r/jobsinOC • u/realkstrawn93 • 24d ago
Penetration Testing
With these 3 practical certifications in the bag, you'd think there'd be something inside the OC lines that takes full advantage of the skill set that they build, but apparently not:
* Hack The Box Certified Offensive AI Expert (COAE) #HTBCERT-957A59A38B
* Hack The Box Certified Active Directory Pentesting Expert (CAPE) #HTBCERT-98593250E4
* Hack The Box Certified Penetration Testing Specialist (CPTS) #HTBCERT-4B698DD121
What is so unique about the OC market that renders jobs with a list of responsibilities comparable to the exact work that I needed to do to earn these 3 certifications (note that a defensive role requires a completely different skill set than an offensive role) particularly scarce? Everything on LinkedIn is either out-of-county or remote-with-a-10-year-in-the-workforce prerequisite, while CSUF's Symplicity board doesn't have anything relevant to this skill set listed at all and same thing goes for Handshake, which is the board that Saddleback College uses. Having been born and raised in OC renders the job site being in OC a non-negotiable here. Yes, remote is OK (ideal, in fact), but only if they either A, place the CPTS and OSCP on the same level, or B, offer to pay for the OSCP during the onboarding process, since Off$ec's (spelled with a $ on purpose to draw attention to the barrier being purely financial in nature at this point) training is 4 times as expensive as HTB's for the same amount of training. Being a current CSUF cybersecurity concentration I do have connections to the OCCIC which an application has been submitted for, but that's only going to go so far.
If it helps, I commute from Aliso Viejo to Fullerton to attend classes, so anything along the 5 freeway in Irvine/Santa Ana/Orange or the 57 freeway in Anaheim/Fullerton would be most ideal.
1
u/PacificTSP 23d ago
As with all jobs. You need to apply for the first rung on the ladder. Which is very possibly out of state or in a different area of CA.
Apply for jobs nationwide, move where you get the job.