The FULL Cyber Roadmap — CV rules, interview answers, salary tables

No Degree? No Problem. — The Complete Cyber Security Career Roadmap

The exact route I took from an Amazon warehouse floor to a cyber security career — with no CS degree, no IT background, and no connections.

Six months. That's how long it took me to go from not knowing this industry existed to signing my first cyber security contract at £30,000 — a £9,000 pay rise, into a field where £40k–£55k is normal within a few years and £60k+ is realistic after that. My degrees are in games tech and marketing. I studied between warehouse shifts. Nobody helped me, and I made every mistake available.

This is the map I wish someone had handed me on day one — rebuilt with hindsight, updated for 2026, and structured so you can actually execute it.

What's inside:

• The complete 6-phase roadmap — foundations → ISC² CC → Security+ → hands-on skills → first role → levelling up (AZ-900, SC-200 and the specialisation map toward £55k–£75k+ roles)
• The full job-hunt system — the CV rules that changed my response rate overnight, the 8 job titles you should be setting alerts for, UK salary tables so you're never lowballed, and the technical questions you WILL be asked
• The 2026 training stack, verified — what each platform is actually for, the one sequence to follow, the real costs hiding behind "free" labels, and my honest verdict on the Google Cybersecurity Certificate
• The 6 mistakes I made — told properly, so you skip the months they cost me
• Your first 6 months in a SOC — how to pass probation, beat imposter syndrome, and become the junior every team wants to keep
• The 90-day action plan — tickable, week by week, plus a SOC vocabulary cheat sheet to revise before every interview

Let's talk about what this actually costs you.

A cyber security bootcamp runs £1,000–£5,000 and most of them teach you less about getting hired than this does. But the real cost isn't money — it's time. Every month you spend guessing, studying the wrong things or firing off a CV that gets filtered out is a month at your current salary instead of your next one. On a £9,000 jump, one wasted month costs you £750. This costs less than a takeaway for two.

My promise to you: work through this properly and if it hasn't genuinely helped you, message me and I'll refund you. No forms, no awkward questions. I'd rather refund one person than sell something that doesn't deliver.

Who this is for: career changers, graduates with the "wrong" degree, and anyone who's been told they need credentials they don't have. If you're already working in a SOC, this isn't for you.

Instant PDF download • 30 pages • Written and maintained by a working Information Security Analyst • Updated for 2026