How to Become an Ethical Hacker + Cybersecurity Expert & Get Hired

Become an Ethical Hacker & Cybersecurity Expert

Master Ethical Hacking & Cybersecurity and become a certified Security Expert! This curated curriculum of courses, projects, and security certifications will get you industry ready. Learn penetration testing, network defense, threat analysis & security architecture, and much more. You will be industry-certified, and industry ready by the end of it all.

Your career path

What You'll Learn

Cybersecurity Offense: learn Ethical Hacking from scratch including all 5 phases of Penetration Testing and much, much more
Cybersecurity Defense: learn the latest best practices, techniques, and tools used for network security to protect digital assets and prevent black hat hackers from penetrating your systems
How to set up your Hacking Lab: Kali Linux and Virtual Machines
Create trojans, viruses, and keyloggers for Ethical Hacking
Be able to develop effective end-point protection and network security systems
Understand how hackers track you online and be able to protect yourself using advanced anonymity and privacy techniques
The skills and practice to confidently apply for Cybersecurity jobs such as: Cybersecurity Engineer, Incident Response Analyst, Risk Analyst, Penetration Tester, and Forensic Analyst
You'll even learn Python fundamentals to combine programming knowledge and Ethical Hacking knowledge so you can mix techniques and adapt them to different situations

Course · optional for you

Beginner

32 Hours ·346 Lessons Complete Python Developer in 2025: Zero to Mastery

Learn Python from scratch, get hired, and have fun along the way with the most modern, up-to-date Python course on the web.

Course Details Take the Course

Action

The Next 2 Courses

If you have the time, we recommend that you do both the Ethical Hacking and the Cybersecurity courses coming up. You can pick the order! You can choose Cybersecurity course first in case you are more into defensive side of security, or you can go with the Ethical Hacking course first if you are more interested in the offensive side. If you already know that you prefer one over the other, or your job requires you to just learn just one, pick that one. Again, our recommendation is that you do both courses since you will learn a lot from each (to be an expert in this field, you must learn both offence and defence).

Course

Beginner

29 Hours ·270 Lessons Complete Ethical Hacking Bootcamp: Zero to Mastery

Learn Ethical Hacking and Penetration Testing from scratch and master the most modern ethical hacking tools and best practices!

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Course

Intermediate

11 Hours ·98 Lessons Complete Cybersecurity Bootcamp: Zero to Mastery

Go from zero to hired as a Cyber Security Engineer. Learn the latest cybersecurity best practices, techniques, and tools so that you can build and defend your digital assets against hackers.

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Course

Advanced

7.5 Hours ·76 Lessons Advanced Ethical Hacking Bootcamp: Network Hacking & Security

Take your ethical hacking skills to the next level. Learn how to exploit network vulnerabilities, bypass security measures, and craft your own exploits from scratch in this advanced network hacking course.

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Course

Beginner

1 Hours ·8 Lessons Cybersecurity: Personal Online Security

Learn how to protect your security and privacy online using best practices for passwords, browsers, VPNs and more.

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Action

Apply To 5 Jobs

Believe it or not, you now have enough skills to start applying to jobs and even get hired! This process usually takes a while and it's good to start even if you don't feel "ready". Apply to 5 jobs online right now and see what happens. You don't even need to "want" these jobs. The goal is to practice applying and practice going through the interview process. Once you finish applying to 5 jobs (you don't need to hear back), move on to the next step in this Career Path.

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Course

Intermediate

5 Hours ·80 Lessons Career Guide to Your Dream Job: Resumes, Interviews & Promotions

Learn how to take the next step in your career. Whether you’re job hunting or aiming for a promotion, this course gives you the ultimate career advantage no matter your industry or experience level.

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Course

Beginner

11.5 Hours ·105 Lessons Web Security & Bug Bounty: Learn Penetration Testing

Become a Bug Bounty Hunter. Hack websites, fix vulnerabilities, improve web security and much more. You'll learn penetration testing from scratch and master the most modern pentesting tools & best practices for 2025!

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Course

Beginner

9 Hours ·110 Lessons The Networking Bootcamp (CompTIA Network+ Certification)

Go from complete beginner to acing the globally-recognized CompTIA Network+ certification exam. You'll learn the latest networking best practices, techniques, and tools.

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Course

Intermediate

9 Hours ·91 Lessons CompTIA Security+ Certification Bootcamp

Go from complete beginner to acing the globally-recognized CompTIA Security+ certification exam. You'll learn the latest cybersecurity best practices, techniques, and tools.

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Course

Intermediate

10 Hours ·120 Lessons Bash Scripting: Learn Shell Scripting

Learn Bash Scripting from scratch, from an industry expert. You'll learn Shell Scripting fundamentals plus get the practice and experience to get hired as a DevOps Engineer, SysAdmin, or Network Engineer.

Course Details Take the Course

Action

Apply To 5 Jobs You Really Want

This time around, you have more knowledge and more practice. It's now time to take your job hunt seriously. Find 5 companies/jobs that you REALLY want to work for and make a serious effort applying to these jobs based on the tips you learned in the previous lessons. Don't take no for an answer and see if you can land an interview at one of these companies you chose. Once you have an interview lined up, move to the next section.

Course · optional for you

Beginner

5.5 Hours ·110 Lessons Learning to Learn [Efficient Learning]

Become an efficient learner and best version of yourself. You'll learn scientifically proven strategies, techniques & skills used by the world's top performers!

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Course · optional for you

Beginner

1 Hours ·3 Lessons Future Proof Yourself: Goal Setting for Your Career

Learn how to set strategic, actionable goals, adapt to changing trends, and create a career roadmap that keeps you on track for success.

Course Details Take the Course

Action

Take Your Next Step

Now that you have completed this path, it's time for you to specialize and upgrade your skills into a specific market. You are now at the point where you need to decide what you want to do in your career. Take the career path quiz again and update your answers based on your newfound knowledge from this path. We will generate a new personal career path for you to take based on your new interests and skills.

Take Career Path Quiz

See less career path

Still have questions?

Who is this Ethical Hacker / Cybersecurity Career Path for?

Anyone who wants a clear step-by-step guide to become a Pen Tester / Ethical Hacker / Cybersecurity Expert from scratch and actually get hired. Oh ya, and you don't want to waste your money on overpriced bootcamps and degrees.

Also, let's be honest. Some of the topics can be a little dry. So, we're even going to have a bit of fun along the way. No way! Crazy right?!

This Ethical Hacker + Cybersecurity Career Path is perfect for you if:

You're a complete beginner (of any age!) and want a full bootcamp curriculum and experience without having to pay $1,000s
You don't want to waste your valuable time. You want to learn everything needed to become an Ethical Hacker & Cybersecurity Expert in one place
You don't want to learn and take this journey alone. You will learn alongside 100s of other students at your same level and 1,000s more that are just a few steps ahead of you
You can handle our amazing sense of humour (it's not spelled wrong, we're Canadian... well, some of us... see what we mean... you've been warned)

And it's definitely for you if you're sick of:

Outdated tutorials
Free courses and tutorials that don't go beyond the basics
Learning topics and concepts that are mostly irrelevant in the real-world
Courses with no community or support system
Tutorial hell
Feeling like you're going in circles with no clear path or end in sight

Let's be 100% clear. You aren't going to do 100 coding challenges or 50 projects or learn topics that aren't going to get you hired or even be used in the real-world. That's a waste of your time.

The sooner you get hired, the sooner you'll be learning more than you can from any course. That's our goal.

Why become an Ethical Hacker / Pen Tester / Cybersecurity Expert?

Everyone has their own reason(s) as to why they want to become an Ethical Hacker, Pen Tester, or Cybersecurity Expert. But here are a few of the best reasons:

Lots of jobs available. As we're writing this, there are over 6,500 Penetration Tester jobs available on Glassdoor (not to mention Linkedin, Indeed or elsewhere). And it isn't going to slow down. Cybercrime is rising faster than a SpaceX rocket. More cybercrime means more demand for Ethical Hackers and Penetration Testers and Cybersecurity Experts to protect digital assets and systems.
High demand = High salary. The average annual salary for an Ethical Hacker in the United States is over $119,000 and over $116,000 for a Penetration Tester, across all levels (entry-level to senior).
No degree required. Is there even a degree?! No matter. The cybercrime and cybersecurity field moves lightning quick. Which is pretty much the opposite of the speed that Colleges and Universities operate at. So if you want to get hired in an exciting, rewarding job and don't want to waste 4 years and $100,000+, this could be a great option for you.
It's fun. And rewarding. You get to have a real-world impact. The work you're doing on a daily basis can have a huge impact on hundreds, thousands, or even millions of people. You could be saving people and companies millions of dollars. You basically get to be Sherlock Holmes of the 21st century. If that isn't cool, we don't know what is.

How long does it take to become an Ethical Hacker / Cybersecurity Expert (and complete this Career Path)?

Everyone is different. So it's hard to give a specific amount of time. The two biggest variables are the number of hours per week you're dedicating to completing the steps in the Career Path and your current experience level.

Don't hold us to it but here's a rough guideline based on feedback we've received from past ZTM students on how long it takes to become an Ethical Hacker & Cybersecurity Expert:

20-40 hours a week = 4-6 months. Students who have started from scratch as complete beginners (no matter their age!) and spend a few hours per day.
40-80 hours a week = 2-3 months. Students who are able to learn basically full-time and/or already have some experience.
0-10 hours a week = 7-12+ months. Students from all experience levels but are only able to dedicate a few hours a week.

What’s the ZTM Discord community and how can it help me?

The ZTM Discord is our exclusive online community for ZTM students, alumni, TAs and instructors.

How it helps you, short version: Increase the chances that ZTM students achieve their current goals and help them continue to grow throughout their career.

Longer version: Learning alone is hard. We've all been there. We've all tried to learn new skills and struggled. It can be frustrating, daunting, and just plain challenging, especially if you're trying to change careers.

We feel strongly that the Zero To Mastery Discord community is an essential part of the learning experience and greatly increases the chances for students to achieve their goals.

It's crazy to think that Colleges and Coding Bootcamps charge you tens of thousands of dollars to provide you with this type of experience. It doesn't have to be that way!

In fact, ~20% of ZTM students are also enrolled at a College or in-person Coding Bootcamp but feel like they just aren't getting all of the skills and support they need. But with ZTM, they do.

Within the Zero To Mastery Discord community, you can:

Connect with other Developers, Engineers, Data Scientists, Designers
Form study groups and complete ZTM Career Paths and Courses together
Ask questions and get advice from other people at your same level as well as more experienced professionals
Get feedback on projects
Meet other students around the world (and likely even someone from your hometown!)
Learn how to answer questions and help other students which will accelerate your own learning
Get help from others with questions and exercises
Work on coding challenges and real-world open-source projects with other students

It’s pretty awesome to see many ZTM alumni also active every single day, continuing to engage with the community, give back, and level up their own skills and career.

Are there any prerequisites for this Career Path?

A computer (Windows/Mac/Linux) and access to the internet. That's it! No previous experience is needed.

If you haven't already, take our tech career path quiz. We'll give you our recommendation for which path is the best fit for you.

How is a Career Path different from a course?

Career Paths are like a full College curriculum. Our Career Paths give you the exact courses, workshops, challenges, articles and actions to take to go from absolute beginner to getting hired.

Career Paths start with ensuring you know the foundations from scratch. But they go far beyond by teaching you advanced topics and non-technical skills that are essential for your career but aren't taught in Computer Science Degrees or Coding Bootcamps.

Courses are more focused. Different courses have different goals. Some courses are a great fit for experienced Developers, Engineers and Programmers who want to level-up their skills in a specific topic or framework. Other courses cover a wider range of topics teaching the foundations and fundamentals for beginners.

Can I change my Career Path?

Yes. You can change your Career Path anytime. As a member of Zero To Mastery, you have unlimited access to all ZTM courses, workshops, challenges, articles and other materials needed to complete any of the ZTM Career Paths.

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Never worry about staying up to date with the industry again, for life. You'll get access to all ZTM PRO features and future courses for life.

Become an Ethical Hacker & Cybersecurity Expert

Earn on average $99,292 per year

6 Months

Your career path

What You'll Learn

The Next 2 Courses

Apply To 5 Jobs You Really Want

See less career path

What ZTM students are saying

Meet your instructors

Andrei Neagoie

Aleksa Tamburkovski

Andrei Dumitrescu

Still have questions?

Who is this Ethical Hacker / Cybersecurity Career Path for?

Why become an Ethical Hacker / Pen Tester / Cybersecurity Expert?

How long does it take to become an Ethical Hacker / Cybersecurity Expert (and complete this Career Path)?

What’s the ZTM Discord community and how can it help me?

Are there any prerequisites for this Career Path?

How is a Career Path different from a course?

Can I change my Career Path?

Invest in a better you. For less than a coffee a day.

Only pay once, ever