EXCLUSIVE: Breaking down cybersecurity career barriers

If there is a cybersecurity skills shortage in Australia, is it because skilled professionals are not given the chance to shine?

In the final of our exclusive articles this week on Australia’s cybersecurity skills shortage, Amanda Turner from the Australian Women in Security Network argues that we need to look beyond careers stereotypes.

There is an increasing focus in Australia on a ‘cybersecurity skills shortage’. In security industry associations and networks, one often hears from skilled security professionals desperately seeking a job that will use their skills to the fullest.

However, maybe the focus needs to be more on how employers can recognise and develop the skills of the employees they already have, and realise the potential of jobseekers and graduates.

Consider the lament of highly skilled graduates who are being overlooked for jobs in cyber/information security because they lack practical experience.

Consider also the possibility that overall there may not necessarily be such a drastic skill shortage, but rather a lack of opportunity for those who have the skills to actually be employed to use them.

Both public and private sector employers could solve this situation by hiring people who have potential but who may not fit the mould of what has previously been considered a cybersecurity specialist.

And encouraging students to study STEAM subjects with an eye on future cybersecurity careers might be easier if those students could see a strong path to employment from these studies.

We should encourage everyone to embrace a secure culture and have an appreciation for security. We should embrace diversity to support innovation, encourage both private and public sector employers to see potential in job applicants and to develop the employees they already have, and show the nation that the cybersecurity industry is a diverse sector that attracts a variety of people from many backgrounds and interests.

Increased cooperation between all sectors will encourage the breakdown of stereotypes, which will then organically attract more people to the security industry. As barriers to recruitment are broken and the industry starts hiring for skills or potential skills rather than fitting the mould, then careers in this field will become increasingly attractive.

Where to from here? Everyone with the passion, energy and means to do so, keep voicing the need for embracing a diverse cybersecurity workforce, breaking down stereotypes and attracting more people to become skilled in this important field.

Amanda Turner is the Australian Women in Security Network blog manager and Australian Information Security Association Brisbane lead. She has worked in various government organisations in a range of different technical roles and is passionate about diversity, security and changing mindsets.

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