Originally published in the October 2015 Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) Journal. Join ISSA to get your free subscription.
In established fields, career progression is often thought of as a linear journey. “Climbing the corporate ladder” is a metaphor for career success that tells us that if we work hard, we will ascend, rung by rung, in a clearly upward path, knowing exactly how to reach that next level.
In today’s world of exponential technology requiring explosive growth in the Information Security field, this clear corporate ladder is a foreign concept. While the ISSA volunteers are currently working on a Cybersecurity Career Lifecycle Program to help future leaders get a better sense of the opportunities exist in the field, it is an ever evolving process and time intensive work. You can join them as a volunteer if you’d like to help.
However, the leaders who find their way to success without a map who are the most inspirational. With unprecedented access to information, global networks, and self-publishing platforms, it’s no longer necessary to follow the ‘herd’.
Take Sali Osman, one of my favorite InfoSec thought leaders. Sali started her career in electronics engineering, and then moved into Information Security. Osman’s most recent post was as the CISO at Time Customer Service Inc., the global organization that fulfils orders and shipping for Time Magazine and its affiliates. Currently, she is the Security & Risk Management Advisor for Saudi Aramco and makes time to invest in the next generation of female and minority leaders through her work as the Co-Chair Mentor-Protégé Program at theInternational Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals (ICMCP).
As a young girl, growing up in the Middle East, Osman would tinker with circuit boards and take her toys and computers apart just to see how they worked. Her father told her that she could make it in any job she chose if she worked hard and stood up for herself.
Her family and friends called her crazy when she later joined the Abu Dhabi Police as a network and software engineer. She says they still think she’s crazy today when, after a layoff at TCS, she turned down several high paying senior leadership job opportunities in order to take time to spend with family, focus on her mentoring within the International Security Community, and invest in her non-profit interests with the Nubian Village Cultural Heritage Center.
“If you’re working hard, work happily and joyfully doing what you love. Smiles come from your internal self. Be the person who creates circumstances, rather than just “going with the flow”. Chart your own path.” – Sali Osman, CRISC, CISM, CISSP, Security & Risk Officer
Another example of a leading lady who blazes her own trail is Ashley Ferguson, Global Director, Governance, Risk, Compliance, Security Architecture & Design at Dell SecureWorks, started her information security career in Audit at a big four consulting firm. She quickly found that her passions were in leadership and helping people. Whether it was helping clients understand her audit findings or helping a team member with career planning, Ashley quickly excelled and cleared her path to become the Manager of Risk & Compliance and Information Security Officer for Energen, a growing oil and gas firm.
Her role at the CISO level, investment in building a strong network and winning the People’s Choice ISE Southeast award contributed to her visibility as a leader in the industry. Opportunities often came her way that most people would say she was crazy to turn down. But Ferguson knew she had to follow her intuition and choose the right next step in her career.
She wanted to be able to make an impact and help people, not just in one industry or one company but feel good about the impact she was making on the overall industry, which is a big part of her new role at Dell SecureWorks.
“I felt deep down, when the right opportunity came, I would know,”
Ferguson says. “It would have to be the right reason to step away, and have deeper meaning than just more money or better title.”
As these stories, illustrate, sometimes success means saying “no” to linear progression and conventional career paths. In information security you have the opportunity to work in any every industry imaginable, take on a number of different roles, from penetration testing to communications and public relations, or even start your own business.
If at any point you run into a roadblock that may seem like a failure, think of it as a sign that you need to take a step back in order to move forward in the right direction. If you recognize that your path should look different than everyone else’s, it can help you focus your energy on finding yourself and getting back on the right path.
The days of mandated corporate ladder climbing are behind us, so dare to be different, and blaze your own trail to happiness in your career.
Cheers,
Christa
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About the Author
Christa Pusateri is a trailblazer, problem solver, entrepreneur, student, coach, storyteller, teacher, adventurer, and above all else a devoted wife and mother. She currently serves on the Board of the ISSA Tampa Bay Chapter and teaches Entrepreneurship and Creativity at Florida Gulf Coast University. She is currently deciding up on her next career move or business venture. She blogs sporadically at ChristaPusateri.com and you can find her soon on Medium. and may be reached through the contact form on christapusateri.com.