Career Challenges in Technology and Cybersecurity.

As we end our journey in 2023, I had hoped to slow down, take some time off, and utterly disconnect from LinkedIn until 2030, once I achieve all the UN SDGs goals.?

Unfortunately, several emails, texts, and conversations I have listened to in the last few months concern me and trigger the one-time spirit that suggested I share a few thought-stimulating words.

These fields are intertwined; viewing them as one entity and one of the evolving challenges to overcome daily in your career would be advisable. Let me summarise my analysis of the assumed things I've experienced in Cybersecurity sector that some have asked for my opinions on and thought should help us rethink how to create a new cyber world in 2024.

Understanding the generation challenges in Tech and Cybersecurity hiring.

The question I heard most was this:?Why did I not get that tech and cybersecurity job, yet I am qualified and have an excellent education?

My feedback is that you are most likely interviewed by people of my age group or older who grew their careers in tech. Yes, ladies and guys like me, who started a career installing operating systems using floppy disks, punching MS-DOS command line and CD-ROMs, had to prove competency by reciting an entire OSI model and crimping category three ethernet cables from the early 1990s, category fours of mid-1990 or category five's of late 1990's and early 2000.?

Some biases could potentially exist, and core values may differ and can not be ruled out from today's reality or at least need to acknowledge they vary from the expectations of one generation to the next.

Understanding bias in hiring practices

A great article that explores this area is called "What Is Implicit Bias in Hiring?" (https://www.ddiworld.com/blog/implicit-bias-in-the-hiring-process)

Five types are listed, but the following three gave me suitable direction.?

Affinity bias:?based on hiring people they like; mostly, you hear hiring people who meet in the same local communities, kids in the same school, same pet grouping, or went to the same schools, or a friend known to a friend. I am considering renaming this to watering hole hiring. It is a detrimental strategy when you consider a watering-hole cyber attack.

Confirmation Bias:?This is quite common where the perception of those hiring may be prone to overly relying on looking at things they perceive they already have absolute indicators and accurate metrics of the candidate's profile. In my view, it is an idea based on your race, gender, name, inaccurate social intelligence, social media profiles, and, most dangerous and oldest of all, general gossip. All of which could be far from reality and ban great people.?

A great example is an enlightening case study published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, "Employers' Replies to Racial Names:?Job applicants with white names needed to send about ten resumes to get one callback; those with African-American names needed to send around 15 resumes to get one callback."

Perception Bias:?I have also observed we are not immune to stereotypes, and, at times, cyber anxiety and failure of critical thinking kick-in, which, in my view, lead to hefty security paranoia mode in the cyberspace ecosystem.?

I hope many of you will change this field once you get the opportunity; it may require patience, technological evolution, luck, or the current generation in leadership retirement.

Understanding leadership styles and their impact on Tech and Cybersecurity?

Most organizations and teams adopt the same leadership style or, in some cases, are aligned to leaders' backgrounds or exposure. My little research indicates that our organization structures are built on a foundation based on a century-old model and mostly inherited from military governance structures based on?Power Over,?command, and control.?

An example in history books is what is known as the?Structure of Feudal Society, with four distinct classes:

• The kings and queens: are the absolute authority and the rulers of the community or society.
• Nobilities:?high-ranking officials who offered the king protection, mainly through military Power.
• Swon swords: were like law enforcers for the nobles and well compensated for their loyalty.
• Peasant and commoners:?The hardworking bees that serve the kingdom with all the services, including providing food to sustain its existence, must be loyal and respectful to all the other ranks above them.

In most organizations, the expectations are identical: follow what is being asked and move on. It's worth noting its benefits during emergencies and war, as well as life-saving or physical property protection.

Contrary to that, its overuse or overreliance on ordinary peaceful community working conditions makes it extremely difficult for technological innovation, creativity and individuals authenticity to thrive. So many great people miss the opportunity to enter or grow their careers, and many who enter may suffer severe career malnutrition.

One could argue it may be why we don't have cyber-criminal rehabilitation programs or robust Cyber Diplomacy programs, which could serve as an intervention mechanism or alternative solution to the current expensive and combative nature of suppressing cyber crimes and missing those extra jobs we seek or perceived to be taken by AI.

For those lucky to have worked in an organizational structure that allows collaborative leadership based on?Power With,?they would probably tell you this would be a sweet spot while transitioning or looking for new environments and opportunities; it feels natural, where everyone's contributions and global diversity are valued and celebrated. We need to champion this, whether within or outside the field, out of experience; no one organization can fully defend itself from cyber attacks. It requires numerous global mindsets, multiple industries and combined strategies, considerable agencies, information sharing, and leveraging diverse evolving toolsets.

In addition, collaboration strength benefits the organization's bottom line with significantly enhanced cost savings.

At the entry-level,?Power Over?environments are complex to deal with, and?Power With?is even challenging as your?integrity?has to be tested to the core as it relies on the wide web and networks of crucial trust relationship domains. Where work and personal experiences, global exposure scrutiny is more brutal and not straightforward to tell what you are expected to exhibit.?

Luckily, it's not over for you and I. The most potent thing between an organization with?a Power Over?structure and a collaborative one or?Power With?is?Power Within;?your willpower to do great things for humanity is unstoppable. You can develop new solutions to the problems we face in the industry or world, innovate, and sell the solutions to the organization you perceive to have?Power Over?and those with?Power With.?

Understanding individual contributions and Power Within leadership

Establishing your cybersecurity organization or initiatives: a great example is Mr.?George Kurtz,?CEO of CrowdStrike, one of the celebrated cybersecurity tools in the industry, with his excellent leadership mantra of agentless cloud security tool innovation and a laser focus on the customer success journey.

It is one area most of us neglect and invest too little into, yet you and I have autonomous control as long you use it for the common good of humanity.

Other examples include:

• Starting security awareness campaigns, AI-powered.
• Setting up your home cybersecurity labs.
• Publishing cybersecurity research papers and articles.
• Learning and understanding cyber threat trends.

In conclusion, the end of the year 2023 rear view mirror reflects a clear image of growing challenges in the Technology and Cybersecurity sector, which requires the balance between multiple pieces, including the evolving technology, our generation changes, hiring practices, and the urgent need for new and adaptable leadership in line with society's needs of global collaboration, innovation, and borderless creativity embedded on?Power Within?in support of thriving, dynamic and ever-changing industry.

Disclaimer: Opinions, views, and suggestions are based on the author's personal life and as an underdog career experience.