Jobs in Information/Cyber Security and Assurance

Building Information/Cyber Security Career

Information and cyber security jobs are the new darling of the job market. Senior high school/college students, university undergraduates/graduates and even the employed doing unrelated jobs are all gunning for information assurance and cyber security jobs because of their high employer demand, fabulous remuneration/salaries, great promotion and speedy career growth prospects. Virtually every company and recruiters/hiring managers have openings in information assurance and cyber security hoping to be filled. The sorry situation is that demand for information assurance and cyber security jobs far outweighs supply and the gap is causing unease in the global job market, which is not receiving as much qualified personnel that it needs to fill vacant/vital positions. According to research by Burning Glass Technologies on Cyber Security jobs in 2015, postings for cyber security openings grew three times as fast as openings for IT jobs overall mostly in industries managing consumer data such as Finance (+137%), Health Care (+121%), and Retail Trade (+89%).

The question is why is the industry (e.g. educational institutions, professional bodies and job market) not turning out enough cyber security professionals as needed to fulfill growing demands for qualified personnel as well as deal with backlogs in the job market? The answer lays in lack of awareness of cyber security jobs, lack of the right skills, unqualified personnel, lack of new entrants in the field, slow transitioning of professionals/personnel from other fields to cyber security and information assurance practice, among others. This makes it imperative for strong advocacy and awareness for cyber security and information assurance roles/jobs with a view to encouraging young college/university graduates and other professionals to consider pursuing career in cyber security. Thus, this post enumerated the various cyber security and information assurance jobs that are in high demand while also providing insight into requirements, skills/experience, career path and professional certification required to be endorsed or hired.