The cybersecurity job market in 2026 has one clear shift: skills beat degrees. Employers don't care where…
Lara B. — Building Cyberr
The cybersecurity job market in 2026 has one clear shift: skills beat degrees.
Employers don't care where you studied. They care what you can actually do: in cloud environments, AI security, and real-world problem-solving.
But before you touch a single security tool, you need to understand the systems you're protecting.
Here's the foundation most people skip:
1. Networking Fundamentals
OSI model, TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP. You cannot defend what you don't understand. Full stop.
2. Operating Systems
Stop living in basic Windows. Learn Linux command line (Ubuntu or Kali) and Windows Administration, including Active Directory.
Cloud Basics
3. "On-premise only" roles are almost gone. Get familiar with the shared responsibility models of AWS, Azure, or GCP. Pick one. Go deep.
4. Basic Scripting
Python or Bash. You don't need to be a developer. You need to automate the repetitive stuff so you can focus on what actually matters.
What would you add to this list?
6 reactions · 6 comments
Comments
Jeff P.: Holy moley- yes! 👍
Jeff P.: Lara, this hits home hard with us older careerists! New graduates and Junior infosec professionals don’t (or can’t) appreciate how important are the fundamentals, like basic networking, scripting, and administration. I blame learning institutions like universities and tech schools for chasing the sexier curriculum and anxious student.
Lara B.: Jeff T. Parker you sure its on universities? I see them as super old school. is it not job expectations vs reality?
Malek A.: Absolutely agrees, one that i rely on every single day of my career is, routing/switching/firewalling. i see it personally as the most important fundamental skills : navigating in networks, knowing how and from where an attacker could launch an intrusion and what scope/service/server is or could be vulnerable is probably the most important aspect of a cyber sec professional/networks professional.
Jeff P.: Lara Borenovic, sorry, thank you. I should be clearer. I pointed to uni & post-secondary schools for diving into infosec too quickly before spending decent time on the basics. I feel like an infosec degree shouldn't really dive into infosec until year 2 or even 3 of a 4-year program. But no, cybersecurity is year 1, taught in parallel with subnetting, AD and Python. It's like students learn how to