Was your last professional job change a career move or a just another job change?
The last time you left one employer to join another, how much thought did you give to the long-term implications of the change you were about to make?
For the past decade, it has been relatively easy for security professionals to move from one employer to another on a regular basis. Some in the security profession have made carefully planned career moves while others have simply made a series of job changes. You may be wondering …. what difference does it make? I’m doing well by simply having a job right now aren’t I?
Chosing between having a job and sitting on the sidelines is a simple choice. It is better to be employed than not employed regardless of the job market’s conditions. No argument here.
When companies hire an executive security recruiter to fill a strategically important security job in their company, many factors are discussed between the employer and the security recruiter.
For example, employers frequently bring up the topic of job changes. There is a very fine line between one security professional having too many jobs over a period of time and another security professional having just enough change in their career to show depth and breadth of skill, diversity in employment experiences and variety and growth in responsibilities.
The next time you’re thinking about moving from one employer to another, ask yourself the following questions. Some questions apply to those on a CSO / CISO track while other questions are better suited to security professionals on an engineer / architect track.
Some questions apply to all technology professionals.
- If I make this change, how will my skills and responsibilities change over the next 2-3 years ?
- What will my resume likely look like in 2-3 years if I make this change?
- Is the change I’m considering putting me closer to my long term career objectives ?
- Will I have an opportunity to build a program or a series of programs in the new company ?
- Will my level of responsibility increase, stay the same or decrease if I take the new job?
- Will I be leading, guiding, mentoring or managing people in the new job? If so, how many people and how soon ?
- Are enough resources allocated to the new job for me to be successful?
- Will I manage a budget in the new job? Will the next budget be bigger or smaller than my current budget?
- Will my technical skills broaden, stay the same or decrease if I take the new job?
- Is there a clear path for personal growth in the new job? (Growth can be up if you’re on a CISO path and growth can be horizontal if you’re on more of a security engineer / security architect track)
- Are there clear objectives to be met that will enable others to measure my accomplishments and clearly see my contribution to the company in the new job?
- Who will see my work in the new company?
- Is the reporting structure connected to the new job clear?
- Is security positioned highly enough in the new company for me to be successful?
- Will I be able to learn from my new boss?
There are more questions to be asked before moving to a new employer. Hopefully these questions will give you a basis from which to add even more questions. If you measure the new job opportunity against questions like these and if the answers you come up with are positive, you may be making a well-thought-out career move rather than a short-term job change.
If after measuring a new job opportunity against these questions, you’re frequently not sure of the answer, you either have more work to do before making a decision or you may have enough uncertainty staring you in the face to make a decision to walk away.
If you struggle with the questions shown above and the core reason you find yourself attracted to a new job is primarily money, more often than not you’re contemplating a job change. A job change will lead to another job change sooner than later because most job changes are not made based on sound business logic. You’ll get used to the new level of income sooner than you think. It won’t be long before the new level of income isn’t enough. You’ll start looking for the next financial bump.
To make well-planned career moves versus job changes, a bit of careful planning is necessary. Security professionals who have made carefully planned-out and carefully measured career moves are the candidates who are most likely to fit into the requirements that land on the desk of a highly specialized security recruiter.
