[story time] How I Successfully Made a Career Change into Cybersecurity
In January 2025, I changed careers, and my lifestyle along with it. Let me tell you about it.
A quick recap of the major steps in my career, to set the stage:
- 2007: I graduated with a two-year university degree in IT (equivalent to an associate’s degree). I thought it was a good program, but quite general, and a bit insufficient to dive into the professional world. Most students go on to get a professional bachelor’s degree (three years) or a master’s (five years). That was my plan, but I got an opportunity to jump into an entrepreneurial adventure, and I dove in with the carefree attitude of a 19-year-old.
- April 2007 – December 2009: I managed, with my business partner, a company that never turned a profit. It was tough, but incredibly educational. I like to think it was the best business school imaginable, and it cost me much less than an actual business school 😀
- January 2010 – March 2011: A little financial emergency—worn out after two and a half years of hard work without making a living—I joined a startup as a web developer. That was also very educational, but it didn’t match what I wanted to do. I quit after a year. With no job lined up and no unemployment benefits.
- April 2011 – June 2012: Back in 2005, when I was in high school, I discovered theworld of SEO (“search engine optimization” in English). I became passionate about it and wanted to make it my career. A Parisian agency was extremely well-known in the field, and I desperately wanted to join. Lucky for me, they were hiring, and I managed to convince them to take a chance on someone with no experience like me. What followed was one of the most important years of my professional life and, by extension, my personal life. One of the agency’s founders, whom I consider a genius, took me under his wing and introduced me to a level of expertise I didn’t even know existed. Unfortunately, the agency had been sold to a large group two years earlier, and the founders were on their way out. I would have loved to stay longer, but I could tell things wouldn’t be the same anymore (and time proved me right). One of my clients wanted to hire me, so I took the opportunity.
- June 2012 – June 2016: Four exhilarating years as the SEO manager for one of the largest French websites. I had a fantastic team and amazing results. I worked like crazy—by day for my employer, and in the evenings and on weekends as a freelancer. I essentially worked two full-time jobs, but I was so passionate that it didn’t really feel like a burden. I developed skills, a reputation, a network, and earned a good living.
- June 2016 – May 2017: After saving for years to buy an apartment in Paris, we decided to use that money instead for an 11-month sabbatical and travel around the world. An incredible year!
- May 2017 – December 2024: 11 months of travel weren’t enough—there’s so much to discover! As soon as I returned to France, I quit my job and we became “digital nomads”: we set off to travel the world again, working 100% remotely. The skills, reputation, and network I’d built in previous years were incredibly useful, and we never had trouble finding gigs.
On paper, I have what many would consider “a dream life”: I have a job I’m passionate about, that pays well, and that lets me travel anywhere, anytime.
But gradually, my passion for this work began to fade. From around 2020, I was on autopilot, bored, and started questioning my professional future. There was no urgency, but I’d been doing SEO for 15 years—10 of them professionally—and I couldn’t see myself doing it for another 15. Besides, I wasn’t even sure this job would still exist in the long run. I needed to think about the next step. I know Covid prompted many people to consider a career change, but in my case, I don’t think the pandemic was the trigger.
September 2021: I started the first year of a law degree ! Law was a field that had always interested me, and I learned, somewhat by chance, that the prestigious Assas University offered a distance learning program. There were only a few days left before the application deadline for the 2021 intake, and I signed up on a whim. Mainly to satisfy my intellectual curiosity, but who knows… in a few years… becoming a lawyer?
June 2022: After a very demanding year (work + law studies + travel—it’s a lot!), I passed my first year and enrolled for the second. Over the summer, I had a health scare and underwent emergency surgery. Forced to rest for a month, I missed the start of the academic year and fell hopelessly behind. I gave up. Besides, even though the first year was interesting for general knowledge, I hadn’t developed enough passion for law to justify spending the next 10 years on it.
January 14, 2023: It must have been past 1 a.m. I was putting off going to bed, mindlessly scrolling through LinkedIn, when I stumbled upon a video post from a former colleague. I had no real reason to click, but I did, more out of reluctance to go to bed than anything else. The video wasn’t great—shot outside, completely thrown together. My former colleague explained that he was recruiting experts in cybersecurity, a field that’s growing rapidly and is fascinating. He wasn’t necessarily looking for people with tons of experience, but passionate people who know how to learn. It sparks something in my mind and it immediately feels logical—I have a lot to learn in this field, but I already have a solid IT background, so I’m not starting from scratch. I message W. to dig deeper into the topic.
W. is immediately enthusiastic, convinced my profile would be a great fit for this new field. He recommends resources to help me research and explore the subject. Between January and April 2023, I devote a lot of time to it. The field is incredibly vast, but truly fascinating. It’s one of the areas where the demand for skills is set to explode in the coming years. I realize I already know many of the fundamentals, and it’s very exciting because you can quickly move from theory to hands-on practice.
From April 2023, after a departure at my biggest client, I take on a heavy workload and put cybersecurity on the back burner. On top of that, the advancements in Artificial Intelligence open up new possibilities for SEO, and I successfully dive into exciting projects. Exciting, but not enough to steer me away from my desire for a career change.
November 2023: I’m in the middle of a road trip through the American West, the vastness of the landscapes lends itself to introspection, and I make up my mind: my next career will be in cybersecurity with the goal of landing a job in the field by early 2025. This will mark the end of our digital nomad life, but that’s not a constraint. The travel fatigue has been creeping up on us for a while; it’s time to move on and start a new adventure.
I wonder about the best approach: going back to school, finding a training program, … I ask W. for advice. Still enthusiastic, he suggests I get a certification: the CompTIA Security+. Once I get it, he thinks he can help me find a job in Canada, in Quebec City where he lives. It’s super motivating, and I can work on the certification independently, 100% remotely.
I’ve never read an entire book in English, but now I don’t have much choice. The certification is in English (or Japanese…), so I buy the 1,000-page book and start studying it. During this period, we’re traveling a lot, and I’m making slow progress.
March 2024: We decide to settle down for a full month in Buenos Aires Argentina with one single goal: passing my certification ! It’s a city we already know, so I lock myself in our Airbnb to cram, only stepping out to enjoy the delicious Argentine ice cream and catch a few football matches. I apply the Anki learning method which combines two principles: active recall and spaced repetition. It’s highly effective—I wish I’d discovered it sooner, but better late than never. In addition to Anki, Anh bought a book with hundreds of multiple-choice questions (the exam format) and quizzes me daily. By the end of the month, I pass my certification on the first try. Irrationally, I had put immense pressure on myself, and it’s a huge relief!
If you want to review CompTIA Security+ questions with me, subscribe to my channel: https://www.youtube.com/@reconversioncyber/shorts or on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@reconversioncyber
From now on, the goal is to find a job. Not right away, since I still have contracts and clients to manage until the end of the year. Target: January 2025.
In August, between two events at the Olympic Games, I take advantage of being in Paris to take the TOEIC. I’ve been using my CPF (personal training account) for years to take online English classes with a British teacher. However, I’ve never taken an English exam, and this will let me add an objective score to my resume. Pleasant surprise: even though I’m not very confident in my English and quite self-conscious about my level, I score beyond my expectations: 930/990. (Some recruiters asked about my English level. Instead of giving vague claims (“fluent”), I could just share my score).
It’s in September 2024, after the summer, that I get serious about it. We’re in Sofia, Bulgaria, another city we’re familiar with, so I can focus on my job search.
I never thought finding a job after a career change would be easy, but it’s so frustrating ! I’m coming from an industry, SEO, where I have recognized expertise, a reputation; I’ve never struggled to find clients and could land a job almost by snapping my fingers… to a new industry, cybersecurity, where I’m a beginner, unknown, and no one’s waiting for me.
My initial goal was to find a job in Canada, but I quickly realize I’m arriving a bit too late. A contact there explained that two years ago, a profile like mine would likely have found a job even before getting the certification. Meanwhile, the economic climate has worsened, and it’s a whole different story. I understand that I’m dragging two balls and chains. On my right ankle, I’m a beginner with no experience. On my left ankle, I don’t have a work permit, so I need a company willing to handle the paperwork. With one ball and chain, it might have been doable. With two, it seems impossible.
I wouldn’t have even a hint of opportunities in Canada. With a slight sense of regret, I pivot my search toward France, anywhere but the Île-de-France region—I’ve already been there, no thanks!
I don’t know if it’s a French-specific problem, but I’m about to face closed doors one after another. The closed doors of human resources. Not only am I a 37-year-old career changer, but my background is completely unconventional. (“The guy has been self-employed for almost 10 years, he travels all over the world, and he wants to become a regular employee in France again, is he crazy ???”).
I didn’t do a precise count, but I think I applied to about a hundred job postings, 99% of which were “no replies” or refusals by more or less automated emails. I don’t think I have major ego issues, but I was still pretty stung by a reply saying “We don’t consider Bac + 2 candidates”. Since I got my diploma 17 years ago, I’ve created two companies, managed teams, handled dozens of clients, … but since my diploma isn’t the right one, I can’t apply for a junior cybersecurity position, okay.
I only had the opportunity to speak directly with an HR contact four times. All four interviews went well from my point of view, but led to two refusals saying “We don’t have anything for you right now”.
Everything would speed up within a week, mid-November, while I was in Athens. That week, I would finally have two interviews with operational contacts. It’s kind of like the “final boss” in a video game after getting past all the traps and HR barriers.
- For the first company, I got in through the window after being shut out the door. Initially, I received a rejection email (“not enough experience”) but was pulled back in thanks to a recommendation from one of my former managers.
- For the second, it was a pleasant surprise—it’s a very large French company, one you’d think would be very rigid in its recruitment processes. But the HR person took the time to study and understand my background.
And as it happens, as soon as I can talk with operational people, it’s much easier. They see that even though I’m a beginner, I’ve already acquired a certain level of knowledge, the technical tests they give me prove it. They feel my motivation and perceive that my various experiences could bring something different to their teams.
As a result, out of the only two operational interviews I got the chance to have, I received two job offers. Success rate: 100%.
After some hesitation, I accept the offer from the first company, in Lille. It’s a smaller structure than the second, which perfectly matches the “ideal company profile” I had sketched out. I think I’ll have faster growth opportunities there, and there are international mobility options that interest me (I haven’t said my last word with Montreal!).
Is it the right choice? Only time will tell, but I think I’ve done the hardest part: getting my foot in the door of a new career. Even if this first experience goes badly, I won’t be just a beginner in career transition without any experience anymore.
It took me about 5 years from the early thoughts about my future to starting a new career. On January 14, 2023, I quite by chance watched my former colleague’s video about cybersecurity. On January 13, 2025, almost two years to the day later, I start my new career!
The first week is quite challenging because there are so many changes at once: the climate (-4°C in the first few days!), office hours, a new job, … I even had to switch from Mac to Windows! But by the second week, I’m in the acceleration phase of the learning curve and I feel like I’m progressing fast. Before starting, I was confident in my ability to become operational quickly. Now, it’s no longer confidence, it’s certainty. I’m not 100% autonomous in my tasks yet, but it’s only a matter of days!
If you want to review CompTIA Security+ questions with me, subscribe to my channel: https://www.youtube.com/@reconversioncyber/shorts or on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@reconversioncyber
