Christopher Newbury

Industrial/manufacturing career: You spent roughly 9–10 years in industrial operations, including work at a Cargill soybean crush and biodiesel facility. You worked in roles such as Extraction Operator, Biodiesel Technician, and Load Out Operator.
Technical experience: During that time, you gained experience with HMI and PLC systems, process troubleshooting, coding sequences, equipment, and working alongside electricians. You also moved into technical writing, creating and improving SOPs.
Leadership/problem-solving: You developed experience troubleshooting operational problems, documenting procedures, working across departments, and taking on increasing responsibility.
Career change: After about a decade away from school, you decided to return to college and pursue a new career in Cybersecurity rather than continuing on the same industrial career path.
Education: You are currently pursuing an degree in Cybersecurity at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU), with an expected graduation around 2028. You have maintained about a 3.8 GPA.
Electrician apprenticeship: You also pursued an electrician apprenticeship intentionally—not as a separate career goal, but to gain more hands-on experience with electrical, industrial, and physical systems that you can eventually connect to cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity goal: Your target career is Information Security Analyst/Cybersecurity Analyst, with your industrial background potentially giving you an advantage in areas such as Operational Technology (OT), Industrial Control Systems (ICS), network security, and critical infrastructure security.
Certifications: You are working toward building your cybersecurity credentials, including CompTIA certifications.
Current direction: You're essentially combining industrial operations + electrical systems + automation + troubleshooting + technical documentation + cybersecurity education into one career path