It may seem like a big change, however many of the skills learned within Governance, Risk and Compliance will come in useful. Yes there will be a new learning curve, but no more difficult from the learning curve is takes to land that first role in cyber security.
Speak to colleagues who work in Cloud Security, ask about their role and responsibilities. Read job posting in Cloud Security, find out the roles and responsibilities, between these you will identify the areas you need to develop. Look for areas you are naturally drawn to, you will learn these quicker.
Sign up to at least one Cloud Security Providers training, there are AWS, Azure, GCP and Alibaba Cloud to choose from. You can get free cloud account access and learn the basics including the terminology including the security services.
Consider aiming for a cloud certification to demonstrate experience of testable knowledge, it goes a long way to show you are committed. An example is AWS Certified Security Specialty. Do not worry about obtaining this to get a new role, it can be equally useful to mention in job interviews you are in the process of obtaining.
Get hands on experience, sign up to free courses and free cloud accounts to get you access to build and test all the services. There are a number of online labs that offer specific cloud security related training too. Sign up to free in person events to meet cloud security practitioners. It cannot be stated enough, if you are around people doing what you are interested in, you will make it and emulate those around you.
Ask for experience in your organisation to help develop your skills and knowledge, work with teams and offer to assist in exchange for their time. Remember organisations are always looking to retain colleagues don’t be afraid to ask to transfer to a team.
Keep your resume up to date as you learn and develop, include all the details of your new knowledge and transition process. Create a resume that is a blend of your new skills and how you can use your existing GRC knowledge to become a well-rounded cloud security professional.
Prepare for interviews, look for common question’s candidates are asked of roles recruiting for cloud security professionals. Only include what you know in your resume so as not to be caught out. Remember the soft skills and team skills. Don’t forget to mention the cloud security skills you have learned including what is included in your resume, assume your resume has not been read.
When you are working in cloud security, be prepared and enjoy learning continuously in the ever evolving cloud world!