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I finished Google Cybersecurity Certificate in 5 Days. What did I learn?

As of May and June 2023, there were a lot of buzz about the Google Cybersecurity professional certificate issued in conjunction with Coursera. 

So I took the 8 course certificate program, and I was able to finish it in 5 days (May 31st to June 4th), which is so fast, it was within the 7 day trial period, so I did not pay anything (normally $49.00 USD). 

I did go in with a couple unfair advantages:

* I already know SQL

* I already know Python

* I was an IT professional 

* I have taken a cybersecurity intro course before

* I was also between jobs so I have a LOT of time to dedicate to studying

* I have taken many Coursera courses before (back in early 2020)

So is the course any good? I think it is a good course for people who have no idea what to expect, and this will give them a taste on what a job in cybersecurity will involve. The video lectures are relatively short, and there were a LOT of emphasis on the non-traditional non-technical background of many of the Google employees who did the lectures. 

And no, you do not need any experience. You will need to learn how to program, but most of that is pretty simple level stuff.  This is cybersecurity after all. You will be doing a lot of computers and cloud and all that. But not all, because cybersecurity is also about people, writing procedures and such to deal with incidents, writing reports and post-mortems, and so on. 

Does it take six months like they say? No, they are assuming you can only do like 1 hour a day. In a future post (and video), I will go over the ways I used to get the certificate in only a few days. 

It helps a lot if you are already familiar with PC, technology, and so on. 

I personally did not do the discussion prompts, as I don't feel they add to my knowledge, but if you are new to this field, then please participate. 

You can audit the course for free, you just won't get the certificate if you do that. 

However, this certificate by itself is NOT enough to get you hired onto an entry-level job, unless there is a serious dearth of candidates in your area. 

If you are curious about cybersecurity and ready for change, this is a low-cost option to see if this is really something you want to get into. You can pay for more in-depth training if you wish later. 

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