The technology industry is always changing. When you remain up-to-date, you stay competitive as a jobseeker and ultimately as an employee. Beyond that, when you’re aware of what’s happening in the industry, you establish yourself as a passionate professional and have even more content to reference in interviews and when you meet people in the community (at events, meetups etc.).

When you’re current on events and news, you become familiar with more aspects of your industry as a whole—not just your specific vocation. When you have a fuller understanding of all the components, you can connect and relate to a variety of people, like analysts, engineers, product managers, founders, and more. This further supports the notion that you’re a passionate professional.

When you’re in between prepping for interviews and doing technical challenges, consuming content made by people in the tech community is a very productive way to spend your time while also taking a “break” from job search-related work. Below are three ways you can stay current: listening to podcasts, reading blogs, and subscribing to newsletters.

Podcasts are great for several reasons. For one, they allow you to listen on the go. So while you’re exercising, folding laundry, or commuting to work you can learn something new. They also give you the chance to listen to experienced techies talk about cybersecurity. (Which is a lot different from reading about cybersecurity.) When you listen to conversations about technology, you’ll pick up on new terms but also gain a better understanding of words you’re already familiar with. Hearing these conversations will provide more context.

And because podcasts are usually interview-based, they allow you to take a peek into people’s lives. Learn about their career trajectories, side projects, challenges they’ve overcome, and the stuff they’re interested in learning more about. As a new professional in your field, you want to mirror these people and the way they talk.

Suggested podcasts to listen to:

• Krebs on Security

• Command Line - SecureSet News

• Cyber Security Interviews

• We Live Security

Unlike podcasts where you can listen on the go, reading articles requires your full attention. Blogs, however, are great because they can be more technical by showing things like code samples. (Unlike audio-based podcasts, where you can only get so detailed.)

Suggested blogs to read:

• Digital Guardian Starting way back in 2013, The official Digital Guardian blog has been a main source of news and articles mainly focusing on data protection and threat research.

• Graham Cluley Graham Cluley worked as a programmer in the computer security industry in the early 90s and worked for industry leaders in Sophos and McAfee before starting his industry award winning personal blog in 2009.

• Schneier on Security Featuring the latest cybersecurity news, tech essays, and academic papers, Schneier on Security has attracted over 250,000 readers in its 13-year run.

• Daniel Miessler A tech blog from a renowned security expert, Daniel Miessler’s official blog stands out because of its diversified content.

• Hacker News With five million monthly viewership and over 3 million social media followers, Hacker News provides daily cybersecurity and technology news, analyzed technical reports and insightful columns for every type of tech enthusiast.

• Krebs on Security A notorious hacker group took over Brian Krebs’ home network while he was trying to set up a firewall in 2001. This event led to him launching the daily blog Security Fix in 2005.

• Troy Hunt Australia’s Troy Hunt is very passionate about educating web developers about web security.

• SC Media SC Media has over 25 years of experience in covering numerous tech stories on different media platforms.

• Threatpost An independent cybersecurity blog with great coverage on cybersecurity, ranging from cloud security and critical infrastructure to cryptography and web security in general.

• GlobalSign A bit “cheeky” for sure, but with a 200% growth in traffic and 1570% growth in subscribers, they’re worth following.

Aside from personal blogs, many professionals also publish on Medium, where you you can follow different topic-based publications

When you subscribe to newsletters, the news shows up right in your inbox. There are many different newsletters for different industries. Some curate top news stories, while others share events going on in your area.

The great thing about newsletters is that you don’t even have to think about going to iTunes to listen to a podcast episode, or visit a website to read an article. Instead, they are sent right to you.

Another benefit to newsletters is that they’re typically quick to digest. Newsletters give you a snapshot of what’s going on, and you can choose to learn more by clicking a headline or event posting.

Suggested newsletters to subscribe to:

• Top Tech Newsletters
• Security Magazine
• Security Boulevard

If there is a certain topic, person, or company, that you’d like to keep your eye on, set up a Google Alert. Google Alerts help you monitor the web for new content by sending an email notification every time a certain word or phrase is indexed in the Google search engine.

One way you can use Google Alerts is by setting one up for a company that interests you. This way, you’ll stay on top of news. Plus, it can also provide a fodder for follow up emails. Additionally, you can setup an alert for well-known professionals as well as other influencers in your field.

Experts you can follow on Twitter:

• Top Cybersecurity Experts to Follow on Twitter
• Cybersecurity Twitter Accounts You Should be Following

While it’s awesome to consume all this available content, you want to take your efforts beyond that, and contribute to the conversation.

One simple way to do this is by following podcast guests as well as bloggers you admire on Twitter. Tweet at them after hearing their excellent interview, or reading their latest post. This is something that takes a few minutes to do—but can help increase your professional network in the long-run.

More than just telling the person you enjoyed their podcast/article, you can create a blog post about it. After consuming a great piece of content, reflect on it. Then write a blog post about the topic and send it to the speaker/writer. This kind of reflection will stand out from the masses who reach out to them daily on social media.

Ultimately, your goal should be to get interviewed on a podcast, or guest write for a blog. Putting yourself out there in such a way will give yourself more exposure. It can also lead to more connections with like-minded people. And it positions you as an expert on the topic at hand.

When you’re working in a high growth and competitive industry, you need to stay relevant. Your career depends on it. Beyond listening to podcasts, reading blogs, and subscribing to newsletters, your goal is to contribute to the conversation. To do this, you must put yourself out there by reaching out to others and contributing to the dialogue.