EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

According to a recent report, most Chief Information Security Officers, or CISOs are on the fast-track to burnout. The average CISO retains his/her job for only 18 to 24 months, a timeline that pales in comparison to the average tenure of a CFO, which hovers around six years.

CISOs grow restless when the corporate culture only pays lip service to the importance of cyber security. Exclusion from decision-making meetings, and an undersized cyber security budget understandably breed frustration, and thoughts of moving on.

Ever inflating salary and benefits packages lure dissatisfied CISOs to more promising positions. As CNBC reports, offers can come with “…up to $6.5 million in salary and profit sharing,” in other words, nearly irresistible incentives. With the nearly 3 million vacant cyber security positions worldwide, CISOs possess  unbridled confidence in their ability to find a new opportunity.

Despite the high-demand for qualified individuals to fill the top information security role, CISOs seeking out new positions should be sure to present measurement-driven data points in interviews, proving their competence. Focus on a track record of success. Communicating the capacity to lead and achieve meaningful results is what’s going to get a CISO hired; not the ubiquity of vacant positions, and an organization’s desperation to fill the job. corporate desperation.

In choosing a new post, CISOs may wish to consider:

• Whether or not the prospective organization has ever previously had a CISO (or CSO) position. Within an organization that’s opening up a brand-new position, executive leadership’s expectations may not align with or be fully communicated to the incoming CISO. For many reasons, this can be a career killer.
• What shoes he or she is really stepping into. Did the previous CISO, who stayed with the company for seven years, show rock-star performance? How can a new CISO successfully replicate this, and guard against falling short of expectations, or worse?

For a comprehensive and critical discussion of how and why these considerations could impact your career, visit CSO.