8th: Career in cybersecurity offers fat pay cheques and high mobility

Of what use is a career specialization that does not bring money on the table?

Any professional career guidance class will advise you to follow your heart (read passion) in your choice of a profession and make money doing it. A career is fulfilling if it gives you an opportunity to help others as you earn decent money from it.

When it comes to career, remuneration, transfer price and supply do affect pricing in a big way. As you write an exam, turn around and see how many people are sitting for the same exam? In your chosen career, how does success look like? Are there a few outliers who made it or everyone who took your career line made it? In some careers, you cannot succeed unless you attain a level of chief executive or director. Is your career structured that way?

CSO Online reported a fore A career is fulfilling if it gives you an opportunity to help others as you earn decent money from it.casted shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals stating that by “2019 there will be six million cyberse A career is fulfilling if it gives you an opportunity to help others as you earn decent money from it.c A career is fulfilling if it gives you an opportunity to help others as you earn decent money from IT Security job openings but only 4.5 million qualified professionals to fill those roles.” This has come to pass. The need for skilled cybersecurity experts is on the rise. Whereas many people have qualified as ‘cybersecurity researchers, ethical hackers, information security practitioners, or whichever name of certification’, the market is still in need of practical professionals who understand computer networking, coding and or programming from the basics.

Below is an extract (verbatim) form an article that appeared on the Forbes website:

“The cybersecurity job market is on fire” Veronica Mollica, founder, and executive information security recruiter at Indigo Partners told Forbes.com. “Our candidates are facing competing offers from multiple companies with salary increases averaging over 30%. Current employers are scrambling to retain talent with counter offers including 10% and higher salary increases for information security team members to remain on board.”

Due to the severe shortage of skilled workers, cybersecurity professionals are among the most highly compensated in the technology sector, posting a 9% salary premium over IT jobs in general.

• $90,450 is the average salary for an entry-level Cyber Security Analyst [Ziprecruiter.com].
• $92,644 is the median salary for a Cyber Security Engineer [Payscale.com].
• $107,342 is the median salary for an IT Security Specialist [Indeed.com].
• $94,716 is the average annual salary for cybersecurity jobs across the U.S. [Ziprecruiter.com].

Once you climb further up the cybersecurity career ladder, for example to Chief Security Officer (CSO) or Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), your earning potential gets considerably higher.”

A career in cybersecurity will give you opportunities that you never knew even existed. You will instantly become a professional on-demand. Just imagine how many applications and software systems in use today. All those need cybersecurity professionals to continuously test them for security assurance. As many companies embrace technology as a competitive tool, they get exposed to risks of cybersecurity. They need professional cybersecurity researchers and pen testers to test for vulnerabilities so as to fix them before the bad guys.

One of the key vulnerability assessment tests is black box penetration testing. This assesses the extent of external attackers to the software or company network.  To what extent can people who don’t know a lot of information about the company cause exploit its security in terms of confidentiality, integrity, and availability?  This means you can undertake penetration tests of systems located thousands of mile away. Only a cybersecurity career can give you such exposure and opportunities.

The catch is this career requires practical professionals. Having a certificate is not enough. You must demonstrate practical skills to add value instantly.

Many people with cybersecurity certificates have done online courses or virtual learning that does not provide enough practical learning time. They are products of computer-based training (CBT) which may not provide adequate skills transfer.

The Institute of Forensics & ICT Security (IFIS) was founded to provide practical, instructor-led cybersecurity and forensics training. Our objective is to empower learners with the essential skills they need to succeed. To this end, we are developing a special on-line study platform to provide essential cybersecurity learning. When you attain a certificate from IFIS, you have the skills. Our students are so good that most of the time they get job opportunities even before they complete.

Do you want to transform your career? Do you want to play a critical role in the Industrial 4.o? visit The Institute of Forensics & ICT Security (IFIS) and enroll for a course. You will thank us later.

Not all professions are the same. Some, like cybersecurity and forensics, are needed across industries and are always in high demand. Don’t let the opportunity pass by.

Copyright Mustapha B Mugisa, 2019. All rights reserved.