Beyond the Classroom: Competition Competency Creates Cybersecurity Careers (5Cs)

The demand for cybersecurity talent appears to be constantly growing[1], but the statistics can be illusory. According to Wages and Employment Trends in ONET On-Line[2] cybersecurity job openings are ranked as having a Bright Outlook, and on May 1 2025 Cyberseek listed 450,000 US job openings out of a workforce of 1.25 million. However, most entry-level cybersecurity jobs require several years of experience resulting in a mismatch between supply and demand. Despite a “hot job market”, recently minted cybersecurity college graduates without experience have a hard time securing their first “entry-level” because they don’t meet the minimum requirements[3]. According to multiple hiring managers, “You have to be able to tell your story.” If an applicant cannot explicitly explain to the hiring manager the value they bring to an organization, they don’t get hired. Cybersecurity is a socio-technological team-oriented workplace, and competitive hires need to be able to articulate examples of experiences they have had while working in comparable environments. Students are not able to compete effectively for entry level jobs if they are only able to talk about what they have learned in class. Our interview-based research demonstrates how students can acquire relevant and requisite experiences through participating in cybersecurity competitions. Students who distinguish themselves by developing a track record outside of basic classroom activities earn more and have more employment choices upon graduation. To summarize our findings: what students do outside the classroom is as important as what they do in the classroom. Participating in competitions provides students with an opportunity to understand the relevance and purpose of what they need to learn in the classroom, and to market themselves more effectively in the job market. Key words: competency, employability, competitions, cybersecurity education. [1] Retrieved from: Cybersecurity Supply And Demand Heat Map, www.cyberseek.org/heatmap/html [2] Retrieved from: ONET On-Line www.onetonline.org [3] Retrieved from: Sayegh, E., The Cybersecurity Crisis Companies Can't fill roles, Forbes, 2025-02-05