Choosing a career can be a daunting task. It may feel as if you are signing up to do one thing for the rest of your life when you are picking your major. However, in a field such as cyber security, you can be confident that you are making a wise choice.
Is cyber security a good career? Yes. Cyber security is a quickly growing field all around the globe. The internet is here to stay, so these jobs are not going anywhere, either. With challenging work, great pay, job security, and the ability to live and work just about anywhere, cyber security is a great career to pursue.
This article will outline the top 10 reasons why cyber security is a fantastic career. Choosing this career is sure to provide job stability for years to come!
1. Job Growth is High
From 2018 to 2028, it is expected that the cyber security industry will grow by 32%. This is far above the average job growth rate, meaning there will be plenty of job openings for the foreseeable future.
The current estimate is that there 3.5 million unfilled job openings in the field in 2021. This gives better negotiating power to the employee, as their skills are in high demand.
With high job growth, employees can be sure they will be able to snag a job right when they graduate college and can avoid undesired unpaid internships. So, high job growth is an excellent indicator that cyber security is a secure and prosperous career choice.
2. Rewarding Work as You Protect People & Businesses
If you know anyone who has ever been scammed out of money or business through a cyber security attack, then you know precisely why this is such a booming industry.
Workers in this field protect not only businesses, but families, governments, and bank information from criminals. This desire to protect and preserve the safety of the U.S. is incredibly rewarding.
Passion, challenge, and rewarding work are essential for those who want to pursue a career. If someone is not driven and excited by their work, it will probably not last as a fulfilling lifetime career. But, cyber security does provide that, confirming that it is a good career.
3. Solid Starting Salary
Some careers take a bit of time to work up to a decent wage where employees feel they can genuinely support themselves or a family. But, cyber security careers have an average starting salary of $54,000.
This can quickly rise to over $100,000 with a few years of experience. But why are companies so willing to shell out a large chunk of money for their cyber security experts?
Cyber security personnel keep essential data, plans, information, and systems safe from cyber-attacks. These attacks could merely be trying to delete data, but they also may be attempting to steal information that the company has created.
Either way, these attacks put the company in jeopardy, so they are willing to pay for safety and security for themselves and their employees.
4. Room for Growth and Advancement
As cyber security jobs are so popular right now, employees have plenty of bargaining power. One of the enticing benefits they may be able to snag is assistance with education, certifications, and other training.
Aside from funding a master’s degree, here are just a few certifications that you may be able to get assistance with paying for:
- Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)
- Licensed Penetration Tester (LPT)
- Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
- Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)
- Linux+
If you start as a systems administrator, I.T. technician, or security specialist, you can quickly rise through the ranks. Promotions to mid-level roles such as security analyst, incident responder, and cyber security consultant will be a great stepping stone to advanced roles.
These would include job titles like a chief information security officer, cyber security architect, or cyber security engineer.
5. College Degrees are Not Always Required
A bachelor’s degree is usually desired for entry-level jobs in the cyber security field, but some may be able to get away without it. Cyber security involves quite a bit of coding, hacking, and networking. Much of this can be self-taught through online classes and your own trial and error.
Most of the cyber security industry was started by people without college degrees. They were ethical hackers who saw a need to protect businesses they cared about and advertised their skills as such.
However, there is much that education and degrees have to offer those in the cyber security field. Learning from the experts through a school can help jumpstart your career.
I’m totally self-taught and have no degree, instead, I built up my knowledge and experience from many different cyber security courses available. This allowed me to get the skills I needed to be able to work in cyber security roles.
6. Job Security
Between the Great Recession of 2007 and the usual ebb and flow of the economy, job security is more important than ever to the rising workforce.
With all of the unfilled jobs in this field, not only will people with cyber security skills be in high demand, but they will have their choice of companies, places to live, and benefits packages.
It has been shown that job security is linked with better mental health, too. Having the comfort of knowing that you and your family will have a roof over your head and food on the table is a huge stress reliever. This is simply another reason why cyber security is a great career choice.
7. Work Anywhere
Have you ever dreamed of working in a different country? Or are you hoping to be able to spend a few years in Los Angeles, New York City, or maybe Chicago?
Well, cyber security is a field that can be found just about anywhere. With considerable demands in Washington D.C. as well, people in this field have a choice of where to live. Along with this, if you like to travel, there can be lots of opportunities depending on what company you choose to work for.
I’ve even managed to do two cyber security jobs at the same time, just being able to work from home and manage my time effectively.
8. The Job Itself is Exciting & Challenging
If you like puzzles, challenges, or fast-paced games, then you will find the work of cyber security exciting. As a cyber security professional, you are always by analyzing systems, trying to hack into them, and even defending against attacks in real-time.
Additionally, you will be helping to educate your coworkers on how to help defend themselves against these attacks.
This job is an excellent pairing of puzzles, people, and technology. If any of those things interest you, it is a great reason to choose a career in the cyber security field.
Cyber security involves relationship building and having people skills can rapidly accelerate any career progression. The most successful people in cyber security at many organizations are those who can successfully communicate with others.
9. Networking: Landing a Job at Fortune 500 Companies or Secret Agencies
Have you always wanted to work for the CIA, FBI, or Google? Every single one of these organizations has information and data that is absolutely essential to their companies.
They hire the best cyber security people to work for them and keep their people safe. So, this career could get your foot in the door at quite a few of these prosperous and inventive places.
There are also a lot of start-ups popping up across many towns and cities and these too could offer great opportunities for cyber security roles.
10. No Math Needed
Not everyone can be good at math. Those of us who struggled to find X in algebra class may have thought the door was shut to careers in the science, technology, or engineering fields.
Luckily, cyber security jobs have very little math in them. Instead, they are filled with coding, puzzles, and programming.
Some of the cyber security roles won’t have any programming at all as they will be hands-off advisory type positions. This is the type of position I’m involved in and I have very little programming knowledge.
Cyber Security: The Career of the Future
The internet is not going anywhere; instead, it will always be expanding and widening the need for cyber security globally. With the ever-present hackers trying to steal valuable information and ruin lives, people are needed to combat this with their wits and coding skills.
More and more organizations are becoming aware of the insider threats, where their own employees, contractors and other third parties they engage with, could also commit cyber attacks against them.
So, consider a career in the cyber security field for a well-paying and rewarding job, that’s in demand from many organizations.
Related Questions:
Can I get into cyber security without a degree? Yes, you can if you have built up enough real-world experience and you know the principles of cyber security.
What qualifications do you need for cyber security? Having a decent certification in cyber security is a must these days just to get your foot on the ladder.
