Whether you’re getting ready to graduate from college, or you’ve just about completed a certification that’s essential for the job that you’re applying for, there’s always one question that an employer will ask. And that is “what experience do you have?”.

At times, it can be frustrating.

Because, in that moment, it can seem as though that no matter how many co-ops or internships you’ve completed, what your grades look like, or the number of certifications you’ve earned, for some employers, it’s not enough for “what they’re looking for”, right?

The fact is, that question is not only being asked of those of you who are just starting out, it comes up (albeit for different reasons) with older candidates, too, whose experience sometimes will stretch across a decade or two.

What’s more, proving you possess whatever “it” is can be even more challenging in a career, such as cybersecurity, when you add in the requirements that are involved not just with background checks, but being granted a security clearance. No doubt about it, it’s tough.

In preparing for all of that (and whatever else comes our way), there’s something we can use to our benefit and that’s the advice and experiences we can gain by having good mentors. To celebrate, it’s fitting, perhaps, that January is National Mentoring Month.

At a time when it’s estimated that there are more than 20,000 job openings in cybersecurity in the Hoosier State, mentorships offer a variety of key benefits, everything from providing access to expert guidance and accelerating one’s skill development, to fostering a deeper understanding of a threat landscape that, as we all know, is changing (and advancing) rapidly.

What’s more, it can have practical advantages that would be true in any industry, such as real-world experiences, constructive feedback and enhancing someone’s problem-solving abilities. This is especially critical when you consider that not everyone who is pursuing a career in cyber is at a young age. Consider, too, the fact that the “mentor” providing advice and guidance IS the younger person – given their knowledge and experience with all sorts of technologies.

In other words, the opportunity for being a mentor goes both ways.

And the “benefit” can be as simple as a few words of advice (that you find yourself remembering and/or applying years later), or it’s as complex as the work that can be involved with penetration testing or cloud security.

Best of all, it can provide, for the mentor, a genuine sense of fulfillment that comes from contributing to the development of future industry leaders. For the person receiving the mentoring, they can “give back” by helping their mentors to stay current on emerging trends and the latest technologies.

Here in Indiana, cybersecurity and cyber governance are top priorities and there is great deal of free information available online about all things related to a cyber career, from sources as varied as the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) and RING (Regions Investing in the Next Generation), an online high school cybersecurity course.

By now, for most of us, we recognize the fact that cybersecurity is a ‘code’ that’s programmed into, seemingly, almost every aspect of our daily life.

Because of that, we can’t expect ourselves to always know the answer to whatever it is that we might be dealing with. All the more reason for all of us to have good mentors or to be that someone who makes a difference with others. Maybe, too, it’ll lead to a better answer to that question!