People talk about the cybersecurity job market like it's a monolith, but there are a number of different roles within cybersecurity, depending not only on your skill level and experience but on what you like to do.

In fact, Cybercrime Magazine came up with a list of 50 cybersecurity job titles, while CyberSN, a recruiting organization, came up with its own list of 45 cybersecurity job categories.

Similarly, OnGig.com, a company that helps firms write their job ads, analyzed 150 cybersecurity job titles and came up with its own top 30 list. This article is based on research I did with Springboard, one of the first cybersecurity boot camps with a job guarantee and 1:1 mentorship.

In particular, CyberSeek.org, a joint industry initiative looking at the cybersecurity job market, offers an interactive list of not only the various positions within cybersecurity but offers you a career path showing how you can get promoted.

The complicated part is that these titles and roles generally aren't standardized, plus they constantly change as the industry itself evolves. The National Institute for Science and Technology, in its National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education workforce framework, does try to standardize positions using the notions of:

Tasks (the action the person performs)

Knowledge (the concepts the person has to know)

Skills (the capability of performing an action)

Organizations can use these concepts to create roles and teams to perform the tasks they need.

Something else to keep in mind: Human resources departments may not understand the cybersecurity job market or how to hire people in that field, according to the 2020 SOC Skills Survey from Cyberbit.

There are a few distinctions we have to draw here. Cybersecurity job roles are differentiated by the level of experience required, but also whether or not you're red-team (offensive) or blue-team (defensive). Offensive roles (like penetration testers) will typically require more experience as you build your understanding of the defensive practice.

So what are some of the most common cybersecurity job roles, and how are they different from each other? Some more entry-level positions, typically requiring a certification such as a CompTIA Security+, include:

Cybersecurity Analyst: The cybersecurity analyst is responsible for protecting both company networks and data. In addition to managing all ongoing security measures, the analyst is also responsible for responding to security breaches and protecting company hardware, such as employee computers.

Security Engineer: Security engineers are tasked with planning and executing a company's information security strategy and maintaining all security solutions. They can also be responsible for documenting the security posture of their company and any issues or measures taken under their watch. Security engineers tend to be more defensive than their analyst peers. Read more here

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