How to become a Penetration Tester: education, training and skills.
What occupation experts surveyed by O*NET report about the job's education, experience and training, the skills to build first, and the stepping-stone roles that lead in.
BLS does not publish pay for penetration testers separately. Every pay figure on this page is for the BLS occupation “Computer Occupations, All Other” (SOC 15-1299), which includes penetration testers and other jobs; it is not a figure for penetration testers alone.
- 40% Bachelor's Degree
- 20% Post-Secondary Certificate
- 15% High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED)
- 10% Some College Courses
- 10% Associate's Degree or other 2-year degree
- 5% Master's Degree
BLS typical entry-level education: a bachelor's degree
BLS lists a bachelor's degree as the typical entry-level education for penetration testers in the United States (Employment Projections, 2025–35). Among occupation experts O*NET surveyed about penetration testers, 40% report that the job needs a bachelor's degree, the most common answer. O*NET places the job in Job Zone 4 of 5 (considerable preparation). The most common answer for related work experience was “over 2 years, up to and including 4 years” (45%), and for on-the-job training “over 1 month, up to and including 3 months” (35%).
What BLS lists for penetration testers
According to BLS 2025–35 projections data, penetration testers in the United States typically need no work experience in a related occupation to enter the occupation.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
Once hired, penetration testers in the United States typically need no on-the-job training to become fully competent, according to BLS 2025–35 projections data.
Source: BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35
Six steps to becoming a Penetration Tester
Data Steps 1 to 5 summarise BLS and O*NET data for the role; step 6 is advice.
- EducationPlan for a bachelor's degree
BLS typical entry-level education, 2025–35 projections. In O*NET's survey of occupation experts, 40% report a bachelor's degree. 45% report no college degree needed.
- TrainingExpect on-the-job training
Most common: over 1 month, up to and including 3 months.
- ExperienceRelated experience
Most common: over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (45% of occupation experts).
- SkillsBuild the core skills
Critical Thinking, Reading Comprehension, Writing are rated most important.
- ToolsLearn the tools
Microsoft Active Directory, Splunk Enterprise, Firewall software.
- CredentialsCheck licensing where you live
Many occupations need a state license or certification. Requirements vary by state, so confirm with your state's licensing board.
What occupation experts report
Data Share of occupation experts giving each answer, O*NET.
O*NET Job Zone 4 (Considerable Preparation Needed): A considerable amount of work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is needed for these occupations. For example, an accountant must complete four years of college and work for several years in accounting to be considered qualified.
Data Pay once you are in the job: the BLS median is $116,580; the lowest-paid quarter earn $79,370 or less. See the full Penetration Tester salary data.
How this page is built
Education, experience, training and Job Zone come from O*NET 31.0 survey data for the occupation. The typical entry-level education, work experience and on-the-job training lines come from BLS Employment Projections, 2025–35. O*NET answers with low-precision estimates are not shown, and an answer is called the most common only when no hidden answer could be larger. Stepping-stone roles use our skill-match score: Skill match is the cosine similarity of the two occupations' skill profiles: for each of 35 O*NET skills (10 essential, 25 transferable) we multiply importance by level and subtract the average across all occupations, then compare the direction of the two profiles. 100 means identical shape; 0 means unrelated or opposite (negative values are shown as 0). Only occupations that O*NET itself lists as related are compared.
- Licensing rules in your state.
- Requirements at a specific employer.
- How long the path will take you personally.
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA), used under the CC BY 4.0 license. TryHired selected, ranked and combined the data; O*NET is not responsible for these pages.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 estimates (public domain).
How TryHired builds this data: sources, methods and downloads. Spotted an error? Report a correction.
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