From Beethoven to Bytes: My Unexpected Journey from Concert Pianist to Cybersecurity Engineer
As my fingers dance across the keys of the piano, weaving a delicate, haunting melody from Beethoven‘s Moonlight Sonata, my mind can‘t help but wander to how dramatically my life has changed. Just a few years ago, I was fully immersed in the world of classical music – performing in concert halls, directing musical theater productions, teaching the next generation of pianists. Today, my hands fly across a very different kind of keyboard, writing lines of code to protect digital systems from cyberattacks.
From the practice room to the server room, it‘s certainly been an unconventional career path. But it‘s one that‘s taught me so much about the value of transferable skills, the power of hard work and continuous learning, and the importance of chasing your curiosity – even if it leads you in an entirely different direction than you anticipated.
The Highs and Lows of Life as a Professional Musician
Music has been the great love of my life for as long as I can remember. Some of my earliest memories involve plunking out little tunes on my family‘s ancient upright piano, begging for lessons so I could learn to make the instrument truly sing. I threw myself into mastering the piano, eventually earning both bachelor‘s and master‘s degrees in piano performance.
For several years, I lived my dream of being a professional classical pianist. I performed solo recitals and chamber music concerts across the country. I worked as a musical director for regional theater productions. I taught piano students of all ages, from beginners to advanced players, passing on the knowledge and techniques I had spent countless hours perfecting.
But as much as I loved the artistry and creativity of a music career, I increasingly craved a different lifestyle. The feast-or-famine unpredictability of a working musician‘s income, the constant hustle for the next gig or student, the pressure of delivering flawless performances night after night – it began to wear on me. I never wanted to resent music, to see it as just a means to pay the bills. I longed for more stability, more separation between my passion and my livelihood.
Why Cybersecurity Caught My Eye
Fascinated by the explosive growth of the tech industry and always a bit of a computer geek at heart, I started to explore potential on-ramps into that world. Time and again, my research kept bringing me back to cybersecurity as an especially promising option.
The numbers were certainly compelling. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, information security analyst jobs are projected to grow by 33% from 2020 to 2030, compared to an average of just 8% for all occupations.1 Cybersecurity Ventures predicts there will be 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs globally by 2025.2 In the U.S., the median annual salary for information security analysts was $102,600 in May 2021.3
But beyond the enticing data, the more I learned about the day-to-day of cybersecurity work, the more it appealed to my personality and interests. I loved the idea of constantly learning in a field that evolves at breakneck speeds, of collaborating with a team to solve complex problems, of being challenged to think creatively while protecting precious data and systems. With a bit of training to gain the necessary technical skills, it felt like a natural fit.
One of the most exciting discoveries was that landing an entry-level job in cybersecurity didn‘t necessarily require a traditional four-year computer science degree. With the massive talent shortage in the field, many employers place a premium on security-specific training and hands-on know-how. Intensive bootcamp programs, like the highly-reviewed one offered by Programming School, have emerged to fill that skills gap and create new pathways into the industry.
Transferring My Soft Skills from Music to Tech
As I weighed this major career change, part of me wondered if I was crazy to walk away from decades of hard-earned education and experience in music. Would all those years of training and performing be for nothing in this new professional context? Gradually, though, I began to realize my background translated more than I ever could have anticipated.
Take the hours I had spent meticulously analyzing musical scores – understanding the intricate interplay of rhythm, melody and harmony, the patterns that repeat and transform. That ability to recognize complex relationships and structures is invaluable for things like analyzing network vulnerabilities or identifying suspicious traffic.
My experience performing on stage under immense pressure, knowing a single wrong note could throw off the entire orchestra, gave me the ability to remain calm and focused in high-stakes situations. Troubleshooting a security breach or presenting a threat analysis to a client utilizes that same steadiness and grace under pressure.
Collaborating with fellow musicians in chamber groups and orchestras taught me how to communicate and problem-solve as part of a diverse team, skills that are essential for working alongside other security professionals, developers, and stakeholders.
And perhaps most importantly, pursuing a career as a classical pianist in an extremely competitive field helped me develop resilience, adaptability, and a willingness to fail and start again. It taught me the power of deliberate practice, of breaking down complex pieces into manageable chunks and mastering them bit by bit. I knew I could channel that same tenacity and growth mindset into learning a whole new set of technical cybersecurity skills.
Industry leaders have long recognized the benefits that non-traditional candidates like myself can bring to tech roles. David Kalt, founder and CEO of online music gear marketplace Reverb.com, has said: "I actively seek out candidates for developer and technical roles who have experience playing music. From the teamwork and collaboration skills needed to be part of a band to the creativity and curiosity that learning an instrument can foster, I‘ve found that great developers and musicians often share plenty of key traits."4
Research bears out the value of alternative educational and professional backgrounds in tech. A 2018 HackerRank study of over 71,000 professional developers found that nearly 75% held a bachelor‘s degree in something other than computer science.5 Stack Overflow‘s 2021 Developer Survey revealed that over 40% of respondents had less than a bachelor‘s degree in computer science or a related field.6
Changing My Tune with Cybersecurity Bootcamp
Once I decided cybersecurity was the right path for me, I threw myself into researching training options to gain employable skills as quickly as possible. Programming School‘s immersive, full-time cybersecurity engineering program immediately stood out. The school had a proven track record, with 86% of grads landing cybersecurity jobs within a year of completing the program.7 And the curriculum covered everything from security fundamentals to offensive and defensive tactics, governance, risk, and compliance – exactly the kind of hands-on, practical knowledge I knew I needed to launch my new career.
The 15-week program was intense, drinking-from-the-firehose learning at its most extreme. My cohort became a tight-knit group, commiserating over late nights spent hacking lab environments and celebrating our hard-earned victories mastering technical tools and concepts. I came to especially appreciate the holistic emphasis on professional skills as well, from the resume and portfolio assignments to the mock technical interviews.
By the end of the program, I had a solid foundation in foundational cybersecurity topics like networking, systems, web security, and cryptography. I could set up and defend enterprise-grade technology by monitoring network traffic, configuring firewalls and intrusion detection systems, and identifying system vulnerabilities. Just as importantly, I knew how to think and approach challenges like a cybersecurity professional.
Securing My Dream Cybersecurity Job
As I began my job search, I was amazed by how much demand I saw for entry-level security talent and how wide-ranging the opportunities were – from security analyst roles to penetration testing, incident response, compliance, and beyond. After a few months of networking and interviewing with the help of Flatiron‘s dedicated career coaches, I accepted an offer as an Information Security Engineer at a leading global insurance firm.
One of the things I love most about my work is the constant variety and challenge. One day I might be assisting with a security assessment to identify vulnerabilities in a new application, the next I could be responding to a potential incident, analyzing forensic data to determine the origin and extent of a threat. I‘m currently working on an exciting project to implement a security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR) platform to help our team respond to threats more efficiently.
Even with all the new technical skills I‘ve gained, I‘m realizing how much I still draw on my experiences and abilities from my former life as a musician. When I‘m collaborating with colleagues on a complex security problem, I think back to those hours spent rehearsing with a chamber group, trying to get a tricky passage just right. When I‘m presenting a security analysis to non-technical stakeholders, I channel the same poise and stage presence that I honed performing concertos in front of large audiences.
Music will always be an integral part of my life, but now it‘s an enriching hobby instead of a pressure-filled career. I‘m so grateful that I took the leap into cybersecurity, proving to myself that it‘s never too late to learn new skills and change your professional tune. To anyone else considering a similar career pivot, I‘ll end with this advice:
Follow your curiosity, even if it seems to lead in a radically different direction than you anticipated. Don‘t discount your past experiences and hard-won skills – chances are they‘ll translate into strengths in your new field in ways that will surprise you. Embrace the beginner‘s mindset and don‘t be afraid to start from scratch. With the right training, mentorship, and grit, a successful and fulfilling career change is absolutely possible.
Just like mastering a new piece of music, changing careers is all about patience, persistence, and a whole lot of practice. But if a pianist like me can become a cybersecurity engineer, I assure you that you too can handle whatever professional plot twists come your way. After all, life is just one grand, unpredictable, and beautiful improv session. So keep playing, even if you hit a few wrong notes along the way.
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"Occupational Outlook Handbook: Information Security Analysts," U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Last Modified Date: April 18, 2022.
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"The 2022 Cybersecurity Skills Crisis," Cybersecurity Ventures, November 8, 2021.
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"Occupational Outlook Handbook: Information Security Analysts," U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Last Modified Date: April 18, 2022.
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"Striking a Chord: Why Musicians Make Great Software Developers," Forbes Technology Council, December 10, 2019.
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"2018 Developer Skills Report," HackerRank, 2018.
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"Stack Overflow Developer Survey 2021," Stack Overflow, 2021.
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"Cybersecurity Engineering Bootcamp: Our Outcomes" Programming School, Accessed July 3, 2024.