Top Entry Level Positions in IT & Cybersecurity

What entry-level jobs exist in cybersecurity and IT?

More on the IT side than the security side, which is the thing most candidates get wrong. The common genuine entry points are help desk and technical support, systems and network administration, IT operations, and junior roles in a security operations centre, usually written as SOC, where analysts monitor alerts and investigate them. Also accessible are governance, risk, and compliance roles, which suit people who are organized and good at writing. What is generally not entry level, despite job titles suggesting otherwise, is penetration testing, security engineering, and incident response leadership. Those are second or third jobs, reached after a few years of the roles above.

Can I get a cybersecurity job with no experience?

Directly into security, rarely. Into the field, yes, and the standard route is through IT. Most working security professionals started on a help desk or in systems administration, because you cannot secure infrastructure you do not understand. That path typically takes one to three years and it is the fastest reliable route rather than a detour. What substitutes partially for experience is a home lab you can describe in detail, a certification, capture the flag competition results, or documented volunteer work securing systems for a small organization. Be sceptical of any programme promising a six-figure security job in a few months with no background.

Which companies hire entry-level cybersecurity and IT staff?

Almost every organization above a certain size employs IT staff, which makes this broader than candidates assume. The largest entry-level employers are managed service providers and IT consultancies, which hire in volume and rotate junior staff across many clients. Beyond those, banks and insurers, hospital systems, universities, retailers, and government agencies all run internal IT and security teams. The security product vendors, including Palo Alto Networks, CrowdStrike, and Cisco, hire for support and analyst roles that are a realistic way in. Government contractors hire heavily but often require citizenship. Verify openings on each employer's careers site.

Do I need a degree, or are certifications enough?

Certifications carry unusual weight in this field, more than in most technology careers, and plenty of people work in IT and security without a degree. The common entry-level path is a foundational certification plus demonstrable hands-on ability. That said, a degree still matters for some employers, particularly large corporations with rigid job requirements, government roles, and anything where a posting lists it as mandatory. The realistic reading is that certifications get you interviews for junior technical roles, a degree widens the range of employers who will consider you, and neither substitutes for being able to explain how something actually works.

What is the difference between IT and cybersecurity work?

IT builds and runs the systems. Security protects them, which means the two overlap constantly and security depends on IT knowledge. An IT role is about keeping things working: provisioning accounts, maintaining networks and servers, supporting users, and managing software. A security role is about anticipating and detecting misuse: monitoring for suspicious activity, assessing where systems are weak, responding to incidents, and setting policy. In smaller organizations one person does both. In larger ones they are separate teams that sometimes disagree, because security controls often make systems less convenient to use. Starting in IT is the normal path into security.

Which certifications actually help at the entry level?

The ones employers name in postings, which in practice means a short list. For general IT foundations, the CompTIA sequence, particularly A+ for support roles and Network+ for infrastructure, is widely recognized. For security specifically, Security+ is the most commonly requested entry-level credential and appears in a large share of junior postings, including many government and contractor roles that require it. Cloud certifications from the major providers are increasingly valuable. The advanced credentials that dominate discussion, including CISSP, have experience requirements that make them irrelevant early on. Pick one that matches the jobs you are actually applying to.

Do entry-level security roles require a security clearance?

Many do not, but a substantial and well-paid slice of the US market does. Government agencies and defense contractors employ a large share of security professionals, and those roles typically require US citizenship and a clearance that the employer sponsors after hiring. You generally cannot obtain one on your own. Some employers hire candidates who are clearable and sponsor the process, which can take months to over a year. If you are a US citizen, this part of the market is worth targeting deliberately because it is less crowded and pays well. If you are not, filter these postings out early to save time.

Are entry-level cybersecurity and IT jobs remote?

Partly, and it splits by function. Security monitoring and analysis work remotely well, and many security operations centres run distributed shifts. Governance, risk, and compliance work is largely remote-friendly. Traditional IT support is the opposite: help desk and desktop support roles usually need someone who can physically touch hardware, and infrastructure roles often require data centre access. Entry-level roles skew toward the on-site end because junior staff are the ones doing hands-on work and because employers want them near senior colleagues early on. Regulated industries add further restrictions on where systems can be accessed from.

Do employers sponsor international candidates for security roles?

Large technology companies, banks, consultancies, and the security product vendors do sponsor, and demand for skilled security staff is high enough that some are flexible. The constraint specific to this field is significant, though: government agencies, defense contractors, and any role requiring a security clearance are effectively closed to non-citizens, and that is a large portion of the US security market. Critical infrastructure employers sometimes carry similar restrictions. Postings normally state citizenship requirements explicitly, so read that line before applying and concentrate on commercial employers. This is general information, not immigration advice.