One way to learn a lot and stand out is to set up an IT environment at home where you can experiment — a “home lab.”

Since it’s possible to use software to simulate technology, you can build a home lab without buying new hardware.

There are a lot of guides about how to build a home lab — here’s one collection on GitHub, and you’ll find many more on YouTube.

<aside> ⚖️ Lists like those can be intimidating, so here’s one place to start:

Hacking Active Directory for Beginners

• It’s a free five-hour training.
• Shows you how to set up a very simple home lab (using three virtual machines), and then practice hacks against Active Directory.
• AD is worth studying because it’s the center of Identity and Access Management in Windows. </aside>