By Alexa Bakalarski with contributions from Professional Institute faculty
With more than 2 million new cybersecurity jobs projected to open in the next year, maybe it’s time to consider a career move. Answer the following five questions to see if you might have a good aptitude for cybersecurity:
1. Do you work well in a team?
Thoroughly addressing cybersecurity issues requires seeking input from colleagues with varying perspectives. When you come together as a team, you’re more likely to catch problems you might’ve missed or find solutions you didn’t know about.
2. Do you like to learn and teach others?
Cybersecurity professionals must not only keep themselves up to date on the different technologies that may affect security, but also be able to teach others, especially senior decision-makers, about risks, threats, and possible preventative actions. This helps them to make more informed decisions on behalf of their organizations and reduces the risk of data breaches and other threats.
3. Are you curious?
When it comes to working in cybersecurity, a desire to know more—namely, to know how and why things work or don’t work—is vital to finding solutions to cybersecurity issues.
4. Do you pay close attention to details?
A major component of cybersecurity is detecting subtle changes in your infrastructure, so having a knack for noticing small details is essential to discovering flaws, risks, and threats.
5. Do you think outside the box?
Coming up with new, unconventional ways to solve problems is a vital skill to have in an industry that’s constantly changing.
If you answered “Yes” to most of these questions, there’s a good chance you could thrive in cybersecurity.
So what now?
If you’re interested in learning more about cybersecurity, our professional education program and graduate certificate give working professionals the flexibility they need while not compromising the rigor needed to tackle cybersecurity challenges.
Questions? Email SCIProfessional@pitt.edu or call 412-383-0862.