Cybersecurity Professionals: How Wonderful Will the Next Decade(s) Be for You!
Remember the days (not too long ago) when your parents wished for you to go to college, study hard, and become a doctor or a lawyer? Those professions were the highest paying careers one could get, with the prestige to go along with it, which almost guaranteed you a picture perfect life. Well, it looks like those days are gone.
Today, parents should be pushing their children into the cybersecurity profession! Cybersecurity specialists are some of the most sought after and in demand professionals in the job market. With so much sensitive and personal data floating around in the cloud, cyber-attackers are aggressively targeting online resources to plunder the data. This leaves businesses vulnerable, costing the industry billions per year to remedy the breach. That is why there is tremendous need for more competent and highly trained cybersecurity professionals. Here at CultureFit, we are always seeking expert cybersecurity professionals to fill the many open positions we have in the Chicago area market.
Below are some statistics we have compiled about the cybersecurity field, and if you are looking for a career change, why you might want to have a look at the expanding cybersecurity marketplace.
DEMAND IS GROWING EXPONENTIALLY
In 2015, more than 209,000 cybersecurity jobs went unfilled, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Also, Forbes forecasted that there will be close to one million cybersecurity job openings in 2016, with the supply of talent at an extremely low level to fill these positions. The volume of cybersecurity openings will continue to increase in the coming decade as technology becomes more entrenched in businesses and consumers’ lives, and hacking techniques become more complex. In fact, cybersecurity spending is predicted to grow from $75 billion in 2015 to over $170 billion by 2020 (according to Forbes). The top five cities for cybersecurity job postings in 2016 are in Washington, D.C., New York, San Francisco/San Jose, Chicago and Dallas.
SALARIES ARE CONTINUALLY GROWING
If you are already in the IT field, then crossing over to cybersecurity can mean a huge jump in pay. Cybersecurity professionals can command an average salary premium of nearly $6,500 per year, or 9% more than other IT workers, according to a Job Market Intelligence: Cybersecurity Jobs 2015 report. The average advertised salary for cybersecurity positions was $93,028, which is $15,000 higher than other IT positions overall, with the average top cybersecurity salaries in major metropolitan cities approaching close to $380,000 a year. The greatest demand is found in the professional services, manufacturing, defense, finance and insurance industries.
GO GET CERTIFIED, AND REAP THE BENEFITS
Even if you don’t have a college degree now, there is such a high demand that many companies will offer positions as long as you have some basic cybersecurity training. And many universities are finally understanding the growing importance of cybersecurity professionals that they are now beginning to offer more classes and degrees in the field. However, if you already have a degree, remember to continually educate yourself by taking certification classes to keep up with the constantly changing landscape of cyber attacking techniques. In fact, according to Burning Glass Technology data, 51 percent of all cybersecurity positions require at least one professional certification.
While these are only a few reasons one should take a serious look into a career in cybersecurity, many more exist! For more information on this industry, or if you are an IT cyber security expert looking to advance your career, talk to one of our IT Staffing Professionals at CultureFit. CultureFit is a full service Technology Staffing and recruitment firm for corporate cultures and IT talent that value organizational fit, employee satisfaction, and an extremely high level of technical IT skills.
