My Cybersecurity Career Advice For 2023
Some humble advice for the fantastic year ahead of you
The first day of 2023 begins, and I thought it would be useful to give some tips to cybersecurity professionals who are excited about this year.
I have tried to summarize the key points I wrote throughout 2022 so that you can get the maximum benefit for 2023.
Disclaimer: This is of course, my personal subjective advice, so feel free to take or reject as you see fit
1. Be careful when changing jobs
We head into 2023 with news of a global recession either upon us or about to start depending on whom you are listening to.
Inflation is expected to be a reality for the coming year, so be careful when changing jobs, even in a hot field like cybersecurity.
A recession usually lasts for 12 months, SO if you are let go or it does not work out, you might face serious difficulty finding another cybersecurity job.
This is not the time to be adventurous, but instead better to hunker down and ride out this recession instead of changing jobs for a minor pay increase ( unless it is needed )
This recession will be over after a while, and then you can change jobs with the peace of mind that you will have options if it does not work out.
That does not mean. However, you cannot earn more money through other means as I talk about below
2. Invest in yourself
Even if we have a full-blown recession, then that does not mean you should not upskill yourself and learn new skills
Start upskilling yourself today and learn new skills that you can apply once the job market heats up.
An easy way to find out is to search for jobs with your dream job on LinkedIn and do a gap assessment.
What skills are missing from your profile that you need to develop?
Certifications are also a great way to stay relevant, but they are not the be-all and end-all of skills.
Give yourself a difficult goal that takes you out of your comfort zone, like building an application on the cloud or creating a machine learning model.
You will be surprised by how much you learn with these types of challenges.
If you are planning to do a cloud security cert in 2023 then check out my below article
3. Create your personal brand
Your job can come and go but if you have a personal brand then that goes with you wherever you go
In 2023, start something outside your job like a blog, a LinkedIn newsletter, a Youtube channel, or a Udemy course .. something that establishes you as an expert in the industry.
Find out what suits your skills and give yourself a goal
If writing is your skill then check out my video below on how to become a tech writer on cybersecurity.
This is one of the best ways to promote yourself within the industry and get access to opportunities you would not otherwise get.
4. Understand how cybersecurity is changing
Cybersecurity will be in demand for the foreseeable future but that does not mean your skillset will not become obsolete
AI is poised to replace a huge majority of jobs in the coming years and mundane repetitive tasks can easily be offloaded onto bots
AI-based apps like ChatGPT can code and even write audit programs for the cloud as you can see below.
Upskill yourself and learn about the new types of AI Attacks, quantum computing, IoT etc.
If you are doing low-skill jobs in cybersecurity like running scans, downloading reports and emailing them in the next 12 months then your skillset has a limited lifespan.
Check out my earlier post below
5. Secure your immigration journey
Not directly a cybersecurity issue, but still important enough to be mentioned if you are an immigrant or expat.
The Tech layoffs of recent times revealed the shocking truth of how easy it is to lose your job AND your permission to stay in a country if you get laid off
People who had roots in the U.S. for a decade with houses and children found out about this hardware when they were laid off recently. Usually, you get 60 days to find another job or you have to leave the country.
Finding a job can be a stressful thing at the best of times but even more so if you have a ticking clock for leaving the country you have called home for many years
Look at alternatives like the UK global talent visa which enables you to build your life WITHOUT a sponsor and the fear of leaving the country if you are laid off.
I hope you have an awesome year ahead of you. One last thing is to check out my free Ebook on how to make more income via cybersecurity side-hustles if you are interested
GOOD LUCK IN 2023 !