From High School / Non Technical background to all round Cyber Professional
My name is Kessington Ekhaiyeme, and I’m passionate about cybersecurity because every day brings something new, and I get to be at the forefront of the action. The field offers great pay, high demand for skills, and flexible work arrangements. I encourage everyone to explore Cyber Security as a career, and I’m committed to helping them get started, which is why I’ve developed this training plan.
I have two high school-aged children (a boy and a girl) who want to become Cyber Professionals, and after doing some research, I’ve found the best and most affordable path to guide them from high school to Cyber Security career. To my surprise, I discovered that the education and hands-on practice needed to achieve this are available for free to anyone with a computer and internet access. The only costs are for certifications and degrees. With so much free content out there, it’s easy to get overwhelmed, but what you really need is a roadmap to navigate the material in the most logical and efficient way. Follow this plan, and you’ll be well on your way to becoming a Cyber Security professional.
I initially aimed to provide a list of entirely free resources, but after discovering TryHackMe training, I found it so incredible and affordable ($14/month) that I decided to include it in the plan.
Cyber Ninja Training Plan (Free)
The Cyber Ninja training starts with essential content on how computers and the internet function, providing a strong foundation for everyone. It then takes you through 40 hours of Professor Messer's top-notch courses, designed to prepare you for the CompTIA A+, Network+, and Security+ certification exams. While the exams are optional, passing them will boost your resume. I also highly recommend exploring TryHackMe for practical, hands-on learning. While some of it is free, the full experience requires a $14/month subscription. Completing around 380 hours of training on TryHackMe will greatly enhance your cybersecurity skills.
The Cyber Ninja Training plan also includes practical experience with "Burp Suite Intercepting Proxy," a key tool for penetration testers. Following that, the "Ninja" portion begins, covering HTML, JavaScript, SQL, Python, PowerShell, Bash and Batch Scripting, Regular Expressions, Git/GitHub, and more.
After about 600 hours of training, you'll be well-prepared for a cybersecurity role. To further boost your opportunities and salary potential, I suggest pursuing a degree and industry certifications, though they can be expensive. To help with costs, many companies offer tuition assistance programs. For example, Walmart’s Live Better U program covers 100% of tuition and books for part-time employees from day one. Similarly, Kentucky Fried Chicken partners with Western Governors University to cover all tuition and fees. There are other corporate-sponsored options to help reduce education costs as well.
These employer-sponsored programs are excellent opportunities. However, time is valuable, and the more time you spend working, the longer it will take to finish your degree. That’s why I suggest this approach to fast-track your college education:
Complete your prerequisites at Sophia Learning (things like math, science, English, writing, etc.)
Transfer your credits to a self-paced college (you know, one where you can work faster than average)
Sophia Learning is an online learning platform that offers college-level courses for credit at a lower cost than traditional college courses. Credits taken here transfers to several partner universities. The cost is only $99/month, or you can purchase 1 year of access for $600. That is only $50/month! You can take 2 classes at a time and complete them at any speed you want (like, really fast, for example).
Enrollment is open to anyone 13 years or older, and there’s no requirement to have completed high school. This program is accessible globally, regardless of citizenship. Signing up takes just five minutes with a credit card, and no prior transcripts are needed. I believe even a moderately motivated student could finish around one course per month, earning approximately 44 credits in a year.
Next, let's assume you'll be enrolling in Western Governors University (available to U.S. residents only) to pursue one of their cyber-related degrees, linked below.
These degrees are excellent choices for building a successful career in cybersecurity. Let’s assume you opt for the Cybersecurity and Information Assurance degree. The cost for six months of course access is $4,265. At WGU, there’s no homework—just assessments (sometimes only one) to confirm your knowledge of the material. If you already understand the content, you can start and finish a course in a single day by passing the exam. Everything is graded on a pass/fail basis, with opportunities to retake a test if needed, so there’s no GPA to worry about.
Since you’ll have completed your general education through Sophia Learning and covered much of the course content via the Cyber Ninja training program, you’ll likely be able to progress quickly. WGU lists the exact Sophia Learning courses that transfer into their program—currently, 44 of the required 122 credits, meaning you’ll have already completed more than one-third of your degree. Do you think you could finish two courses per month, considering there’s no homework and you’ve already learned most of the material? If so, you could complete your degree in one year for a total cost of $8,530.
Another great aspect of WGU is that the coursework and tuition include many industry certifications. For the cyber degree, you’ll earn 15 certifications, with the fees covered by WGU
B.S. Cybersecurity and Information Assurance
ITIL®*^ Foundation Certification
CompTIA A+
CompTIA Network+
CompTIA Security+
CompTIA Project+
CompTIA CySA+
CompTIA Network Vulnerability Assessment Professional
CompTIA Network Security Professional
CompTIA Security Analytics Professional
CompTIA PenTest+
CompTIA IT Operations Specialist
CompTIA Secure Infrastructure Specialist
Linux Essentials
Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP)
Systems Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP)
Assume you take 6 months to complete the Cyber Ninja Training including TryHackMe ($84), 6-12 months with Sophia learning ($600), and one year at WGU ($8,530). This means you will be able to add a degree and 15 industry certifications to your resume in about 2 years for less than $10,000. Now that is a college hack!
If you have questions about anything here, reach out to Kessington Ekhaiyeme ([email protected])
