Yeah. The demand for red team skills is complicated.
There’s plenty of work to do. But there’s a lot of anxiety, and in some cases laws, that make hiring managers cautious.
When a team member is going to sometimes physically break into a data center, things are much simpler if they have an unimpeachable reputation.
And that, itself, is unfair, since everyone’s definition of “unimpeachable reputation” is going to be a bit different. I’m inclined to factor in motives, but not everyone can.
So it’s not the end of the world for a young hacker with a conviction, but they definitely have a more difficult time.