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penetration tester

Learned from 103 real résumés for this role.

Across 103 real U.S. résumés for a penetration tester, the most distinctive skills are Packet Capture, Google Cloud and Go — each far more common in this role than across all résumés. This is the real skill fingerprint, learned from résumés, not a job description.

Packet Capture
3% have it · 134.9× vs average
Google Cloud
40% have it · 23.3× vs average
Go
27% have it · 20.1× vs average

Based on Futureful's analysis of 102,822 U.S. résumés (2026).

Skill fingerprint

ranked by distinctiveness

The skills that most define this role, more common here than across all résumés. The bar shows how distinctive; the % is how many people in the role have it.

packet capture
134.9×
3% · N=3
google cloud
23.3×
40% · N=41
go
20.1×
27% · N=28
ruby
18.1×
33% · N=34
redis
17.8×
34% · N=35
vue
17.9×
27% · N=28
flask
12.0×
32% · N=33
azure
12.3×
28% · N=29
kali linux
28.3×
3% · N=3
security tools
27.3×
3% · N=3
server monitoring
26.2×
3% · N=3
server migration
24.6×
3% · N=3
python
7.0×
97% · N=100
c#
9.4×
27% · N=28
c++
9.4×
25% · N=26

Where people go next

Real onward moves from dated work history.

security engineer33% · N=6information security analyst17% · N=3it security intern17% · N=3it security analyst17% · N=3cyber security technician17% · N=3

Where people come from

The roles that feed into this one.

it security analyst1% · N=9security consultant6% · N=3

Common questions

Straight answers, every one backed by the real counts on this page.

What skills does a Penetration Tester need?

In 103 real résumés for this role, the most defining skills are Packet Capture (3% have it), Google Cloud (40% have it), Go (27% have it), Ruby (33% have it), Redis (34% have it). These are the skills that separate this role from the rest of the workforce.

What do people in Penetration Tester roles move on to next?

From real dated work history, the most common next roles are Security Engineer (33% of moves, N=6), Information Security Analyst (17% of moves, N=3), It Security Intern (17% of moves, N=3).

What roles lead into Penetration Tester?

The roles that most often feed into this one are It Security Analyst (1% of arrivals, N=9), Security Consultant (6% of arrivals, N=3).

Does this page show Penetration Tester salary?

No. Résumés do not carry pay, so Futureful holds no compensation data for this role and never invents a dollar figure. Every statistic here is a skill or career-move count backed by real résumés.

Where does this data come from?

The Futureful Career Atlas is built from 102,822 real US résumés, aggregated with no personal data. 103 of them are Penetration Tester résumés. Every number on this page is a count of real people, and thin pages are kept out of search. Full method: futureful.app/careers/methodology.

Every figure on this page is a real count over real résumés (N = résumés behind it). No salary is shown, we hold no compensation data, so every claim is a skill or frequency truth, never a dollar promise. How we count · Explore more roles →

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