Building a Sustainable Security Career
Mike Murray has posted a really good presentation on Building a Sustainable Security Career. I encourage you to give it a read if you’re unhappy with your current job or want to reevaluate your career plan.
Mike Murray has posted a really good presentation on Building a Sustainable Security Career. I encourage you to give it a read if you’re unhappy with your current job or want to reevaluate your career plan.
I currently am happy with my career path but not so happy with my job. I'll be changing that shortly after my lease is up (I couldn't get out of my lease early, silly me).
In general I like the presentation, although I don't agree with every point Murray makes (such as his 3 reasons for working) nor with Maslow's model (I think self-esteem and love/belonging can be switched and I disagree about the huge swath that safety takes up). But overall, a good presentation.
Hey LonerVamp,
As always, there are things lost in translation when you only read the slides from a presentation. The "3 reasons for working" come out of Maslow's hierarchy – I (personally) believe that there are a whole lot more, but that ultimately it comes down to one thing:
Work is a place where you build the person that you are.
Sure, there are rewards, etc. But you see it with most people who are wealthy enough to retire and sit on the couch eating cheetos and playing Xbox all day: almost all of them don't (Paris Hilton, excepted, perhaps). The reason is because they miss the challenge and the growth that comes from working.
I don't agree that self-esteem and love/belonging can be switched, and many experiments show that to be true. Without self-esteem, we're miserable. Completely deprived of love/belonging/human contact, we die or go crazy. It's a radically different effect.
You can also see it at various places within society – people entirely without esteem can be found seeking love. People without love are rarely found seeking self-esteem.
If there's anything I can do to help you out with changing jobs or if you just want to continue the discussion, feel free to drop me an email: mmurray-at-episteme-dot-ca.
-Mike
I agree with Mike. It is critically important that you feel good about your career path. You can only survive a while in a job you don't like with no prospects for growth, but I believe your personality and integrity will suffer before too long. You can last a bit longer in a job you don't like if you know that once you've paid your dues (maybe in a couple of years), you can move significantly closer to your dream job. But you have to keep that goal in mind with everything you do.
Take Martin McKeay of the Network Security Podcast, who recently quit his job with no safety net (as I understand it), and within a short time received a job offer that has turned out to be a great win-win situation for him and his new employer, Still Secure. I think it sets a great example for others in our industry.
I believe the thing to note about Martin is that he probably started doing the blog just to maintain his enthusiasm for security while being disillusioned or bored with his job. Then, he became a well-known personality in the security industry. It turned out to be the main reason he was able to make a great career move.
That's an important lesson for anyone who feels they are trapped and can't make a career move within the industry. Never stop looking for ways to grow. You will inevitably find them if you keep looking, and it doesn't have to take as long as you think.