💥 Cyber Security Career Path: Penetration Tester Role Focus: Ethically hack into systems, networks, and applications to find and report vulnerabilities before malicious hackers do.
🧠 About the Role Penetration Testers—also known as Pentesters or Ethical Hackers—simulate real-world cyberattacks to uncover weaknesses in systems before threat actors do. Their work is essential for improving an organization’s security posture by proactively identifying and helping fix exploitable vulnerabilities.
If you enjoy problem-solving, thinking like a hacker, and working hands-on with systems, this role might be for you.
🎯 Responsibilities 🛠️ Perform penetration tests on networks, infrastructure, and web applications
🧪 Conduct vulnerability assessments and manual exploit attempts
📝 Analyze policies and configurations for weaknesses
📊 Provide actionable reports detailing vulnerabilities and remediation strategies
🧭 Learning Paths on TryHackMe These learning paths provide hands-on labs, theoretical foundations, and real-world simulations to become a job-ready penetration tester:
Path Description Link JR Penetration Tester Learn core pentesting skills with practical labs Start Now Offensive Pentesting Advanced techniques in exploitation, privilege escalation, and red teaming Start Now
📘 Career Guides ✅ Becoming a Penetration Tester
✅ How to Become a Penetration Tester
✅ Preparing for a Junior Penetration Tester Interview
✅ From IT Support to Pentester: Tom’s Success Story
These guides help you understand what employers expect, prepare for interviews, and learn from real success stories.
🛠️ Recommended Skills & Tools 🐍 Scripting: Python, Bash, PowerShell
🧰 Tools: Nmap, Burp Suite, Metasploit, Wireshark, Nikto
🧠 Knowledge of OWASP Top 10, CVEs, and common exploits
🌐 Web App and API testing
🧑💻 Operating Systems: Linux and Windows internals
🚩 Capture The Flag (CTF) and bug bounty experience (optional but valuable)