February 13, 2023

CEH Tripled My Salary and Landed Me a Vulnerability Management Analyst Job!

Sophia Greene

Current Employer: FDM
Current Designation: Infosec Compliance and Vulnerability Management Analyst
Country: United States

In this article, Sophia Greene, a military veteran, shares her unbelievable career journey which allowed her to grow from a webmaster in an elementary school to a vulnerability management analyst after attaining her CEH.

Before receiving my C|EH, I worked at an elementary school.

Tell us about your journey as a cybersecurity professional.

I’m Sophia Greene, and I am a Certified Ethical Hacker. I grew up on the south side of Chicago.

Where I am today is not something I thought could be accomplished. It took for me to join the military, which is where I began my IT career in the military.

I started working in the helpdesk, and once I deployed,

I could see different aspects of information technology. After seven years in the military, I worked as a systems administrator, was deployed as a contractor, and did some general helpdesk.

Once I came back, I worked as a division lead systems administrator. After that, I decided to take a break for about four years. I realized I wanted to get back into tech, but it was a lot more difficult.

To have some leverage to get back into tech, I needed additional training, which geared me towards Certified Ethical Hacking. It allowed me to think outside the box. It brought me to where I am today and gave me an insight into a different side of information technology.

How has the C|EH benefitted your career?

C|EH allowed me to think in terms of a hacker. Coming from a system admin background, it was not familiar to me.

C|EH allowed me to think about different attack vectors and avenues where attackers can gain access to your information or system, which unlocked different levels of growth and achievement for me.

It challenged me to do additional research and a lot of hands-on learning. Because of that, it’s given me so much more experience and leverage when it comes to my career progression and establishing a solid and lucrative position.

Did the C|EH help you to get higher pay, a promotion, or a job that you wanted?

It certainly did. Before receiving my C|EH, I worked at an elementary school. I was at a point where I had almost given up on getting back into the IT field because it was difficult.

Once I received my C|EH, I started a small business where I provided digital forensic services.

I also secured a position as a vulnerability and compliance management analyst.

So, it’s been very lucrative for me,

my salary almost tripled

compared to what I received, and it gave me confidence and confirmed that I could do anything I wanted. In my dream job position, a position that I would not have been able to receive without this training and this knowledge.

How has the C|EH certification impacted you?

It’s honestly changed my life. Having C|EH as a baseline opened my eyes to different opportunities.

Once I completed my C|EH, I decided to go on to other things, whether hands-on experiences, capturing the flag, diving deeper into different knowledge bases, connecting with other people, or being able to go to different events and learn from them. It’s changed the trajectory of my life. I have a lot more freedom.

The knowledge that I received, the position that I have is a full-time remote position, which means that I can spend more time with my children. I can do a job that I love and get compensated for without worrying about the financial lack of doing the job I was overqualified for and wasn’t fulfilled.

I think having C|EH and going into interviews and being able to state that I have it and demonstrate the knowledge I learned from the C|EH certificate was very beneficial and life changing.

Did the C|EH help you give back to the community in any way?

It did, to be honest. I volunteer at a local shelter, which allows me to communicate and talk to others. I speak to children regularly as well as adults.

Even in my previous job, I could give them some knowledge and tips for securing their cell phone and home network and sharing the knowledge I learned to help them protect themselves in everyday aspects.

So, even throughout my day, if I meet other people, usually, I could strike up a conversation where I can share the knowledge that I’ve learned, even if that means protecting themselves or giving them the information they could use to protect their loved ones.

What was your favorite part of the C|EH program?

C|EH was new to me. I thought the entire program was exciting. Being able to go through the different concepts of how attackers gain knowledge, open-source intelligence, and the way they think, that overall concept was so new to me.

I had no idea that people could think in the way that they did, and people would think in a way that is malicious and harmful. And to be able to gain that knowledge and use it to build a level of defense was very interesting. To be privy to that information and learn different tools and methods you could use to counter those malicious attacks was amazing

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