Objectives
In this lab, you will complete the following objectives:
- Conduct a Penetration Tester Job Search
- Analyze Penetration Tester Job Requirements
- Discover Resources to Further Your Career
Background / Scenario
When preparing for any career, it is important to understand the prospective job market. The help wanted postings on internet job boards contain a wealth of information regarding the qualifications and preparation required for the jobs that you will be applying for. For careers in ethical hacking, you can see the certifications, knowledge, and skills that are required along with descriptions of what the ethical hacker will be doing for the company. In addition, you can see the kinds of organizations that hire ethical hackers, their locations, and other corporate information that is useful to know when applying for positions.
Required Resources
- Kali VM customized for Ethical Hacker course
- Internet access
Instructions
Part 1: Conduct a Penetration Tester Job Search
In this part of the lab, you will conduct a search for ethical hacker/penetration tester jobs on various internet employment sites.
Step 1: Search internet job boards.
- Open a browser and search for jobs related to ethical hacking and penetration testing. Use employment sites such as indeed.com, glassdoor.com, linkedin.com, monster.com, etc.
- Consult at least three different employment sites. Search specifically for entry-level postings, although feel free to look at more senior positions. Find some jobs that look interesting to you.
- Complete Table 1: Jobs Table with at least five jobs that you have found from different employment sites. You can complete the tables in this document, or recreate the tables in another file or on a piece of paper.
- Bookmark these jobs or open each job in a new tab. Keep the sites available for the next part of the lab.
Table 1: Jobs Table
Part 2: Analyze Penetration Tester Job Requirements
Now that you have collected some jobs that are interesting to you, go through and complete Table 2: Duties and Required Training and Certification.
Step 1: Complete the table.
- Copy the five jobs from Table 1 into the Job Title column in Table 2: Duties and Required Training and Certification.
- Read through the job postings and summarize the duties that you would be responsible for in the position. Focus on the diversity of duties that are required by the different positions.
- What skills are required? Focus on the pentesting-related skills, but also any general skills that are required.
- Explore the postings further and complete the Required Experience column. What kind of experience is required for each job? How many years of experience do they require? If the employment site interface permits, filter or search for entry-level positions that require no experience. There are some out there !
- Finally, what certifications are mentioned as required or desirable?
Table 2: Duties and Required Training and Certification
Part 3: Discover Resources to Further Your Career
You likely noticed several certification and training requirements that were mentioned in the job postings. In this part of the lab, you will investigate pathways to gain the level of training and the certifications that are suitable for the type of job that you are looking for.
Reflection
From your internet search results, please answer the following questions.