topic Re: Looking for New Role: 22 Year, Sr. Cyber IT in Cybersecurity Job Openings

Looking for New Role: 22 Year, Sr. Cyber IT

johnjo4n — Mon, 26 Jan 2026 17:05:02 GMT

Good Day Everyone:

I was recently laid off from the commercial side, so I'm posting and circulating my resume everywhere to maximize my presence and networking.

30-seconds pitch

I worked at various government agencies and have held every Blue Team-side position available, at various job levels, from low-level sysadmin to high-level manager. Executives, Leaders, Managers, and Auditors love me because I get the job done fast and right.

Please find my experience, skills, certs, and history at https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnhonfung/

Thank you for your time and consideration

Sincerely,

John Fung, CISSP, Sec+, PMP, CSM

Johns Hopkins Alumni

Re: Looking for New Role: 22 Year, Sr. Cyber IT

emb021 — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 14:50:51 GMT

@johnjo4n Hopefully you are networking with local groups, like local chapters of ISSA, ISC2, ISACA, et al. Don't overlook local BSides conferences as another avenue.

And I've always advised people to start doing this LONG before they lose their jobs. Basically once you get into infosec/cybersecurity you need to be getting involved with the community, starting with your local groups.

Re: Looking for New Role: 22 Year, Sr. Cyber IT

johnjo4n — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 15:25:27 GMT

Thank you for the @emb021

I tried out here in Austin, TX.

ISC2 is listed, but I think it's abandoned now because there was no answer the two times I reached out to the chapter, and they weren't at any of the local conferences for the three years I have been here
ISSA is also dead
BSides Austin's site says they are suspended
ISACA has a minimal presence in Austin, but most of its events are virtual. Not really sure it's going to yield any returns
DEFCON 512 seems to be active, but none of its sites have been updated for a long time. I'll be trying to attend the next one to confirm
I am a member of Austin Forum and Technology, but it isn't focused on cybersecurity. However, it keeps the networking wide
Just joined OWASP yesterday, and it seems to be the most active group around here, with 100+ members
Most of my networking has been at annual events, Intellic0n which is next week, and Cyber Security Summit Austin

Of the 3 years I've lived here, I have only met a handful of cybersecurity professionals from Austin face-to-face.

Maybe you can weigh in, but is this irregular, given that Austin, TX, is a tech hub central?

Re: Looking for New Role: 22 Year, Sr. Cyber IT

emb021 — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 19:59:51 GMT

ISSA in Austin is NOT dead.

Its https://www.austinissa.org/ ISSA Capitol of Texas Chapter.

I see on their website they JUST had their January Quarterly meeting.

Hope that helps.

Re: Looking for New Role: 22 Year, Sr. Cyber IT

nkeaton — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 20:56:06 GMT

@emb021 You know that I totally agree. A lot of US residents also overlook Infragard which is the FBI’s community outreach.

Re: Looking for New Role: 22 Year, Sr. Cyber IT

emb021 — Tue, 27 Jan 2026 22:29:59 GMT

@nkeaton yup. forgot that, and I was a longtime member of our local group. Am trying to get re-signed up but haven't heard back from Infragard after re-applying.

Re: Looking for New Role: 22 Year, Sr. Cyber IT

nkeaton — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:21:21 GMT

@emb021 Yes, they have had some member issues with the hack of their member data (go figure). They do not seem to have completely recovered. Our local one lists their events on Eventbrite. They fluctuate between active and inactive. I also attend OWASP meetings when they have them. Their topics are a little out of my scope but enjoy the discussions.

Re: Looking for New Role: 22 Year, Sr. Cyber IT

emb021 — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:30:31 GMT

@nkeaton I find with OWASP that things range wildly from chapter to chapter.

We apparently have 2 in the area. One our ISSA Chapters has done a joint meeting with for years, but I think it might have gone under in the last year or two as we've seen nothing from them. No idea about the other.

The ISACA chapter here is huge, but doesn't do a lot of meetings, more focusing on a couple of conferences they do and some cert classes.

I run occasionally into the Infragard Chapter, but no idea what they are doing, and as I'm not back as an official member, that doesn't help.

Re: Looking for New Role: 22 Year, Sr. Cyber IT

johnjo4n — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 15:10:12 GMT

Agree, I just saw ISSA is coming to Intellic0n next week. I'll stop by their booth and chat them up.

Re: Looking for New Role: 22 Year, Sr. Cyber IT

johnjo4n — Fri, 30 Jan 2026 15:12:22 GMT

I officially joined OWASP this week, but can confirm that ISC2 was abandoned while speaking with the members. Someone on the OWASP side is starting up the paperworks to restart the Austin ISC2 chapter.

In the meantime, I am trying to volunteer for a chapter position to stay relevant in the field.