RapidAscent

I am thoroughly impressed with my experience in the RapidAscent Cybersecurity program. As someone transitioning from a 23-year career in the military to the civilian cybersecurity field, I found the program to be exceptionally well-structured and tailored to address the needs of both beginners and experienced professionals.The curriculum is comprehensive and dives deep into key areas like cybersecurity fundamentals, advanced concepts, and hands-on training that mirrors real-world scenarios. For example, I worked through challenging modules like Windows Privilege Escalation, which helped me solidify my practical knowledge while refining my ability to solve complex problems in high-pressure environments.The program's focus on industry-relevant skills and certifications is outstanding. It provided me with invaluable preparation for certifications like Security+ and SSCP, both of which I achieved during the course. The hands-on labs and interactive sessions were instrumental in building my confidence and ensuring I’m not just book-smart but job-ready.What really stands out about RapidAscent is the emphasis on mentorship and networking. The instructors and support staff are not only knowledgeable but genuinely invested in your success. They are always available to answer questions, clarify difficult concepts, and offer career guidance. The program’s structure encourages collaboration, and I appreciated how it helped me build connections with peers in the industry.Overall, RapidAscent has been an integral part of my journey into cybersecurity. It has equipped me with the technical expertise and problem-solving skills needed to succeed in this fast-paced and ever-evolving field. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to break into cybersecurity or advance their career in this exciting domain.

Never thought I could feel so strongly about a program before. Transitioning from the military where I worked in culinary work, the sudden urge I had to move to the cyber security space seemed unreachable. Thankfully to Rapid Ascent I was able to learn from their 10/10 teachers and job coaches. Goin through this course gave me the skills and knowledge I need in order to learn everything I need in cyber and gave me the tools to pass those dreaded certification tests. With the skills they gave me help from our career coaches I was able to get hired into the cyber world! Life changing experience and I would recommend it to anybody trying to get into the space. 

I had a wonderful experience in the full time cohort!

My instructors Sean Callinan andChris Huber not only had extensive knowledge on nearly every topic we covered in class, but they were both extremely personable and made classes engaging. It’s very, very difficult to hold the attention of an entire class with the topics we went over, but they truly did excel at that. I can’t speak for other instructors in the course except for the both of them though, since I didn’t interact with any outside of my cohort. 

The course in its entirety expanded my knowledge significantly and helped me build on the skills I gained while studying for other certifications. The pacing was mostly consistent and manageable, and I feel that instructors gave us ample time to complete and make up assignments. There was never such a thing as a "dumb question”, and the instructors were always available to help all students, even outside of class hours. I'm incredibly thankful for the instructors' patience, dedication, and flexibility.

The weekly industry SME and career coaching sessions led by Sunny were also very beneficial. It gave me some more insight into how to market myself and properly express the experience I did have. Though this didn’t directly lead to employment for me, it has for many other students. However, the advice from the industry SMEs and guidance from Sunny and Sean were all tools I used that did get me hired towards the end of the program.

 Overall, I highly recommend it! I enjoyed my time in the program and I think it’s a great way to help break into the industry.

Rapid Ascent provided exactly what I needed: a structured, scalable program that translated complex cybersecurity concepts into hands-on, reproducible skills. Coming from a background as an All-Source Intelligence Technician supporting the U.S. Army, I appreciated the military-level rigor combined with practical labs that mirrored real-world scenarios.
The curriculum was modular and well thought out. Each section built logically on the last, with clear documentation and validator scripts that made onboarding smooth. The labs were not just “check-the-box” exercises. They pushed me to troubleshoot, think critically, and apply systems thinking in ways that directly prepared me for SIEM and SOAR operations.
My instructor, Sean Callinan, is extremely knowledgeable and 100% approachable, blending technical expertise with mentorship. He didn’t just teach tools; he emphasized process improvement, audit readiness, and reproducibility, values that resonate deeply with anyone working in cybersecurity. My coach, Chris Huber, made complex practical applications easy to understand and apply.
Rapid Ascent accelerated my career trajectory. It gave me confidence to serve as an escalation point for security operations, and the training aligned perfectly with my long-term goal of advancing into cybersecurity leadership. The program helped me bridge the gap between technical troubleshooting and strategic communication, which is critical in this field.The weekly career development and SME sessions with Sunny Shaffer were phenomenal. Those sessions alone put me ahead of peers who retired at the same time as I did, because they weren’t provided with the same level of detail in resume writing and job interview preparation.

If you’re looking for a bootcamp that goes beyond surface-level training, Rapid Ascent delivers. It is mission-ready, reproducible, and designed for professionals who want to scale their impact in cybersecurity.

Pros: 
Rapid Ascent is a SkillBridge that provides you hands-on practical skills you need to get your foot in the door to cybersecurity, especially if you're someone who has zero experience in IT/cyber. Rapid Ascent will NOT guarantee you a job at the end; it's really up to each learner themselves on what they want to get out of the program. RA provides one exam voucher like CompTIA Sec+ at the end of the cohort; if you already took Sec+ you'll have the option to get a different voucher. Note, you will still need to study for Sec+ Exam SEPARATLEY on your own when the cohort is over but at least you won't be starting from scratch. I took my Sec+ 2 weeks after my cohort. I would especially recommend doing Rapid Ascent if you are located in Colorado Springs and plan on job hunting there; Kim Archer and Sunny are heavily connected in the Colorado tech scene, and it was nice being able to participate in-person at the COS hiring events. Sunny is a real one and will tell you how it is, she helped me write my resume and I've been using it a template ever since.  Our instructor was Ajay Menendez and he by far was the best instructor I've ever had in all my schooling. His hands-on labs were so fun and so valuable, especially when I started doing job interviews. It was nice to be able to show/talk about what projects I've done during my interviews. As someone who struggles paying attention, I appreciated ajay's "spiral-style" teaching; it was very unique and effective. If ajay is your instructor, you'll be in good hands and using $18k in VA benefits was worth it for me...if he's not your cohort instructor, then good luck I can't say much. As someone transitioning out of the Air Force with zero cyber or tech background, I was able to land my first job as a cyber security analyst just one month after graduating my cohort (granted having a TS clearance already helped a ton). Also, transitioning out of the military can also be a very lonely time period, so I did really enjoy meeting other veterans in my cohort virtually and in-person who were going through the same struggles as me. It gave a me a good support network. Last thought, highly recommend getting a Windows computer for this cohort. It is possible to use a MAC, but trust me, just invest now on that Windows computer. I got rid of my MAC after the 4th week to better my learning experience.

Insights:  
The workload and time commitment were basically doubled than how it was advertised.  I thought I would be chillin through SkillBridge, I definitely wasn't. I don't think there was any maliciousness intent on the marketing front, however the reality was, I mentally had switch gears and approach Rapid Ascent like a M-F, 7:30a-4:30pm kind of (8-10hr) work/class schedule. I mean it's essentially taking (30 college credits) in 3.5 months...that's a lot. Just for some insight, you do a 90min morning and a 90 min afternoon session, 1-2hr break for lunch, you do a 90-minute Career/Resume Mentoring session, on Wednesdays we did 1–2-hour Sec+ study sessions with a separate instructor, on Friday's we meet industry experts for about 90minutes. And whatever free time you had left, you were expected to do your TryHackMe modules, do extra reading, write your resume, and basically practice doing the hands on-labs that you just learned. It was just a lot; so just know what you're getting yourself into and know what your capacity is before you sign up.

The weekly schedule did not match what we actually did during the week; it was always more. For example, there were usually 1-2 extra meetings that would just pop up during the week and sometimes, only half of the class would end up logging into it. As veterans who are already going through a ton of stress from doing VA appointments, moving and job hunting I wish we were given an updated schedule so that we could plan in advance.

Misalignment of content. The content we were learning in-class with ajay did not align with the TryHackMe content (aka the homework). For example, we'd spend all day learning about one topic with ajay, and then when class was over, our homework would be on a completely unrelated TryHackMe module. This misalignment of THM content did not help reinforce my learning and I felt it put the learners in a position to have to pick which homework assignment was "worth their time". The hard part was, we were going to get graded for both. I chose to-do Ajay's lab assignments since I felt like they were most valuable than the THM. 

Advice for future learners:
- Come into the cohort with an 80% finished draft resume, that way you can focus on actually applying to jobs during your cohort
- Start with your end job position in mind and work backwards
- Just start building your LinkedIn now
- Get a Windows computer
- Write down 1 bullet that summarizes what you learned and did each week; you'll be able to look back and use this list as your repository when recruiters ask you "what did you do/learn?"
- You're the captain of your ship now. So, take it wherever you want it to go. 
-Everything is going to be okay at the end