Thank you for being here for another edition of The Career Compass. Every week I hear from readers who are landing interviews, changing careers or gaining clarity in their job search. Knowing the newsletter is helping you take real steps forward is what keeps this project meaningful for me.

I want this newsletter to continue growing in depth, quality and usefulness. Which brings me to a quick but important announcement.

From the next edition onwards, The Career Compass will be published every two weeks instead of weekly.

This allows me to deliver deeper content, more detailed insights and higher quality breakdowns that genuinely help you move your career forward. Thank you for supporting the newsletter and giving me the space to make each edition more valuable.

I appreciate everyone who reads The Career Compass each week. You help this community grow and make the work feel meaningful. To say thank you, I have created an exclusive offer just for subscribers.

As a thank you for being part of The Career Compass community, you can get twenty percent off my e-book: The Career Compass Playbook at any time. That brings the price down from $9.99 to $7.99 AUD for subscribers.

This offer is only for newsletter readers and will not be shared anywhere else. I really appreciate your support!

Use code: CAREERCOMPASS20 at checkout.

Most beginners fail SOC Analyst interviews for reasons that have nothing to do with experience or certifications. In this video I break down the real reasons candidates struggle and show you how to fix them. I work directly with cybersecurity hiring managers and I see the same mistakes every week. I also see what separates successful candidates from everyone else.

If you want to stand out, get more callbacks and finally pass your SOC Analyst interviews, this video will give you the structure and clarity you need.
These tips will help you even with no experience.

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A SOC Analyst role continues to be one of the most realistic and rewarding entry points for people breaking into cybersecurity. It teaches the fundamentals that every security professional needs, while giving you hands on experience with real alerts and real attacks.

Here is a more detailed breakdown.

• Investigates alerts from tools like SIEMs and EDR platforms
• Determines if suspicious activity is a false positive or a real threat
• Escalates incidents to senior analysts or incident responders
• Documents investigation steps clearly for audits and security teams
• Monitors network activity to spot unusual patterns
• Contributes to improving detection rules and response playbooks

This is one of the few roles where beginners can get exposure to the real heartbeat of cybersecurity: detection, response and analysis.

• You learn how attacks actually unfold instead of just studying theory
• You pick up pattern recognition skills that senior analysts rely on
• You gain familiarity with log sources, cloud environments and endpoint tools
• You build confidence by working through real incidents
• You can transition later into cloud security, threat hunting, digital forensics, incident response and even management

Hiring managers love candidates who have SOC grounding because they know how to think through problems logically and communicate their reasoning.

Here is the clearest path I see in the hiring market:

1. Build a solid foundation
Networking, basic security principles, common attack methods, Linux fundamentals and log analysis.

2. Get beginner friendly certifications
Security Plus, Google Cybersecurity Certificate or any structured program that teaches applied skills.

3. Get hands on as early as possible
A small home lab, Splunk or ELK practice, TryHackMe SOC pathways, or a simple SIEM environment.

4. Start creating evidence of your learning
Document investigations, write short case studies and build a simple portfolio.

5. Target the right roles
Junior SOC Analyst, Cybersecurity Analyst, IT Security Trainee, Security Operations Trainee.

6. Prepare specifically for SOC interviews
Most candidates are rejected because they cannot explain their reasoning.
You must know how to talk through:
• Alert triage
• Basic log interpretation
• What you would do first
• Why you would escalate
• How to communicate to a non-technical person

If you can demonstrate clear thinking and structured logic, you are already ahead of most beginners.

Most people focus on the obvious parts of career growth. They improve their CV, rewrite their LinkedIn, study for interviews and take another course. These things help, but they are not what accelerates your career.

The real accelerator is something different.

It is the ability to review your actions honestly and adjust quickly.

Professionals who grow fast are not perfect. They simply refuse to repeat the same mistakes for long.

Here is what this looks like in practice.

What specifically did I do well and what specifically needs to be improved?
Not in a general sense. Be precise.
For example:
• My explanation of my experience was too long
• I was slow when answering behavioural questions
• I could not explain a technical concept simply
• I did not demonstrate enthusiasm clearly
One precise insight each time moves you forward faster than ten generic tips.

Choose one habit to improve and track it.
This could be:
• Networking outreach
• Interview practice
• Hands on cyber skills
• LinkedIn content
• SIEM practice
People who improve consistently are the ones who track their behaviour, not their outcomes.

Most people are unclear about what they want, so they move slowly.
When you define exactly what you want to achieve in the next three months, decisions become easier and progress becomes faster.

Careers rarely change in a single big moment. They change through small decisions repeated over time.
Momentum creates opportunities you cannot see yet, and maintaining momentum is simpler than most people think.
Show up, learn, apply, adjust and repeat.

If you build this mindset now, your career will look very different twelve months from today.

Choose one small action that will build momentum and commit to doing it every day for seven days.

Examples:
• Analyse one sample alert per day
• Apply for two jobs per day
• Send two networking messages
• Practise one interview question
• Spend twenty minutes learning cloud fundamentals

Small actions compound quickly.

If you have not grabbed your copy of The Career Compass Playbook yet, remember you get twenty percent off as a subscriber. Use the code CAREERCOMPASS20 at checkout.

https://lukegoughcoaching.com/the-career-compass-playbook/

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!