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Entry-Level Cyber Jobs Demanding Mid-Level Skills
The entry-level cybersecurity job isn’t disappearing. It’s becoming something very different. As generative AI (GenAI) takes over more of the repetitive work that once served as a proving ground for junior analysts, employers are increasingly raising expectations for candidates entering the field. Rather than spending their first year triaging alerts or reviewing logs, new hires are now expected to understand cloud environments, evaluate AI-generated outputs, write code and contribute to security operations almost immediately. The result is a growing disconnect between what employers expect and how cybersecurity talent has traditionally been developed. “We’re seeing a clear move toward more senior hiring in cybersecurity,” says Diana Kelley, chief information security officer at Noma Security. “AI is accelerating the shift. However, it’s not the only driver.” She explains that budget pressure and a growing expectation that candidates arrive job-ready are pushing employers to hire fewer
Is Your Degree Still Worth It in the Age of AI?
Generative AI has shifted the hiring landscape, sparking ongoing debate among employers and job seekers about whether a traditional computer science degree still holds value. Though degrees remain a powerful signal of structured, algorithmic thinking in the traditional hiring process, the skills gap between credentialed graduates and self-taught, AI-assisted developers is narrowing. As technical vetting pivots away from rigid gatekeeping toward practical, skills-based assessment, how should universities and developers evolve to ensure they’re not just building software but mastering the underlying systems that AI tools can't yet solve on their own? How has the rise of generative AI changed your valuation of a formal computer science degree versus hands-on portfolio experience? Bryan Wall, Senior Competency Leader, Software & Cloud Engineering at Experis, says “because of Gen AI, employers have now shifted to how we think about evaluating talent. Having a computer science degree still s
Cyber Pros Must Develop Resilience Strategies in an AI-Powered World
Even as spending on artificial intelligence is poised to surpass $2 trillion, the last several months have seen increased scrutiny of these models' security and of what these developments mean for the cybersecurity industry as companies plan further investments. Starting in April, the White House began leaning on AI companies to limit the release of large language models (LLMs) designed to find vulnerabilities in software and applications, citing national security concerns. The Trump administration successfully pressured OpenAI and Anthropic into temporarily restricting access to new cybersecurity platforms. Then, in June, the Wall Street Journal reported that a Chinese AI company claimed its cybersecurity platform could perform as well as Anthropic's Mythos model in certain scenarios. These Chinese AI platforms are also open to the general public without current restrictions, allowing anyone to download them – both defenders and attackers. As these various regulatory and access scenar
Becoming a Senior Engineer Isn't Just About Code
What exactly is a senior engineer? Is it someone promoted through length of time, or maybe just someone promoted because they’re very good at their job? You’ll find companies where both are true. Bigger companies, though, will be more likely to have clearly defined career paths including salary ranges and responsibilities. But first let’s look at what a senior engineer is. So, what exactly is a senior engineer? This is one of those things that you’ll recognize when you see it but have trouble pinning down the details. Let’s try. Senior engineers have lots of technical experience: they understand the technical problems well enough to explain them to non-techies, can draft specs, and come up with a design. This requires in-depth knowledge of risk management, timelines and, sometimes, budgets. If you thought this sounds like the job of a project manager or at least some of the tasks they do, you wouldn’t be far out. A senior engineer looks at the who, what and when while a project manager
The New IT Career Advantage: Learning Before the Tool Arrives
The race to adopt AI has created an unusual dynamic in the technology job market: some of the most valuable experience isn’t coming from enterprise deployments, but from professionals experimenting with new technologies before their organizations formally approve, purchase or standardize them. With companies looking to move from AI pilots to production deployments, hiring managers are turning to IT pros who understand how to integrate AI into business processes, connect it to enterprise data and manage the operational realities that come with deploying it at scale. That shift is changing how technology professionals think about career development. “Because AI and automation is evolving rapidly, professionals who proactively develop skills ahead of the enterprise standardization are going to be rewarded because they are able to understand their potential and their limitations,” says Iris Adae, vice president of data and analytics at KNIME. She points out that proactive learning encourag