4 mistakes to avoid in your information security career

You might have gotten tons of advice about what to do and avoid in your professional career or how to behave at your job. Let’s just say no advice is too much advice when it comes to safeguarding our professional lives. Our careers mean a lot to all of us, irrespective of whether we love what we do or not. This post will take you through a number of common mistakes that people tend to make in their career, no matter what stage they are at, or whether they work for someone else or run their own business.

1. Don’t procrastinate things you can do right now:

If you can do it now, do it now! There is no piece of advice more important than this. Procrastination can seem like your favorite buddy but it is your worst enemy in the long run. Even if the task at hand is not exigent, you should still not stall it by making excuses. Tomorrow never comes and when it does, it is already too late. Make it a habit to finish your work when you have the time. Don’t schedule it for tomorrow if you can finish it right now- that should be your motto.

2. Communicate clearly to convince people:

So many times, deals and opportunities have been missed due to unclear or non-effective communication. People working in highly technical fields like security engineers and CEH professionals (Certified Ethical Hackers) find it hard to communicate their goals, requirements and opinions to the management, mostly because they don’t know how to talk the language of a non-technical person. And due to this, they can sometimes not convince them to, say, increase the budget of their department. It is important that you learn how to communicate clearly, convincingly and effectively, especially if you work in a technical field.

3. Don’t stop networking, no matter what level you are on:

People often become comfortable with their jobs and stop networking once they think they have found their ‘dream job’ or what they consider as their ‘dream position’. However, networking is one of the main factors that can boost your career and give it the extra bit of luck that you always wish you had. It hardly takes a few minutes of your daily time to connect with people on social media platforms like LinkedIn. Having connections, contacts, and a community where your voice is heard and you are visible to other people is instrumental to your career.

4. Don’t stop investing in yourself:

Never forget that you are your own asset. Your mind is what produces value for you. After completing your university level education or any equivalent educational degree, you enter a job and remain in the professional world for the rest of your life. But think about it. Why would you stop investing in yourself, especially when you know that you can get a good Return on Investment? The best way to invest in yourself is to upgrade your skill level or get more qualifications under your hat. One of the best examples is that if you are an information security professional who works as a network defender, you can plan to take an ethical hacking course online or specialise in cloud or application security.

Closing thoughts:

Apart from the above mistakes, you should also make sure that you remain inquisitive, motivated and productive in your professional life and stay away from anything that pulls you away from these goals. This offers one more reason to connect with other professionals, i.e. it is always better to learn from other people’s mistakes than to make your own.