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Top Tips for Studying Cyber from a Community College Teacher

A career in cyber can begin at your local community college! NICCS recently interviewed community college teacher Eric Renegar to gather his advice on how students can amplify their coursework and envision their futures in cybersecurity by using the NICE Workforce Framework for Cybersecurity (NICE Framework). 

Mr. Eric Renegar
Mr. Eric Renegar teaches at Sinclair Community College, which is a National Cetner of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C) institution.

Eric Renegar teaches at Sinclair Community College in Dayton, Ohio and integrates the NICE Framework into many of his entry-level cybersecurity courses. He teaches these courses using the Cyber Career Pathways Tool, which lays out the NICE Framework’s Work Roles in an interactive way. The Work Roles are groupings of work for which an individual or team is responsible or accountable, and are made up of corresponding Task, Knowledge, and Skill (TKS) statements. 

According to Mr. Renegar, exploring these Work Roles in their coursework helps students understand what will be needed to achieve their first jobs in cybersecurity. NICCS asked him to share advice from his courses with beginner-level students, more specifically about how they can use the Cyber Career Pathways Tool to complement cybersecurity studies, find entry-level positions, and build resumes. Here are a few of his top tips for using the tool:

  • Learn the language: Spend time thoroughly reading the information in the Cyber Career Pathways Tool. Don’t skip any of the sections or quickly skim through. Take the time to read about each Work Role and the related TKS statements. This language will build the foundation you need to understand your beginner cyber courses. You will also learn more about what is required to earn a degree in cybersecurity within your areas of interest!
  • Find certifications: After reviewing Work Role(s) of interest, identify the TKS statements you need to focus on to gain more skills or experience to pursue that Work Role. Use a search engine to look for beginner-level certifications related to those statements to find the best certification for you. If needed, take additional training to pursue a certification; the NICCS Education & Training Catalog includes online and in-person courses for many different cybersecurity certifications. 
  • Explore potential jobs: Expand the “Details” section of each Work Role and read through the “Related Functional Titles” in the Cyber Career Pathways Tool. This can provide you with an understanding of the potential positions you could pursue within the cybersecurity field. You can also learn more about these types of jobs in the federal government by exploring the Interactive Cybersecurity Careers Map.
  • Find your first position: Use language from the “Related Functional Titles” section in the Cyber Career Pathways Tool to conduct searches for entry-level positions in your local community. While sites like Indeed or LinkedIn have a lot of positions listed, sometimes it is just as helpful to search for jobs directly on websites of local companies. Make a list of smaller organizations in your local area and search their websites for jobs or internships using those functional titles as key words.
  • Enhance your resume: Use language from TKS statements to craft a resume that demonstrates your knowledge and understanding of the position you are looking for. For example, instead of solely mentioning that you took a course in networking, use terminology such as “troubleshooting” and “network communications” to demonstrate an understanding of how industry uses those terms.

When we interviewed Mr. Renegar, he was pleased to share that one of his students had just secured his first Help Desk and Network Analysis role using the tips above and from what he learned in his community college coursework. We hope that you find the same success in your future studies, job searching, and cyber endeavors using the Cyber Career Pathways Tool and other tools/resources on NICCS.

Find a Community College

If you are interested in getting started in cyber at a community college, check out the Cybersecurity Colleges & Universities page where you can find more information about  400+ National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C) designated institutions, including community colleges!

If you have any further questions, please email NICCS@mail.cisa.dhs.gov for more information.  



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