Skilled Security Professionals, Well Paid, but Hard to Find
Highly experienced professionals are very hard to find, as enterprises have to go through lengthy processes to hire security experts who, although very experienced, are rather rare. Organizations that work with more than 2000 members report increases in salary and number opportunities to grow and ascend for trained and experienced security professionals, despite the slow economic environment. These are the key findings of the (ISC)2 2012 Career Impact Survey.
According to the survey, 96% of security professinals are currently employed and only as low as 7% of information security professionals were unemployed at any point during the last year. Moreover, over 70% or respondents received a salary increase in 2011 and more than half expect to receive an increase in 2012. More than half of those who changed jobs said they did so because they had opportunities for advancement.
While security professionals thrive, the tight market for skilled experts of the field is making life difficult for enterprises that need to hire them, the study shows. Security is a priority staffing need with 72% of respondents saying their organization hired individuals specifically for information security roles in the past year. Also, 62% reported that they are looking to hire additional permanent or contract information security employees in 2012.
However, hiring can be a lengthy process, taking up to 3 months to find the right security expert. In what the difficulties that employers have in choosing the right candidate are concerned, 50% describe the process as “somewhat” difficult and 29% found it “very” difficult.
