Become an Ethical Hacker

No fluff. No outdated tutorials. No overpriced bootcamp. This Ethical Hacker Career Path is your step-by-step roadmap to go from beginner (at any age!) to getting hired as an Ethical Hacker. You’ll be guided through our curated curriculum of courses, workshops, challenges, and action items to build your skills, portfolio and experience to become an Ethical Hacker.

What You'll Learn

  • Learn Ethical Hacking from scratch & all 5 phases of Penetration Testing
  • Setting up your Hacking Lab: Kali Linux and Virtual Machines (works with Windows/Mac/Linux)
  • Create trojans, viruses, and keyloggers for Ethical Hacking
  • Learn Python fundamentals to combine programming knowledge and Ethical Hacking knowledge so you can mix techniques and adapt them to different situations
  • How to ace all of your interviews, get more job offers and a higher salary

Your Career Path

Course · optional for you
Complete Python Developer in 2021: Zero To Mastery 30.5 Hours ·326 Lessons
Learn Python from scratch, get hired, and have fun along the way with the most modern, up-to-date Python course on the web.
Andrei Neagoie
Watch PreviewTake the Course
Course
Complete Ethical Hacking Bootcamp 2021: Zero to Mastery 26 Hours ·232 Lessons
Learn Ethical Hacking + Penetration Testing from scratch and master the most modern ethical hacking tools and best practices for 2021!
Aleksa Tamburkovski
Andrei Neagoie
Watch PreviewTake the Course
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.

Andrei Neagoie
VIEW LINKEDIN LISTINGS
Course
Web Security & Bug Bounty: Learn Penetration Testing in 2021 10.5 Hours ·92 Lessons
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 2021!
Aleksa Tamburkovski
Andrei Neagoie
Watch PreviewTake the Course
Workshop
Academy Workshop: Career Advice 3 Hours
Career Advice for Developers, Designers, Engineers and anyone who wants to have a successful career. Andrei gives you strategies, tips, and advice he's gathered over his many years to help you get hired and succeed in your career.
Andrei Neagoie
Take the workshop
See whole career path

What ZTM students are saying

Olga Fomin

Software Engineer
Tesla SVG

I was asked a lot of security questions at my interview with Tesla and I was able to answer them because of Andrei’s course: Complete Junior to Senior Web Developer Roadmap. I would recommend his courses to anyone who wants to learn web dev inside and out.

Aradhya Bansal

Web Development Intern
Google SVG

ZTM was the key stepping stone to building my confidence, learning CS fundamentals, starting my own projects and ultimately passing the infamous Google coding interview and getting hired ahead of thousands with way more experience.

Justin Lin

Software Engineer
Amazon logo

Andrei is one of the best teachers & his courses were a big reason I was able to get internships at both JP Morgan and Amazon. 2020 UPDATE: I just got an offer from Amazon as a full-time engineer. I couldn't have done it without the foundations from ZTM.

Răzvan Cîrlugea

JavaScript Developer
Hootsuite Company Logo - 3

All because of Andrei and his courses, I’ve been able to learn to code, blow away interviewers, get my first job as a web developer, become a React instructor and just got a new job as an intermediate developer with double the salary in only 7 months!

Love reading about students crushing it? Us too. Read more ZTM student success stories here.

Meet your instructors

Your Career Path instructors aren’t just experts with years of real-world professional experience. They have been in your shoes. They make learning fun. They make complex topics feel simple. They will motivate you. They will push you. And they go above and beyond to help you succeed.

Andrei Neagoie

Andrei Neagoie

Lead Instructor
Aleksa Tamburkovski

Aleksa Tamburkovski

Ethical Hacking Instructor

Still have questions?

Who is this Ethical Hacker Career Path for?

Anyone who wants a clear step-by-step guide to Anyone who wants a clear step-by-step guide to become a Pen Tester / Ethical Hacker 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 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 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?

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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).
  3. No degree required. Is there even a degree?! No matter. The cybercrime and cybersecurity field moves lighting 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.
  4. 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 a Ethical Hacker (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 a Ethical Hacker:

  1. 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.
  2. 40-80 hours a week = 2-3 months. Students who are able to learn basically full-time and/or already have some experience.
  3. 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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