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I quit infosec and I couldn't be happier

paulsec.github.io

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Re: I quit infosec and I couldn't be happier

#71

Some general (unsolicited) advice ... for whatever field you're interested in - go work for a company that sells that as a service. E.g., - Don't be an internal company accountant, go work for Big 4 accounting firm to sell your skills - Don't be in internal company IT Security, go work for a company who sells that skill It's all about moving up in the value chain. By moving up in the value chain, you're more "valued"…

This isn’t universally true. Large tech companies have a need for specialists and are willing to pay quite well for it.

They might pay well, but if you're not in a profit center for the company - you won't be as valued as much as those who are.

Re: I quit infosec and I couldn't be happier

#72

I had watched a few courses on information security and noticed that those working in the more management / corporate related infosec roles seemed to be massively overweight, almost all of them (I am too, btw). Not saying that to shame anyone, just: Does the job make you miserable or stressed out? I have been forced to do the infosec role as a "side thing" in a couple of jobs now, mainly because nobody else was aroun…

In infosec the hours are long, morale is fatalist, but at least the pay is good and jobs are plentiful.

You have to make sure you manage your relationship with your job carefully, or you will burn out as the author did.

Re: I quit infosec and I couldn't be happier

#73

Some general (unsolicited) advice ... for whatever field you're interested in - go work for a company that sells that as a service. E.g., - Don't be an internal company accountant, go work for Big 4 accounting firm to sell your skills - Don't be in internal company IT Security, go work for a company who sells that skill It's all about moving up in the value chain. By moving up in the value chain, you're more "valued"…

Yes. You always want to be part of a profit center, where (directly or indirectly) there is revenue associated with what you do, rather than being part of a cost center where you are just an expense for the company.

Likewise if you work for a company that sells a security product you're in a profit center, which is good. What's bad is that those sales are extremely difficult to make because what your company is selling is avoidance of loss which is much harder to sell than a product that increases revenue.

This is more true if you're a small startup selling a security product. It's less true if you're one of the top 5 companies in the field.

Re: I quit infosec and I couldn't be happier

#76

I have been an information security consultant for a long time. Software dev background. 2006 start app sec consulting -> senior consultant —> principal consultant -> CTO (of small consulting firm) -> get bought by NCC start my own company 10 yrs ago -> CTO/managing principal -> sell company -> still consulting. Done so many different things but the common theme is app sec. Finding bugs and risks in software via reve…

> Never be a CISO Can you share why?

Normally you are juggling a huge amount of security technical debt, massively under-resourced, the CFO under-funding IT and having no budget for innovation in the first place is part of what caused the problem.

The security world and the compliance world are changing daily, don't track each other, and your compliance drives costs, while security drives incidents.

Re: I quit infosec and I couldn't be happier

#77
post #35
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The author is French, the usage of quitted is more likely a mistake outright. As for the quoted version it's explained next to it, he's quitting professionally but likely will continue as a hobby, in French you'd use quotes to highlight the fact it's not to be taken literally.

OP here, that is correct and I am french, I thought that it was right actually. what should have been the proper way to say I left that industry?

[deleted]

Re: I quit infosec and I couldn't be happier

#79

> The main warning I might just give to people is to keep proper distances between work and personal life I've been thinking about this a lot lately. As a millennial, I've tied so much my self-worth into my career and recently, started questioning this belief and I think the next generation (i.e. Gen Z) might be on to something around quiet quitting, their generation placing extra emphasis on pursuing things that mak…

Millenials still had cause to buy into the Regan-era story of hard work and hyper capitalism leading to a glorious future for the common person. Zoomers have never been able to buy into that lie because they were born into a world where it is so obviously untrue.

Zoomers aren't even old enough to determine that yet. They're in their early 20's at most and no one that age has the experience to definitively say anything regarding this.

The alternative to hard work is doing nothing and that certainly will get you no where at all. The idea that a younger generation might have had it slightly better (which I think is pretty subjective anyway, previous generations have all had their fair share of bad shit) so you won't do anything to get ahead is just asinine.

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