Cybersecurity Analyst

01.1Resume

CoreBeginner3–5 h

A one-page resume you can defend line by line.

What this covers

• One-page format — Reverse-chronological, clean fonts, no photos or tables that confuse parsers.
• Project bullets — Action + what you built + a number (users, speed, accuracy).
• Skills section — Only skills you can answer questions on for two minutes.
• ATS readability — Export a text-based PDF and check it with a parser.
• Working links — GitHub, LinkedIn and a live project link that open.
• Tailoring — Reorder bullets to match the job description.

What to practise

• Run your PDF through a parser test
• Rewrite each bullet as action + result
• Remove any skill you can't explain for 2 minutes

Common questions

• Walk me through your resume.
• Which project here are you most proud of, and why?
• Why is this skill on your resume?

Free resources

• OpenResume — Free ATS-friendly resume builder and parser test (Free)
• Jake's Resume (Overleaf) — The LaTeX resume template most SDE freshers use (Free)
• Resume Worded — Resume and LinkedIn scoring (Free plan)
• Jobscan — Match your resume against a job description (Free plan)

Free courses

• Professional Resume Writing — Alison (Free course)
• Resume, Networking, and Interview Skills — Fullbridge (Free to audit)

01.2Tell me about yourself

CoreBeginner1–2 h

A 60–90 second answer: present, past, why this role.

What this covers

• Present — Who you are now: degree, year, focus.
• Past — One or two proof points: a project, internship or result.
• Future — Why this role and this company next.
• Length — 60–90 seconds; stop before you list everything.
• Delivery — Calm pace and eye contact, not a memorised script.

What to practise

• Write it, then say it out loud 5 times
• Record yourself and cut anything over 90 seconds

Common questions

• Tell me about yourself.
• Why should we hire you?
• Where do you see yourself in a few years?

Free resources

• Google Interview Warmup — Free spoken mock interview that prints your transcript (Free)
• BBC Learning English — Structured free English lessons and podcasts (Free)

Free courses

• English@Work: Basic Job Interview Skills — The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (Free to audit)
• Job Interview Preparation For Tech Professionals — University of Cape Town (Free to audit)

01.3Behavioral & STAR

CoreBeginner3–4 h

Stories about teamwork, conflict and failure, told with STAR.

What this covers

• STAR structure — Situation, task, action, result. Spend most of the time on action.
• Story bank — 6–8 real stories you can reuse across questions.
• Teamwork & conflict — Disagreeing respectfully and what you changed.
• Failure & weakness — A real one, what you learned, what you do now.
• Ownership — Times you took initiative without being asked.
• Common HR questions — Why us, why you, strengths, relocation.

What to practise

• Write 6 stories in STAR form
• Map each story to 2–3 common questions
• Practise one story with a friend

Common questions

• Tell me about a time you failed.
• Describe a conflict in a team and what you did.
• What is your biggest weakness?

Free resources

• Tech Interview Handbook — Free guide to coding and behavioral interviews (Free)
• Google Interview Warmup — Free spoken mock interview that prints your transcript (Free)
• Pramp / Exponent peer mocks — Free peer-to-peer mock interviews (Free plan)

Free courses

• Master Behavioral Interviews (for Software Engineers) — freeCodeCamp (Free video)
• Behavioral Interview Practice for Computer Science Students — CodeSignal (Free to audit)
• Soft Skills For Tech Professionals — University of Cape Town (Free to audit)

02.2Operating systems

CoreIntermediate6–10 h

Processes, threads, scheduling, memory and deadlocks.

What this covers

• Processes & threads — Differences and context switching.
• CPU scheduling — FCFS, SJF, round robin, priority.
• Synchronisation — Race conditions, mutexes, semaphores.
• Deadlocks — The four conditions, prevention, avoidance.
• Memory management — Paging, segmentation, virtual memory.
• Page replacement — FIFO, LRU, optimal.

What to practise

• Draw the process state diagram from memory
• Explain a deadlock with a real example

Common questions

• Process vs thread?
• What are the four conditions for deadlock?
• What is virtual memory?

Free resources

• OSTEP (Operating Systems: Three Easy Pieces) — Free operating systems book, chapter by chapter (Free)
• GeeksforGeeks — Company-wise questions and theory (Free plan)

Free courses

• Introduction to Operating Systems — IIT Madras (Free course)
• Operating Systems Course for Beginners — freeCodeCamp (Free video)
• Operating System Fundamentals — IIT Kharagpur (Free course)

02.3Linux & the command line

CoreBeginner4–8 h

Everyday commands, permissions and processes.

What this covers

• Navigation & files — ls, cd, find, grep, less.
• Permissions — chmod, chown, users and groups.
• Processes — ps, top, kill, background jobs.
• Networking tools — curl, ping, ss, dig.
• Shell scripting — Variables, loops, pipes, exit codes.
• Logs & services — journalctl, systemctl, tail -f.

What to practise

• Solve the first 15 levels of a command-line wargame
• Write a script that backs up a folder daily

Common questions

• How do you find which process uses a port?
• What does chmod 755 mean?

Free resources

• OverTheWire: Bandit — Command-line security games, level by level (Free)
• Professor Messer — Free networking and IT support video courses (Free)
• MIT OpenCourseWare — Real MIT course material, free (Free)

Free courses

• Command Line Hacking – Over The Wire Bandit Walkthrough (CTF Wargame) — freeCodeCamp (Free video)
• Linux for Absolute Beginners — Alison (Free course)
• Linux Basics: The Command Line Interface — Dartmouth College (Free to audit)

03.1Security fundamentals

CoreIntermediate8–12 h

Core security concepts every security interview starts with.

What this covers

• CIA triad — Confidentiality, integrity, availability.
• Authentication & access — MFA, least privilege, access control.
• Cryptography basics — Hashing vs encryption, TLS, keys.
• Common attacks — Phishing, malware, brute force, MITM.
• Network security — Firewalls, IDS/IPS, segmentation.
• Frameworks — A basic idea of risk, policy and compliance.

What to practise

• Complete a beginner path on a hands-on lab platform
• Explain how HTTPS protects a login

Common questions

• Difference between hashing and encryption?
• What is a man-in-the-middle attack?
• How would you secure a new laptop for an employee?

Free resources

• TryHackMe — Hands-on security labs in the browser (Free plan)
• OWASP Top 10 — The standard list of web application risks (Free)
• Professor Messer — Free networking and IT support video courses (Free)
• OverTheWire: Bandit — Command-line security games, level by level (Free)

Free courses

• Diploma in Cyber Security — Alison (Free course)
• Network Security — Great Learning (Free course)
• AI in Cybersecurity: Vulnerability, Intelligence, Security, and Ethics — Alison (Free course)

03.2Security operations (SOC)

CoreIntermediate6–10 h

Monitoring, detecting and responding to threats.

What this covers

• Logs & SIEM — Collecting and searching security events.
• Detection — Indicators of compromise, alerts, triage.
• Incident response — Contain, eradicate, recover, learn.
• Threat intelligence — Using known attacker patterns.
• Vulnerability management — Scanning and prioritising fixes.

What to practise

• Investigate a sample alert in a SOC lab
• Write an incident timeline from sample logs

Common questions

• How would you respond to a phishing report?
• What is a false positive?

Free resources

• TryHackMe — Hands-on security labs in the browser (Free plan)
• Professor Messer — Free networking and IT support video courses (Free)

Free courses

• AZ-500: Manage security operations — Microsoft (Free to audit)
• Azure Security Operations Foundation — Microsoft (Free to audit)
• Preparing For Security Operations Analyst Interviews and Assignments — Microsoft (Free to audit)

04.1Projects & resume defense

CoreIntermediate4–6 h

Explaining what you built, why, and what you would change.

What this covers

• The problem — What it solves and for whom.
• Your role — Exactly what you built yourself.
• Architecture — A simple diagram: frontend, backend, database.
• Hardest bug — What broke and how you found it.
• Trade-offs — Why this stack; what you would change now.
• Scale questions — What happens with 10x the users.

What to practise

• Prepare a 2-minute walkthrough per project
• Be ready to draw its architecture

Common questions

• What was the hardest part of this project?
• Why did you choose this tech stack?
• How would it handle 10x more users?

Free resources

• Tech Interview Handbook — Free guide to coding and behavioral interviews (Free)
• Pramp / Exponent peer mocks — Free peer-to-peer mock interviews (Free plan)

Free courses

• Software Engineering Concepts — MIT OpenCourseWare (Free course)
• Build community-driven software projects on GitHub — Microsoft (Free course)

05.1Technical mock interviews

CoreIntermediate3–6 h

At least two full coding mocks before the real one.

What this covers

• Thinking aloud — Narrate your approach before and while coding.
• Clarifying questions — Confirm inputs, scale and edge cases first.
• Handling hints — Take them gracefully and adapt.
• "I don't know" — Say what you do know and how you would find out.
• Review the recording — Fillers, pace, unclear explanations.

What to practise

• Do two peer mock interviews
• Record one spoken mock and listen back

Common questions

• Walk me through your approach before you code.
• How would you test this?

Free resources

• Pramp / Exponent peer mocks — Free peer-to-peer mock interviews (Free plan)
• Google Interview Warmup — Free spoken mock interview that prints your transcript (Free)
• Tech Interview Handbook — Free guide to coding and behavioral interviews (Free)

Free courses

• Software Engineering Job Interview – Full Mock Interview — freeCodeCamp (Free video)

06.1Company research

CoreBeginner1–2 h

The product, the role, the job description and recent news.

What this covers

• The business — What it sells and to whom.
• The role — What the job description really asks for.
• Recent news — Launches, results, announcements.
• Interview format — The rounds, if the company shares them.
• Your fit — Three reasons, matched to the job description.

What to practise

• Write 3 reasons you want this role
• Match 3 JD lines to your experience

Common questions

• Why do you want to work here?
• What do you know about our product?

Free resources

• GeeksforGeeks — Company-wise questions and theory (Free plan)
• Tech Interview Handbook — Free guide to coding and behavioral interviews (Free)

06.3Final checklist

CoreBeginner30 min

Logistics, documents, setup and a calm night before.

What this covers

• Logistics — Time, timezone, link or address.
• Documents — Resume copies, ID, certificates if asked.
• Tech check — Camera, mic, internet, charger.
• Night before — Sleep, light revision, no new topics.

What to practise

• Do a 5-minute tech check the day before
• Lay out documents and clothes the night before

Free resources

• Google Interview Warmup — Free spoken mock interview that prints your transcript (Free)