Talya: Myths about the cybersecurity field

I'm Talia, and I'm an engineer within privacy, safety and security at Google. So there are a lot of myths in the cybersecurity space. One big one is, you must know how to code, or you must know how to hack, or you must be a math wiz. I don't know how to code, although I have learned how to read code over time. I'm not a hacker. I'm not on the red team site of security, I'm more on like the blue team. I'm not a math wiz. I definitely took the business route, but I'm not a mathematician. That wasn't really the path. A lot of my strength really lies in my ability to build relationships, learn quickly on the job, doing, conducting research, asking all the right questions. I think those have been my strongest strength. Another big myth, is that, you are required to have a cybersecurity degree. I actually went to school for business, an advanced degree is not required. Even though I did later on go back, That was my preference. You do not need to pursue that in order for you to be considered a great candidate for cybersecurity. Another big one is you work in isolation within cybersecurity. It really depends on the path that you choose. But I found that to be one of the most that couldn't be further from the truth. My biggest advice for anyone who's interested in cybersecurity is, be okay with creating your own path. The path looks different for everyone. If you were to talk to five different people, their journeys are all different. So own your journey, and identify people who can support you. Let them know that you're sitting for the certificate, and see what support that you can get as you start your journey.