Working in reverse engineering

[u/ZealousidealKing1438]

Hello everyone,

I am currently in the final year of my Master's degree in cybersecurity (in France). I have a strong interest in low-level concepts, specifically reverse engineering. I've recently started learning NASM assembly and I would absolutely love to find an internship or a full-time job in this area.

My questions are: Are there roles that are 100% dedicated to reverse engineering? What kind of companies hire for this? Also, what are the career growth and advancement opportunities like in such a specific field?

Any feedback, advice or personal experiences would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

(I also asked this in r/AskReverseEngineering, but thought it would fit here too.)

[u/Few-Cardiologist8430]

Pure reverse engineering roles are rare but they do exist, mostly in vulnerability research, malware analysis, and anti-cheat/DRM work. Look at AV vendors, government agencies, security consultancies that do product assessments, and game companies with anti-cheat teams. Also embedded/IoT security firms since firmware RE is huge right now.

Career growth tends to fork either into deep technical specialization (where you become the person who can unpack anything) or into research leadership, writing advisories, speaking at conferences. The salary ceiling is solid but the number of seats is limited, so networking and publishing your own analyses helps a ton.

Since you're in France, look into the defense/cyber ecosystem around Rennes and Paris. ANSSI and companies tied to them do this kind of work, and internships there can open a lot of doors.