To be fed up (financial mess)

@whattodo89 in regards to your husband he just needs to keep applying. My husband got into that industry after a career change with no experience so it is possible. I'm happy to private message you about where he works now if you want to know more.

This is true. Can’t give up though. Some do get lucky enough to break through, but only those who haven’t stopped trying.

I understand. For awhile I was doing a qualification from 6am-10am on Saturdays and Sundays under agreement my DH would get up with the DC. That meant I could put a solid 8hrs into it.

i then used same time slots to apply for new jobs.

You could consider similar? Even if you skip studying a new qualification and just use the time to apply for more senior jobs in the same sector, it is better than putting all the pressure on one of you to bring in more income.

As I say, if you are both looking for better paid work, it doubles your chances.

Hang on in there , next year will ve a lot better money wise

Can he provide advisory/systems support to local SMEs on a freelance basis, as a side gig? Do you have any start-up hubs or enterprise centres near you, that he could build a network in?

Ok, he may need to learn a bit of a lesson from this. His first company invested a lot of time and money in him with the CompTIA, it's not cheap and it requires a lot of study. They wouldn't have done that on a whim or if they weren't serious about developing him.

One really important thing to remember about CyberSecurity as a field is that we are a cost to the business, we generate no revenue and our work can be very expensive, the systems and tools that we use, as well as the cost of the specialist people. We have a really important function in preventing and responding to breaches that COULD potentially cause huge financial loss and reputational damage. The key word there being COULD. We are completely reliant on the company we work for having a well enough developed understanding and consideration of the risks that a breach brings, and having the foresight and finances to be willing to spend to prevent it even though it may never happen.

It is highly likely that the first company had in fact had the budget pulled or frozen, if revenue is low then the teams that are pure cost are the ones that get frozen first. It's rarely a permanent position so patience and having open conversations to really understand the drivers being the back track, when the new financial year and planning for it will start etc are so important.

He can't change what has happened just look forward and keep it in mind for future decisions.

If he has the time and will then he should start doing free courses, listening to podcasts, reading draft and newly published legislations about AI. It's the new big scary and big exciting thing in Cyber, UK Govt have recently published new guidelines. Several states in the US too and loads of the big software providers have been launching new security tools with extensive AI capabilities. All the hackers/scammers/bad actors are using it too, so it is what everyone is talking about and trying to formulate policies, plans and processes to use it well and combat threats from it all at the same time.

The reality is a lot people are trapped in low paid work with little wriggle room other than to take on more debt or throw the towel in and live on benefits.

Your usual middle class type on here can't comprehend this - in her world you just get a better job just like that - but this is the British class system in operation.

Absolutely nothing to do with me as I know nothing about IT, but just wanted to say how impressed I am with the detailed help offered by @FlabMonsterIsDietingAgain what a lovely person you are x

Sorry me again, he should also approach his current employer and ask for opportunities to put his training into practice as a development opportunity.

If he's working in IT, could he shadow someone in the cybersecurity team, assist on any projects, volunteer to update security architecture diagrams, write up network security configurations, create incident playbooks for ransomware, phishing, advanced persistent threats....

He may not get any extra pay but he can then add these to his CV under his current role and use them as examples of experience. He may also find that it puts him in a good position in his current company if any roles become available.

It might be worth him getting in contact with some specialist cyber or IT security recruitment agencies and seeing if he can get his CV on their books for roles they are working to fill

www.xcede.com/disciplines/cyber

ltharper.com/

www.itecco.co.uk/

www.firstpointgroup.com/specialisms/cyber-and-information-security/

He should also look at CompTIA community forums to see if there are any networking opportunities and LinkedIn searching for #SOC #SecurityOerationsCentre #CyberJobs and other relevant terms to find groups/communities he can join and get talking to people.

Op years ago when we were on our knees I brought a tin you can't open and put 2 a week in. Sold ebay stuff and added where I could.
. In the first year we got about 80 pounds and I carried it over.
I know that sounds pitiful but we brought a yha membership with it and went away when they had sales. They have private rooms with en suite and you can take your own food and cook in kitchen.

I then got a few tins and put all few pounds a week in to help toward Christmas and so on.

It really helped.

We switched all bank cards to places that gave better interest, made sure light bulbs all low led, made sure we paid low for broadband etc.

So this is the type of role I would recommend someone getting into cybersecurity with a strong IT background look at:

uk.indeed.com/viewjob?jk=47f93ca8eec50d6f&tk=1hu6roiqqkcp789t&from=serp&vjs=3

This is the type of role where IT experience is less important and transferrable skills from project management/operations roles would make a stronger candidate:

recruiting2.ultipro.com/PSI1000PSIS/JobBoard/3b0fc76b-29e6-4a1f-94db-1dd3c9c51633/OpportunityDetail?opportunityId=8cb4b18a-e9c8-4326-aeaa-ccbdf886b927

He needs to ensure that he is critically reviewing the job adverts, really making sure he understands the role and can fill any direct experience gaps with a compelling example of similar or complementary experience from his past roles.

If he's applying for lots of jobs then he also needs to make sure he doesn't fall into the bad habit of just winging off the same CV to a dozen roles scattergun style, they won't get past the initial sift because recruiters are either using AI CV sifting tools that look for specific key words from the advert to appear in the CV, or they are being manually sifted by people who are now overly critical because of the huge numbers of AI created CVs were seeing.

Then, my husband requires a visa and missed the cut off date for renewal about 5 years ago,

He should be eligible for ILR now, which if he gets it will mean no more visa or NHS surcharge costs. AND if he loses his job when on ILR, he can claim UC.

I’m glad he is trying to increase his income, but are you doing the same OP? If there are two of you looking for better paying jobs, then that doubles your chances ?

When you say trained in cybersecurity, what training and what type of cybersecurity is he looking at.

I work in infosec Governance, Risk & Compliance and we are inundated with bootcamp graduates at the moment, 6 weeks learning and being pushed to apply for roles that state a need for 2-3 yrs experience.

If he has a strong IT background is he applying for security engineering roles, security Operations etc where his practical IT experience is a strength or for GRC roles which are more about security policies, standards, frameworks, audit.... where he is likely to be up against others with a lot more experience.

Can't help with finance but in terms of Scouts. Speak to scout leader, they may have discretionary funds and grants available to support families to access scout camps etc.

Likewise, speak to school re help with trip costs.

If he's struggling to get a job in cyber security, could he at least find an IT support job that doesn't require such a long commute? That would at least provide some relief in terms of commuting costs.