Articles

INDUSTRY INSIGHT

13 August 2025 | Sammy Chuks

You've probably heard the same advice a dozen times if you're exploring cybersecurity: "Get certified.” "Build a home lab." "Practice hands-on skills." "Start with blue team fundamentals." “Get into IT first and pivot from there.” “Learn 1,5, or 10 programming languages.” Some of these are solid advice. But here's what nobody tells you: there's a massive gap between "learning cybersecurity" and "landing your first cybersecurity job." At CyLynk, we work with people from a range of backgrounds including fresh graduates, IT professionals making the leap into cyber and cybersecurity professionals wanting to take their career to the next level. And here's the pattern we see over and over again: The people who actually get hired aren't just grinding through courses and labs in isolation. They're working with someone who can bridge that gap between learning and earning. In this article, we'll break down the difference between mentoring and coaching, why most training approaches leave people spinning their wheels, and how combining both creates a clear path to job readiness.