
The opportunity made me uncomfortable, but not in a “stretch yourself” kind of way. This came to light for me recently, when I had the option to step into team management and development coaching at Red Canary. Take some time to ask how a new opportunity would help you grow. There is a difference between discomfort from growth and discomfort because a new position isn’t a good fit for you. But just because a new opportunity makes you feel uncomfortable, doesn’t mean that it’s the right step for you to take. That’s a good thing! You want to be challenging yourself to improve professionally over time. If you’re growing throughout your career, each new step will feel uncomfortable. Deciding what part of the industry you want to specialize in will help you make a deliberate decision, rather than taking any opportunity that comes your way. That may be in-depth malware analysis or identifying patterns within large data sets. Revisit the things that keep you motivated at your job, and see if there is a position where you can focus on the responsibilities that you love. A couple questions I’ve used to guide my career choices include: What drives me? Know exactly what you want in your next opportunity so you can recognize a good fit when you see it. Too often, mid-level career professionals take a new position because it has an impressive title or it’s a “move up” in the corporate structure of their company, without stopping to ask themselves if that job is what they want.

Knowing both your strengths and weaknesses is an important first step in maturing your career. That’s what has driven me to get more involved in improving operations as a path of growth at Red Canary, rather than moving into personnel management. For me, the best days are those when I can make the systems and processes around me more efficient, and fix the barriers that get in the way of important work. Others may enjoy enabling the people around them to perform at their best. For some, it’s the thrill of figuring out a challenging technical puzzle. What gets you excited about working every day? Think back to a day at your current position where you felt like your work had an impact and the time flew by. Improving on your weaknesses is a great way to eliminate hurdles that may keep you from moving forward, but it’s not going to uncover the best area to focus on in the future. But don’t try to train for a role just to prove you can do it. Try giving a quick technical lesson to your team, or even just a coworker, as a way to improve your speaking skills. For example, maybe you’re not great with public presenting.

Start with identifying your weaknesses and finding a way to improve on them. Step 1: Identify Your StrengthsĪ healthy sense of self awareness is vital to finding an opportunity that will be a good fit for you. I hope you can find some ideas to help guide you through your own journey.

Here are five steps that I’ve used to navigate through my mid-level career in infosec. With many different functions and roles to choose from, how do you decide what’s next? Mid-level career responsibilities include managing people, leading projects, and honing your technical abilities, to name a few.
Infosec flex pro how to open protected pdf file professional#
We’ve written articles on how to get into information security, but what about when you’ve been in the field for a few years and have outgrown your position? The career path for a driven infosec professional often involves moving into management, but that’s not the only way to grow.
