Experts are saying there’s never been a better time to consider a career in cybersecurity. But be warned. Burnout is becoming a major problem among cybersecurity professionals.
Without a doubt, cybersecurity is offering massive career opportunities. Cybersecurity job growth is three times the rate of overall IT job growth. It is estimated that by the year 2022, there will be some 1.8 million cybersecurity jobs waiting to be filled. Furthermore, the road to a cybersecurity career need not follow the usual academic and work paths. On-the-job and on-line training have proven to be adequate for many non-computer science majors hoping to break into the field.
But cybersecurity may not be the stellar career many people expect it to be. The task of constantly keeping up with new threats and regulatory requirements has made cybersecurity a high-pressure career field. A global survey of 1,600 IT professionals shows that a majority of cybersecurity executives and practitioners believed they were under more pressure at their jobs in 2017 compared with the year before.
That constant pressure is not hard to understand. Almost daily reports of data and security breaches in major corporations are fueling the sense of urgency among cybersecurity professionals. Chris Schueler, Senior Vice President of Managed Security Services at the security company Trustwave, commented, “It’s the only job in IT where there are people who are constantly trying to make your day bad. It’s daunting to wake up every day with the constant worry of not knowing if your efforts have been enough.” Cybersecurity skill shortage is also contributing to burnout and high attrition rates.
The solution? Schueler says that top-level executives should be aware of the pressures facing their security team. Proactive measures, such as outside security consultants, need to be taken to mitigate that pressure. The result could well be the difference between workers who improve performance under pressure or those who simply crash and burn.