Network Concerns Drive Hiring for Security Professionals
Demand for the skills necessary to secure networks and data continues to drive opportunities for security specialists. During April, job postings for security-related positions rose 20 percent year-on-year, according to business intelligence firm Wanted Analytics. Click here to search security jobs. More than 7,800 security-related postings were available during the month, the company said. The most commonly advertised jobs that included a need for security knowledge were cyber security analyst, software engineer, systems engineer, systems administrator and network engineer. Previously, we reported on how a rise in cyber attacks has employers scrambling to find IT security experts capable of patching vulnerabilities. Job postings on Dice for cybersecurity professionals have skyrocketed 162 percent year over year, while those for information security rose a still-respectable 19 percent. More employers also want tech professionals knowledgeable about firewalls. At the same time, pay in the field hasn’t been especially dynamic. According to the most recent Dice Salary Survey, security analysts/architects/engineers made an average of 96,513 in 2013, an increase of 1.9 percent from the previous year. According to Wanted, the metropolitan areas with the highest volume of listings were Washington, D.C., Baltimore, New York, Boston and San Diego. While Washington had the most available positions, Boston experienced the greatest growth in demand over the past year—120 percent compared to April 2013.
