Level Up Your Security Career
Level Up Your Security Career
Do you know what level your security job is in relationship to the rest of the positions in your organization? Our recruitment team asks this question of every candidate we interview. Most often, the answer we hear is “no.”
Unlike non-security jobs that have similar duties and differ primarily in level of seniority in the role, security positions often have wildly different responsibilities. This makes it challenging to classify or grade all security roles across an enterprise in parity with other functions. The exception tends to be roles at the senior-most level where common titles across functions include those like director, chief, or vice president. Security jobs containing these titles are often more in sync with similarly titled roles in a company.
Security practitioners who have transitioned from the public sector into private are more familiar with the concept of grading due to government law enforcement agency structures. In contrast, a corporation where the team responsible for leveling jobs sees one or two security roles a year, can be a confusing experience for those coming from the public sector. This is also true for people moving from one company to another where similar titles or grades do not necessarily represent the same thing.
Organizations structure their job leveling to define role responsibilities, identify career paths and standardize compensation ranges. These goals are designed to achieve things like qualification of expectations on performance appraisals and ensure equity across the enterprise. Clearly defined levels outline specific scope of responsibilities, and the competencies and skills required to achieve them.
As the security profession continues to evolve, practitioners should strive to collaborate with human resources managers to identify the criteria for accurate classification of security jobs in their company. A good first step…
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