale. A common certification path is to build up from CompTIA Network+ into vendor-specific networking (for example, CCNA), then layer security with a credential like Security+ or a vendor’s security track. Programs such as Nucamp’s 15-week Cybersecurity Fundamentals Bootcamp, which includes a Network Defense and Security course on firewalls, IDS/IPS, network segmentation, and VPNs, can give career-switchers structured exposure to these topics without the price tag of many $10,000+ bootcamps highlighted in Nucamp’s own skills-to-salary analyses.

Breaking in and leveling up without burning out - or crossing lines

Most Network Security Administrators start as general network or systems admins, gradually taking on firewall changes, VPN onboarding, and segmentation projects. You can accelerate that path by building a virtual lab with tools like GNS3 or EVE-NG, designing a small multi-subnet environment with a virtual firewall, and documenting how you enforce separation between “prod,” “dev,” and “guest” networks. A structured program that teaches network defense alongside fundamentals and ethical hacking can help you understand both how attackers see your network and how defenders should respond. Throughout, ethics and privacy are critical: as a network security admin, you often have the technical ability to see user traffic or run powerful scans, but that doesn’t mean you have permission to inspect personal data or probe systems at will. Stick to approved change windows, log your actions, and only capture or inspect traffic when it’s necessary and authorized. That discipline - technical and ethical - is what turns a love of packets and diagrams into a sustainable, trusted security career.

Junior Penetration Tester

For a lot of newcomers, “penetration tester” is the job title that first catches their eye: you get paid to hack things (legally), think creatively, and outsmart defenses. The reality is a bit less cinematic and a bit more methodical, but it’s still one of the most engaging paths in security. Entry-level Junior Penetration Tester roles typically fall around $75,000-$100,000 in the U.S., while broader penetration tester averages reach about $119,895 as you gain experience. Salary analyses like the Destination Certification roundup of highest-paid cybersecurity jobs consistently place pen testing near the top of the pay scale, which is part of why competition for these roles is so fierce.

What junior penetration testers actually do

As a junior, you’re not being turned loose on critical production systems alone. You work under the guidance of senior testers or a team lead, helping with reconnaissance and information gathering on in-scope targets; running vulnerability scans, then manually validating and safely exploiting a subset of findings; documenting every step you take so results can be reproduced and fixed; and contributing to structured reports that explain impact and remediation options in plain language. You may also assist with web app tests, internal network assessments, or occasional red-team and social engineering exercises, always within a clearly defined scope and with explicit written authorization. Anything outside that scope - like pointing tools at random companies or “testing” your employer’s systems without permission - is not practice, it’s illegal hacking.

Skills, certifications, and the depth employers expect

Because pen testing asks you to break systems on purpose, employers expect you to understand how those systems work first. That means solid networking, operating system internals, and web application basics, plus familiarity with offensive tools and techniques and the ability to script your own helpers when needed. A common progression is to earn a baseline security cert, then move into offensive-focused credentials that prove you can apply that knowledge hands-on.

“Penetration testing roles often appear among the highest-paid cybersecurity jobs, but they demand a deeper technical foundation than most entry-level positions.” - Editorial analysis, Destination Certification, Top 10 Highest-Paid Cybersecurity Jobs

Breaking in ethically and building a portfolio that stands out

Most successful junior pen testers don’t start there; they spend 1-3 years in roles like SOC analyst, sysadmin, or security analyst first, learning how real environments are built and defended. From there, you can move toward offensive work by practicing in legal labs such as Hack The Box, TryHackMe, and structured CTFs, where systems are intentionally vulnerable and testing is explicitly permitted. A structured program that includes an Ethical Hacking course with authorized labs can accelerate this transition, but the key is always consent and scope: never aim tools at anything you don’t own or have written permission to test, never try to “practice” on your employer’s network outside an approved engagement, and never exfiltrate or publish real-world data. To prove your skills to hiring managers, build a portfolio of detailed write-ups from labs and CTFs, focusing on how you found, exploited, and remediated vulnerabilities rather than just “I got root.” When you’re ready to apply, target titles like Associate Penetration Tester, Junior Security Consultant, or AppSec Tester (Entry Level) at consultancies and security firms that use an apprenticeship model, so you can keep learning without being thrown into the deep end alone.

Incident Response Analyst

When something finally slips past the defenses, the people everyone calls are the Incident Response (IR) team. If SOC is about hearing the alarm, IR is about showing up at the burning building, figuring out what’s on fire, and stopping it from spreading. It’s high-pressure, puzzle-heavy work that rewards calm thinking under stress. Early-career Incident Response Analyst roles typically fall around $80,900-$95,000 in the U.S., and they stay in demand as breaches, ransomware, and business email compromise keep rising across industries.

What an incident response analyst actually does

Most IR analysts split their time between active incidents and preparation. During an incident, you’re triaging alerts that have already been escalated, collecting and preserving digital evidence (disk images, endpoint telemetry, logs), containing threats by isolating systems or blocking malicious indicators, and coordinating with legal, HR, and leadership when sensitive data or employee accounts are involved. Outside of live fire drills, you’re refining playbooks, testing detection rules, and running tabletop exercises so the next real incident goes more smoothly. A compilation of 200+ cybersecurity stats from VikingCloud underscores why this work matters: year after year, organizations report rising breach volumes and costly downtime when response is slow or uncoordinated.

Core skills and certifications that matter in IR

Strong incident responders combine deep technical knowledge with rigorous documentation habits. On the technical side, you’ll need to understand Windows Event Logs and Linux logs, endpoint detection and response (EDR) tools, common malware behaviors and persistence mechanisms, and the basics of network forensics and packet analysis. On the process side, you must follow strict chain-of-custody procedures so evidence is admissible and trustworthy, write clear timelines and after-action reports, and communicate calmly with non-technical stakeholders during stressful situations.

How to move into IR without burning out (or breaking rules)

Most IR analysts don’t start there on day one. A common route is 1-2 years as a Tier 1 SOC Analyst or general Cybersecurity Analyst, where you learn to triage alerts, read logs, and understand your organization’s environment. From there, you can lean into IR by volunteering for incident post-mortems, helping refine playbooks, and practicing in blue-team CTFs and lab environments that simulate real attacks. A structured curriculum like the incident-response and forensics modules described in EC-Council University’s cybersecurity career guide can help you build focused skills around handling and analyzing evidence.

Because IR work often exposes you to highly sensitive data - emails, documents, HR records, customer information - ethics and legal awareness are just as important as technical skill. You must only access data that’s necessary for the investigation, respect privacy and regulatory boundaries (HIPAA, GDPR, and industry-specific rules), and never copy or share evidence outside approved channels. The same goes for tools: it’s fine to use AI to summarize non-sensitive log snippets or help draft runbooks, but you should never paste proprietary logs, personal data, or indicators that could identify your employer or clients into public models. If you build your incident response skills on top of solid SOC fundamentals, disciplined documentation, and a strong ethical compass, you can handle the “oh no” moments without compromising the people you’re supposed to protect.

Threat Intelligence Analyst

Threat intelligence is the role for people who like connecting dots more than configuring firewalls. Instead of tuning a single tool, you’re tracking how attackers operate across the whole internet and turning that into early warnings for your defenders. If SOC is like watching the racetrack in real time, threat intel is studying race footage, pit strategies, and weather patterns so the team knows what’s coming. That research-heavy flavor makes this path a good fit if you enjoy reading, writing, and analysis as much as hands-on technical work.

What threat intelligence and OSINT analysts actually do

Threat Intelligence Analysts spend most of their time gathering and interpreting data about adversaries, campaigns, and indicators of compromise (IOCs). That might mean monitoring open sources (news, blogs, social media, paste sites, code repositories), consuming commercial feeds, correlating domains and IPs to specific threat actors, and producing reports that help SOC and IR teams understand which alerts really matter. OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence) Analysts focus more narrowly on collecting and analyzing information from publicly available sources, using specialized tools and frameworks to map infrastructure, identify phishing domains, or profile tactics and procedures.

• Monitoring threat reports, malware analyses, and vulnerability disclosures
• Enriching internal alerts with context on threat actors and campaigns
• Maintaining internal IOC repositories and watchlists
• Writing concise intelligence briefs for technical and executive audiences
• Using OSINT tools and methodologies while respecting legal and privacy boundaries

Ethics are central here: OSINT does not mean doxxing, stalking, or scraping data in violation of terms of service. Your work must stay inside the lines of law, company policy, and basic respect for privacy, even when you’re investigating criminal activity.

Pay signals and neighboring roles

Salary data for early-career intelligence roles sits in a solid but not extreme band, with clear upside as you gain experience and specialize. Research places Threat Intelligence Analyst salaries around $70,000-$79,163 for early-career positions, with more senior analysts and leads earning substantially more. Separate references to OSINT Analyst roles put averages near $75,000, especially in organizations that invest heavily in intelligence-driven defense, as highlighted in role roundups like Cyber Security District’s list of entry-level cybersecurity jobs.

Skills, tools, and how AI changes the work

Good intel analysts blend technical fluency with strong communication and critical thinking. You’ll need a working understanding of malware families, infrastructure components (domains, IPs, ASNs), and attacker TTPs, along with research skills and the ability to write clearly for busy readers. Familiarity with OSINT frameworks and tools (such as link analyzers, passive DNS databases, or metadata extractors) is key, but the real value is in your judgment: separating signal from noise, weighing source reliability, and recommending practical defensive actions. AI is increasingly part of the toolkit here, helping cluster related reports or summarize long documents, and expert roundups like Solutions Review’s 2026 cybersecurity predictions stress that teams who can pair automated analysis with human insight are the ones who stay ahead.

“Threat intelligence only becomes valuable when it’s translated into concrete defensive actions rather than static reports.” - Industry expert commentary, Solutions Review Cybersecurity Predictions

Breaking in ethically and building a credible intel portfolio

Many Threat Intelligence Analysts start in SOC or general cybersecurity analyst roles and gradually gravitate toward research tasks: enriching alerts with context, tracking phishing domains over time, or maintaining internal threat briefs. To move deliberately in this direction, you can practice OSINT on legal, non-sensitive targets (for example, a fake company profile you create for training), write short reports on recent ransomware or phishing campaigns using only public sources, and share your analysis on a blog or GitHub. Certifications like Security+ help establish a baseline, while specialized OSINT or threat intel courses from reputable providers deepen your tradecraft. Throughout, keep your work clearly within legal and ethical boundaries: don’t investigate real individuals without cause, don’t access private data or restricted systems, and don’t dump sensitive intel into public AI models. If you treat threat intelligence as disciplined, ethically grounded analysis rather than “internet sleuthing,” it becomes a sustainable role where your curiosity, writing, and systems thinking directly improve how your organization defends itself.

How to Choose and Start Your Cybersecurity Path

Staring at a wall of “Top 10 Cyber Jobs” can feel a lot like that running-shoe display: endless options, lots of bold claims, and not much guidance on what actually fits you. The way through is to stop hunting for the “perfect” role and start treating this like a gait analysis: understand your current strengths, your constraints, and the kind of work that energizes you, then pick one lane and commit to a short, focused learning sprint instead of browsing forever.

Step 1: Do your cybersecurity “gait analysis”

Before you sign up for a cert or a bootcamp, get honest about three things: where you’re starting from, what kind of day-to-day work you want, and how much pressure you’re willing to live with. That means looking at your background (help desk, business, teaching, retail, or no tech at all), your preferences (hands-on tools vs. writing and process vs. research), and your realities (can you work nights? do you have 10 or 20 hours a week to study?). Skills-based hiring is now common enough that people are breaking into cyber from all kinds of paths, but you’ll move faster if you choose a role that’s a reasonable stretch instead of a complete reinvention.

• If you like fixing things and talking to users: SOC Analyst, Cybersecurity Technician
• If you like structure, rules, and documentation: Compliance/Risk Analyst, IAM Analyst
• If you like deep dives and research: Threat Intel/OSINT, eventually IR or forensics
• If you like systems and architecture: Network Security Admin, Cloud Security Analyst

Look at a few real job postings in each of those lanes and note the overlap in tools, skills, and certifications. Salary trackers such as the ZipRecruiter entry-level cybersecurity salary summary can give you a rough sense of pay bands, but the main question is: “Can I picture myself doing these tasks every week without burning out?”

Step 2: Plan a 3-6 month learning sprint

Once you’ve picked a lane, treat the next few months like a structured training block, not an endless self-study marathon. The goal is to stack three things: foundations, a recognized credential, and 1-2 concrete portfolio pieces that match the job you want. For many career-switchers, that looks like 10-15 hours a week over 3-6 months, combining self-study, labs, and a structured program.

This is where programs like Nucamp’s 15-week Cybersecurity Fundamentals Bootcamp can help: three consecutive 4-week courses (Foundations, Network Defense and Security, Ethical Hacking), around 12 hours a week including self-paced work, weekly live workshops capped at about 15 students, and integrated prep for certifications like Security+, GSEC, and CEH. With options for Early Bird and Regular tuition, plus a modest registration fee, it’s intentionally priced far below many $10,000+ competitors and includes career services like coaching and portfolio support so you’re not figuring out the job search alone.

Step 3: Build proof, then start applying

Whatever lane you choose, hiring managers want to see evidence, not just enthusiasm. That means:

• One baseline cert that matches the role (often Security+ for defensive roles)
• 1-2 small projects that mirror real work: a mini risk assessment, a home lab with firewall rules, a set of SOC-style incident write-ups, a cloud misconfiguration and fix you documented, or ethical hacking labs done in authorized environments only
• A resume and LinkedIn profile that translate your past experience into security language instead of treating cyber as a total reset

From there, apply broadly to entry-level and feeder roles: SOC Analyst I, Junior Cybersecurity Analyst, IT Support with Security Focus, Compliance Analyst, IAM Specialist. Expect some “no”s and some slow replies; your job is to keep iterating on your projects, tightening your story, and sending out applications instead of waiting to feel “fully ready.” If you keep your focus on fit over hype, commit to a realistic sprint, and practice your skills in legal, sandboxed environments or clearly authorized company projects, you’re not just buying a flashy pair of career shoes - you’re lacing up something you can actually run in for the long haul.

Frequently Asked Questions