Asklemmy

First off, aiming to start in security is a fools errand. Security is one of the many paths that your career might take after you gain some knowledge.

Some more random thoughts before real advice. The two hardest things in IT are getting into help desk, and getting out of it. The reason is two fold: 1) help desk is the great entry point for the greater IT industry, and 2) one person in a help desk role is fairly similar to another when it's time to move out of help desk.

Now: If you have the time, go to your local community college and take their it/networking/security program. The degree will help - you won't skip help desk (unless your lucky), but you are better equipped for getting out of it. You will also learn a bunch of stuff, get some projects to stick on a resume, etc.

If you don't have that time you can go the cert route. Be warned however - certs do not substitute for real experience. Do not fall for the trap of thinking that getting X cert is your ticket to Y job. You will be in for a ride awakening when your sitting across from someone like me that only asks situational, hypotheticall questions with no correct answer ( I care about how you think and approach problems over book smarts).

Ok. Last bit of advice: the 10 things I look for (in order) when interviewing entry level help desk.

1. customer service skills,
2. ability to learn,
3. customer service.
4. some mild interest in tech.
5. customer service.
6. the ability to learn troubleshooting.
7. customer service.
8. the ability to admit you don't know..
9. customer service.
10. not being an asshole.

I can teach you how to fix a printer, design a network, or spin up infrastructure in the cloud. I can't teach you how to act around people.

Without a degree or any IT experience, I’d say try to get one basic IT certification from CompTIA (A+, Sec+, or Network+), then apply for a HelpDesk job just to get in. You can try going straight to a SOC analyst role if you’re confident in your knowledge/skills. Those are basically the entry points for IT and Security for someone without a lot of experience. Once you’re in, you can start leveling up with experience or move laterally to your desired role. You’ll also be able to get your employer to pay for training and certifications.

Hiring manager here, the best thing you can do is work on certifications. Microsoft Learn has a ton of info and the certs are reasonably cheap. There is also a ton of stuff on YouTube, for example Professor Messer's Security+. There is also a great demand for VMware admins.

If you can setup some computers at home and make yourself a lab, build VMs on hypervisors of your choice and talk about that during your interviews that's big bonus points too.

I've got some college but no official degree as well. I did a bootcamp for a CCNA with 0 experience in 2012. It was like learning a foreign language. I had to buy the official cert guide and studied hard for a year, I eventually got the CCNA cert in 2014. After that I kept getting additional Cisco certs, CCNA - security, CCNA - cyberops, and now am working on the CCNP. Once I got my CCNA I was able to get into a help desk position, and have moved up to analyst, and engineer. With each job jump have increased salary 30-50%. Honestly in tech I'd recommend moving around every 1-3 years to get that pay bump.

If you have a good manager, they will recognize that a college degree in IT and security specifically is not really necessary.

Some certs to look at for entry level network security, Cisco cyberops associate or CompTIA security+

Be careful about "boot camps", and I say this as someone who teaches at one on the side (coding, not security). A lot of them are kind of like degree mills - pay money, get stamp, maybe worthwhile or maybe worthless.

If you go that route, do a lot of research. The biggest thing I'd look for is that the instructors work in the field full time and teach on the side (because they love sharing info and teaching the next generation). Hire rates for grads is also a good indicator... But take close note of where those hires are at and ask if it's not published.

Any time I've come across these kind of programs where the boot camp instructors only job is teaching, the info is usually 10+ years dated and relatively useless past the absolute basics.