Breaking the Addiction
I remember when I was just starting out in the security industry. I was fresh out of my military service, knew nothing but thought I knew it all. I was keen to progress and, after a quick look around at my peers in the sector, didn't see much to worry about by way of competition. None of them knew anything either. Security education back then wasn't what it is today.
Let me be honest - I'd failed to progress in the military, which in my experience was largely a popularity contest where you got promoted on who you drank with, not what you knew or how hard you worked. I saw civilian security as an opportunity to succeed in a real meritocracy. Like I said, I knew nothing.
Driven by this failure, I was eager to become a 'someone' in the sector', someone who was respected as knowledgeable and trustworthy. Like I said, I'd seen the quality of the people and advice out there, and knew I could do better. Still working on that, by the way. ;)
In this mission, I discovered groups of people who, like me, wanted professional recognition. I followed their lead and joined more than one industry membership organisation. I filled in the forms, wrote the cheques and proudly displayed my new postnominals, hoisting a flag that told everyone how 'serious' and 'professional' I was. I wore the pin badges I was given with pride. I joined the special interest groups, sat on committees and represented them at conferences. I wrote articles under their banners for trade press. And over time, I started to see the problem with my thinking.
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https://www.thesecuritydoctor.expert/post/breaking-the-addiction
Principled technologist focused on secure services to give confidence in achieving business goals | Public Sector / Regulated Industry
3 年You've highlighted that it's those starting out in the industry that tend to be drawn into this cycle most readily. With the approach to building credibility being to "do the work" and with plenty of conjecture about the (artificially) high bar for entry level roles being set, what do you think would be the best course of action for people to start building that? Appreciate you tend to focus at the master end of the scale, but it's always easier for folk to learn from other people's mistakes where they can. ??