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The Career Compass #60
Welcome back to The Career Compass. Each week I share clear, practical advice to help you grow your career, stand out in competitive markets and stay ahead of what’s happening across cybersecurity and the job landscape.
Whether you’re breaking into tech, levelling up your cyber skills or planning your next career move, this edition gives you everything you need to stay informed and keep progressing.
Video of the week: Top 5 FREE Cybersecurity Labs to Practise Skills in 2025 (No Experience Needed)
Want to get into cyber? This week’s video shows how you can gain hands-on experience without spending a cent. Perfect for beginning your cybersecurity journey: learn ethical hacking basics, explore real-world lab environments and boost your practical skills. Ideal for career-changers and job-seekers alike.
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News & Trends
1. Ransomware Pressure Eases – But Risk Remains in Australia
Australia’s organisations are paying significantly less in ransomware demands: the 2025 survey from McGrathNicol found ransom payments have almost halved, even as attack volumes stay high and smaller businesses remain the majority of victims.
Meanwhile, Australian firms are saying they need more experts in cybersecurity, data engineering and AI.
2. AI Regulation Moves Forward in Australia
The Australian government is progressing with new AI safety and governance discussions, focusing on clearer rules around how AI systems are designed and deployed across organisations. The conversations are centred on transparency, responsible use and stronger protections for consumers and businesses.
Career takeaway: Employers will start looking for people who understand both cyber risk and AI governance. Even beginners can stand out by showing awareness of secure AI practices, privacy guidelines and emerging regulatory expectations.
3. Cloud Security Skills Continue to Surge in Demand
Across Australia, companies are increasing their investment in cloud security as more workloads move into AWS, Azure and Google Cloud. Organisations are reporting skill shortages in areas like identity management, cloud monitoring, container security and secure configuration.
Career takeaway: Even basic familiarity with cloud platforms can give beginners an advantage. Free labs, cloud fundamentals certifications and hands-on practice with IAM and logging tools help you stand out in a market where employers struggle to find cloud-aware candidates.
4. Supply-Chain Attacks & Vendor Risk Are Rising on the Radar
Nearly one-third of companies globally say they’ve seen increased attacks against their supply chains.
In Australia, recent major breaches underscore the same theme: hackers targeting third-party help-desk systems or vendor credentials.
Advise for job-seekers: Highlight awareness of vendor/third-party risk in your narratives and demonstrate how you can contribute to a layered defence approach.
General Career Advice
Why Your Personal Summary Matters on Your Resume
Your personal summary (sometimes labelled “Professional Profile” or “Career Objective”) is one of the most-under-utilised opportunities to brand yourself. Here’s why it matters:
First impression: It appears near the top of the document and sets the tone for a recruiter or hiring manager. A bland or generic summary wastes that space.
Focuses the reader: When you’ve got a career-transitioner or cyber-aspirant, the summary gives you the chance to align your message to the role you’re chasing—“Aspiring Cyber Threat Analyst” or “Cybersecurity Graduate seeking to leverage hands-on lab experience in a SOC environment”.
Shows value: It is your elevator-pitch in text form. You can highlight a unique mix (Customer service background + hands-on cyber lab experience, ready to support incident response and threat detection.”) that sets you apart.
Drives keywords: Many hire-online systems scan resumes for keywords early on. A well-crafted summary provides relevant terms right at the top.
Supports storytelling: Later sections (skills, experience, labs) back up the summary. So if you say “Results-oriented junior cyber-analyst with hands-on lab experience”, then you must show evidence of the labs or projects.
Tips for writing a strong personal summary:
Keep it 3-4 lines maximum (unless you have senior experience).
Tailor it for each application—mention the job title or domain you’re targeting.
Use active verbs and quantify where you can (“reduced incident MTTR by 23 % in lab environment”).
Avoid clichés (“passionate about cybersecurity” without context) unless you follow immediately with specific skill/outcome.
If you’re a career-changer, frame the prior experience as a strength and indicate the new direction - “FormerHelp desk assistant, turned cyber-analyst trainee leveraging stakeholder-management skills to support incident response teams”.
As a career coach, I always ask my clients to revisit this summary whenever they shift target roles, because even subtle tweaks (job title, skill emphasis) can significantly improve their resonance with employers.
Challenge of the Week
Update or craft your personal summary and swap it with a peer or coach for feedback.
This week:
Write (or refine) your personal summary according to the guidelines above.
Ask someone unfamiliar with your career path (e.g., a colleague or friend) to read it and tell you what role they think you’re aiming for.
If they don’t guess the correct direction or domain, iterate.
Upload the old and new version into your tracking sheet (or LinkedIn draft) and note which version gives you more confident alignment.
Featured e-Book
If you’re currently looking for a new role pr to advance your career, my new e-book is now available:
“The Career Compass Playbook”
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Inside you’ll find:
This book gives you the exact frameworks I use with coaching clients to help them land interviews, stand out in competitive markets and negotiate stronger salaries. Inside, you’ll find:
Clear, step-by-step guidance on structuring an effective job search
Templates and scripts for outreach, follow ups and interview prep
Practical exercises that build confidence and clarity
Insider recruiter insights on what actually gets attention
Salary negotiation tactics you can apply immediately
One-page checklists you can reuse for every application
If you want to improve your applications, sharpen your interview performance or feel more confident navigating the job market, this book will help you move forward with clarity and strategy.
Grab your copy here: Click here
Cyber Skills Spotlight
One practical skill that can elevate your job applications and interview performance.
This week’s skill: Knowing how to talk about your hands-on experience.
You don’t need paid experience to sound confident and credible. Here’s how to frame your free-lab work or home-projects effectively:
Describe the scenario you worked through and what you learned.
Mention the tools you used and why they matter.
Connect the skills to real roles (SOC analyst, GRC, cloud security).
Use results where possible, for example “improved log correlation accuracy using Splunk tutorials”.
Keep it short and structured so it reads like real experience.
Hiring managers want to see initiative and a willingness to learn. Labs are the perfect way to prove that.
Thanks for reading, and as always, keep levelling up your career.
Best wishes
Luke Gough
Recruiter / Career Coach / Founder of The Career Compass
P.S. Remember to share The Career Compass with your network, and let’s work together to empower more careers!
