Transcription
If you're looking for a cyber security job that doesn't require any coding but rather involve cyber security risk regulations and how they impact business, becoming a GRC analyst might be a perfect fit for you. GRC (governance, risk, and compliance) is one of the fastest growing fields in the cyber security industry. Companies across industries need skilled GRC professionals in order to stay compliant with strict regulations, and in this video, I'll walk you through everything you need to know to land your first job as a GRC analyst with no prior experience.
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With that being said, let's go ahead and get right into the video. So, first off, let's talk about what exactly does a GRC analyst even do. A GRC analyst is responsible for managing cyber security policies, assessing risks, and ensuring compliance with government regulations and industry standards. This role is even more crucial for industries that deal with a lot of highly sensitive data, including the finance industry, healthcare, and technology.
Now, some of the frameworks, regulations, and standards that you're going to get familiar with as someone working in GRC are going to be compliance regulations like ISO, NIST, PCI, and GDPR. These are some key frameworks that you'd get familiar with as someone who is working in GRC.
Now, a lot of you, when you first think about cyber security, you think about something really technical. You think about a hacker sitting behind a laptop hacking into a system. But a role like GRC is not going to be like that. Rather than hacking, coding, and being in the technical weeds, GRC analysts actually focus on policy development, documentation, and working with different teams within an organization to make sure security practices are aligned with government and industry regulations and standards. So, if that's something that interests you over a more technical role, a GRC analyst is going to be a perfect fit for you.
As someone who works in GRC right now, one of the main reasons why I really enjoy working in it is because of the fact that it's a good mix between business and cyber security. It really gives you a good perspective on how these cyber security standards and frameworks translate into a company being compliant and also their overall security posture.
So, with that being said, let's go ahead and talk about why GRC is a high-demand career right now in 2025. The first reason as to why GRC is a high-demand career is, first of all, companies are continuing to face increasing regulatory pressure, and therefore, they're going to need industry professionals to help them stay compliant. Reason number two is, when organizations fail to meet certain standards and requirements when it comes to compliance, they're likely to face a huge penalty and fine.
So, with that being said, let's go ahead and talk about what skills you need in order to become a GRC analyst. So, unlike the other technical roles in cyber security, a GRC analyst role is going to rely heavily on soft skills and communication. So, number one is going to be communication. You need to be able to explain different technical concepts to potentially a non-technical audience. On top of that, if you're someone working in GRC, you're more than likely going to work with a bunch of different teams with different backgrounds and technical knowledge, technical experience. So, you're going to have to be able to be able to speak to different audiences, be able to collaborate, and be easy to work with.
Number two is critical thinking. As a GRC analyst, you're going to be doing a lot of reviewing and analysis, and therefore, you're going to need some form of critical thinking to understand and identify any potential risks. Another soft skill is going to be attention to detail. And the reason why I say this is because as a GRC analyst, like I said before, you're going to be doing a lot of reviewing, assessing different policies and documentation. You need to make sure you have a lot of attention to detail.
So, the next piece when it comes to skill is going to be the technical and industry knowledge. So, when it comes to industry knowledge, I'll be talking about the compliance frameworks. So, for example, ISO, like I said before, NIST, HIPAA, and GDPR, just to name a few. As a GRC analyst, you're also going to start developing your risk management skillset. This means reading different documents and policies and understanding different types of risks and also identifying potential gaps. You also need to be able to write and communicate clearly. You're going to be talking across multiple teams. You need to be clear on exactly what you want and what point you're trying to get across.
Now, just because being a GRC analyst doesn't mean you're going to be coding or doing a lot of technical work, you still need to have some technical knowledge. So, this means understanding what teams across your organization do, specifically understanding what kind of tooling they use and how it works, and also having a general understanding of networking concepts, cloud security concepts. Having an overall understanding of cyber security is going to be so important for you as someone who is going to be reviewing documentation and also different policies to determine whether or not they're compliant with different industry frameworks and frameworks according to your organization.
Now, some of the main tools that you'd expect to be using as a GRC analyst include things like ServiceNow, OneTrust, Archer, also Excel, Google Sheets, pretty much the entire G Suite depending on your organization, Jira. There's so many different tools that a GRC analyst uses throughout the entire day, but these are just to name a few.
So, now that you have a good idea of what a GRC analyst does and what to expect when it comes to GRC, let's go over a roadmap to become a GRC analyst in 2025. So, step number one, just like any other cyber role, you need to first learn the fundamentals. You can start with free resources like YouTube videos, cyber security blogs, industry resources, and things of that nature. You can also take different online courses from Udemy, Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, and things of that nature.
One of the best certificates when it comes to learning the fundamentals of cyber security is going to be Coursera's Google Cyber Security Professional Certificates. It's going to teach you the basics. You don't need to have any prior experience in cyber security to get started. On top of that, to begin your GRC career, you can also start learning a little bit about some of the most popular compliance frameworks and get a general idea of what they are expecting and how they work. So, think about SOC, ISO, and NIST frameworks to kind of read up on.
Now, if you're serious about getting into GRC and you want a structured, hands-on approach, there's a program that could really help you called GRC Mastery. Unlike traditional courses that just throw theory at you, GRC Mastery is designed specifically for beginners. No degree, no certifications, and no technical background required. It focuses on real-world applications with quizzes, assessments, and even a capstone project that gives you practical experience. And the best part is, instead of memorizing different multiple-choice questions like certification exams, you actually learn how GRC works inside companies. The course is led by Abed Hamdan, who's also a cyber security expert with over 20 years of experience, including working as a senior manager at PWC. So, if you're looking for a practical, no-fluff way to break into cyber security, I highly recommend checking out GRC Mastery. If you want to check out GRC Mastery and begin learning GRC, I'll leave a link to it in the description box below.
So, after getting a good understanding of cyber security fundamentals, the next step is going to be getting practical experience. Even if you don't have any professional experience, there's still multiple ways in which you can get hands-on experience in GRC. An example of this is going to be sample audit templates and messing around with those, getting an understanding of what they're looking for and what they're asking for, creating cyber security policies based on real-world frameworks, getting familiar with risk assessments and compliance checklists, also maybe considering volunteering to help a small business with their compliance efforts or taking part in cyber security projects online. There's so many other options when it comes to projects in GRC, so make sure you do your own research, but those are just to name a few.
And throughout this entire process, step number three is going to be get certified. So, when it comes to fundamentals, like I mentioned before, the Google Cyber Security Professional Certificate is going to be a great place to start, especially if you have no prior experience in technology or cyber security. The next step from there is going to be the CompTIA Security+ certification. For almost every entry-level job in cyber security, and also including GRC, they're going to be looking out for the Security+ certification. The Security+ covers so many different concepts in cyber security, so it's going to be nice to have to expand your knowledge and show that you have the fundamentals under your belt.
Now, when it comes to GRC-specific certifications, I'm going to name a few right over here. There's the Certified Risk and Information Systems Control certification, there's the CGRC Certified in Governance, Risk, and Compliance, and then there's also the more advanced certifications like the CISA and the CISM certifications.
Now, after talking about these certifications, step number four is going to be optimizing your resume and your LinkedIn profile. So, on your resume and LinkedIn, making sure you have transferable skills listed, making sure you're using relevant keywords when applying for jobs, and also making sure to include and list all of your self-study and also your personal projects that involve GRC.
And last but not least, step number five is going to be start applying for jobs and networking. So, when it comes to entry-level GRC jobs, some of the titles that you should be looking out for include GRC analyst, compliance analyst, risk analyst, and IT Auditor. When it comes to networking, one of the best ways to do that is being active on your LinkedIn, joining different groups, joining different Discord servers, Reddit communities, and things of that nature. Also, if you get the opportunity, make sure you attend different cyber security conferences and seminars. Those are a great way to meet different cyber security professionals with different backgrounds.
So, overall, those are going to be my recommendations if you're someone looking to break into GRC in 2025. If you guys found this video valuable and helpful, please go ahead and like the video. And if you're new, go ahead and subscribe to the channel so you don't miss out on videos exactly like this one in the future. If you want some more short-form content and lifestyle content, be sure to follow me on Instagram and TikTok at Cyber with Ben.
With that being said though, guys, thank you so much for watching, and I'll catch you guys in the next video. Peace.