Security · Careers

ACCESS Granted

Apprenticeship · Certification · Coaching · Employment · Sponsorship

A U.S. Department of Labor-registered cybersecurity apprenticeship, built by people who came up the hard way. Here is the deal, no fine print. You apply. You take a 45-minute digital-skills check; pass it and you start. We pay for your ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity training and your exam, and you have six months to clear it. Then you choose a track, IT Generalist or Cyber Analyst, and spend six months as a pre-apprentice and a year as a registered apprentice doing real work for real organizations, with a coach who answers the phone and labs you cannot break. If life gets in the way, there is up to $1,000 to keep you in the room. You pay nothing. An employer or a sponsor paid for your seat, and when you finish, you'll know who.

Join the waitlist See the path How it works

Two trainees listening in a working session

Who it is for

Career changers, students, and early-career technologists from underinvested communities who want a structured path into cybersecurity and a network that looks like them.

What you get

Self-paced training with learning checks, hands-on cloud labs you cannot break, a career coach, real casework hours with community organizations, up to $1,000 in hardship support when life gets in the way, and free ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity training with the exam paid for.

How it works

Step 1ApplyJoin the waitlist below. When a seat is funded, the next person on the list hears first.
Step 245-minute digital-skills checkSeventeen short modules. Score 80% overall and you are in. We send the link by email when your seat opens.
Step 3ISC2 Certified in CybersecurityWe pay for the training and the exam. You have six months to clear it, with a coach checking in.
Step 4Choose a trackIT Generalist or Cyber Analyst, picked with your coach based on what you are good at and what employers near you need.
Step 5Pre-apprenticeship, six monthsSelf-paced training with learning checks, hands-on cloud labs you cannot break, and casework hours with community organizations.
Step 6Registered apprenticeship, one yearAbout 2,000 hours of real work for real organizations, on an employer's stack, with a coach who answers the phone.
Step 7Final evaluationLive, proctored, no AI. We score how you think, not what you can look up. Reported to the employer.
Step 8PlacementYou finish with a certification, a year of documented work, and references who watched you do it. And you learn who paid for your seat.

Step 7, up close

The final test: no AI allowed

Employers want people who can think for themselves when the AI is wrong, down, or off limits. So our final test is live, in person, and done with no AI tools. We score how you think, not just your answer. You will use AI on the job. This test proves you are good without it.

Where new hires slip up

At work, everything you type is watched

In a security job, your computer is monitored. Never paste private data into Claude, ChatGPT, or any tool your employer has not approved. That means no customer info, no patient info, no passwords, no names. Doing it can get you written up, fired, or in legal trouble. We practice this from day one, so it becomes habit.

What the evaluation checks

There is a shortcut in the test that would mean pasting private data into an unapproved tool. Take it and you fail that part, even with the right answer.
We show you a screen and ask: what here is private? Who do you ask for help with it?
You explain, in your own words, what your employer would see if they looked at your last 30 minutes of work.
"I don't know, but here is who I would ask" can pass. A confident shortcut with customer data cannot.

Part 1 · 45 minLive incident triageA scenario you have never seen, with logs and alerts on screen. Talk the evaluator through what you would check first and why, as new information arrives.

Part 2 · 30 minFind the flawAn AI-written analysis with planted errors. Mark what is wrong, what is unverified, and what you would never act on without checking.

Part 3 · 30 minWhiteboard the systemDraw how a control works and where it fails, from memory, then answer follow-ups that change the constraints.

Part 4 · 30 minDefend your capstoneOral defense of the project you built: every choice questioned, no notes, no screen. If you built it, you can explain it.

How it is scored. Rubric on four skills: problem framing, evidence use, judgment under uncertainty, and clear communication. Correct answers earn less than correct reasoning; a wrong answer with sound reasoning can pass, a right answer you cannot explain cannot.

How it is run. Proctored on camera or in person, screen shared, no second device, no AI assistants, no browser except the evaluation environment. The employer receives the scored rubric and the recording summary with your consent.

For employers

A steady pipeline of pre-trained, clearance-pending talent aligned to your stack. Reduced onboarding time and cost. The ability to fill critical cleared roles the day a clearance lands.

Talk to us about funding a seat

Start

Your seat opens when it is funded. Join the waitlist to hear first.

Cost

Pricing published here as seats open

Eligibility

Adults ready to study. You pass a 45-minute digital-skills check (80% across 17 short modules), then earn ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity within six months. Two tracks: IT Generalist and Cyber Analyst.

ACCESS Granted waitlist

Your seat opens when it is funded. Join the waitlist to hear first.

When an employer or sponsor funds a seat, the people on this list hear before anyone else, in the order they signed up. One email when your seat opens, with the link to the 45-minute digital-skills check. No spam, no selling your name.

Not sure the path is for you yet? Walk the path first, then come back.

Form not loading? Email hello@hackingtheworkforce.org.

How you can help

Help the next person sit in this seat.

ACCESS Granted costs trainees nothing because someone paid it forward.

Hire a graduateOr bring us in to help your organization. Mentor a studentOne hour a month. We train you. GivePayPal, Venmo, or Apple Pay. One minute.