My technology career began in a place that would not have appeared on any carefully designed technology career map.
I was working as a tow-truck dispatcher at CSAA.
I did not have a computer science degree, and I was not arriving with years of programming experience. But the company gave me an opportunity to train in COBOL programming.
That training changed the direction of my life.
It was not called a Registered Apprenticeship at the time. But it reflected the same powerful idea: an employer can recognize potential, teach someone practical skills, and give that person an opportunity to prove what they can do in a real workplace.
I later moved into technology leadership and eventually cybersecurity.
Years later, I saw a similar principle work for a member of my family. She obtained a paid internship with a technology company while still in college. The employer had an opportunity to see how she worked—not merely read her résumé—and offered her a full-time position before she graduated.
The internship was not a cybersecurity apprenticeship. But it showed us that early employer exposure can create confidence, skills, references, and momentum that classroom learning alone may not provide.
That is why I believe families should understand apprenticeships.
But they also need to understand what an apprenticeship is—and what it is not.
Can high school students become apprentices?
Yes, although every program has its own rules.
The Department of Labor describes Registered Apprenticeship for young people as a pathway for ages 16 through 24. These programs blend paid, on-the-job experience with technical instruction and a recognized credential. Some connect with high schools, community colleges, career and technical education, dual enrollment, and college credit.
That does not mean every 16-year-old can apply for every cybersecurity program.
An employer may require applicants to be 18 because of work schedules, data-access rules, or contractual obligations. Another program may accept current high school students but operate only through participating school districts. Others may be intended for recent graduates, community college students, veterans, or adults changing careers.
The description “youth apprenticeship” gives families a starting point. The individual employer’s requirements provide the real answer.
The names can become confusing
When families search for cybersecurity opportunities, several different kinds of programs often appear together. They can all be useful, but they do not make the same promise.
Registered Apprenticeship
The participant is an employee. A Registered Apprenticeship combines paid work, mentoring, structured on-the-job learning, related instruction, progressive wage increases, and a portable, nationally recognized credential.
Pre-apprenticeship
A pre-apprenticeship helps someone develop the foundational skills needed to compete for an apprenticeship or another job opportunity.
The Department of Labor says pre-apprenticeship may last from a few weeks to a few months and may or may not include wages or a stipend. It can be a valuable first step, but joining one does not automatically mean the participant has an apprenticeship job.
Internship
An internship generally provides shorter-term workplace experience. It may be paid or unpaid and is usually less formally structured than a Registered Apprenticeship. It does not, by itself, promise progressive wage increases, a registered training plan, or a nationally recognized apprenticeship credential.
A strong internship can still be enormously important. That was certainly true in my family’s experience.
School-based preparation
A high school, career and technical education program, or community college may offer cybersecurity classes, competitions, labs, dual enrollment, or work-based learning.
This school-based preparation can help a student build skills for college, an apprenticeship, an internship, or an entry-level technology position. But enrollment in a cybersecurity class does not itself make someone an apprentice or an employee.
The terminology matters because families need to know what is being promised.
Are they applying for a paid job? Are they enrolling in training? Are they gaining a shorter period of work experience, or are they entering a registered earn-and-learn pathway?
Does cybersecurity require a four-year degree?
This is where the discussion often becomes unnecessarily polarized.
One group says that everyone needs a computer science degree. Another says college is becoming irrelevant.
Neither statement is particularly helpful.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics identifies a bachelor’s degree as the typical entry-level education for information security analysts. At the same time, BLS notes that some workers enter the occupation with a high school diploma and relevant industry training and certifications.
Different roles require different preparation.
A security engineer designing complex systems may need a very different background from someone beginning in technical support, identity management, compliance, fraud analysis, or a security operations center.
A student also does not have to decide at age 17 whether college and apprenticeship are lifelong enemies.
A practical pathway could combine several things:
- Cybersecurity classes in high school
- A summer internship
- Community college coursework
- An industry certification
- A paid apprenticeship
- A later degree supported by an employer
The order will depend on the student and the opportunity.
What should a student begin learning?
A teenager does not need to become an accomplished hacker before applying for an entry-level opportunity.
In fact, I would be suspicious of any program suggesting otherwise.
Employers are more likely to look for evidence that a young person can learn, communicate, solve problems, and handle responsibility.
Some useful foundations include basic networking, familiarity with Windows and Linux, introductory scripting, and an understanding of how accounts, passwords, and access controls work.
But the nontechnical side matters too.
Cybersecurity professionals have to document what they find, explain risks to people who are not technical, follow procedures, and know when to ask for help. BLS identifies analytical skills, communication, creativity, attention to detail, and problem-solving as important qualities for information security analysts.
A student who completes a modest project and can clearly explain what went wrong, what they tried, and what they learned may be more convincing than someone who lists ten online courses without being able to discuss any of them.
Fresh eyes can be valuable
One advantage younger people sometimes bring is that they are not attached to the way an organization has always done things.
They may notice an outdated process, a confusing instruction, or a risky habit that everyone else has stopped seeing.
That does not mean a new apprentice walks in knowing more than experienced cybersecurity professionals. It means curiosity and unfamiliarity can occasionally reveal problems that routine hides.
The best employers value that perspective while also providing strong supervision.
An apprentice should be able to ask:
Why do we do it this way?
A good mentor can then explain the reason—or recognize that the apprentice has discovered something worth changing.
Questions I would ask before my student applied
When evaluating a program, I would begin with the practical questions:
- Is this a paid job, an internship, a pre-apprenticeship, or a school-based training program?
- Who is the employer?
- What is the minimum age?
- Can the schedule work alongside high school or college?
- Is the position available in our area?
- Is transportation required?
- Does the program lead to a recognized credential or college credit?
- What happens when the program ends?
I would be particularly careful when a program charges substantial tuition while suggesting that participants may later be connected with apprenticeship employers.
That might still be worthwhile training, but “we help you apply” is not the same promise as “you are being hired.”
Do not choose based only on the salary headline
Cybersecurity salary statistics attract attention for understandable reasons.
The national median annual wage for information security analysts was $124,910 in 2024, and employment is projected to grow much faster than average.
But that figure includes experienced professionals. It is not a realistic starting salary for most high school graduates, interns, or first-year apprentices.
For the first opportunity, I would pay close attention to something more important:
Does it lead somewhere?
A valuable early role should offer several of the following:
- A real employer
- A capable mentor
- Paid experience
- Practical skills
- A professional reference
- A recognized credential
- Exposure to different technology careers
- A credible path to the next position
My first opportunity did not arrive with an impressive title. I was a tow-truck dispatcher who was given a chance to learn COBOL.
But that chance opened a career.
The same is true of the paid internship in my family. Its value was not only the wages. It placed a young person inside a real technology company, where the employer could see her ability, attitude, and potential.
That is the opportunity families should be searching for: not merely a program with an exciting name, but a genuine doorway into the working world.
At Quan Pathways, our goal is not to tell every student to skip college or become an apprentice.
Our goal is to help families see all the credible pathways—and understand exactly what each one offers before making an expensive or life-changing decision. Start with our reviewed cybersecurity directory, and examine the distinctions on profiles such as Each1Teach1 Tech, Drexel’s Cybersecurity Support Technician pathway, and the Missouri Cybersecurity Center of Excellence.
Research reviewed August 2, 2026. Age, school-enrollment, residency, and employment requirements vary by program. Send us a correction.