Students easily find jobs in cyber-security field

A quarter of master of science in security informatics students leave the program before finishing it.

These students leave because they have already found jobs.

Director of the MSSI program L. Jean Camp said the job market for Internet and information security is notably expanding. Citigal, a security services program, just opened another branch in Bloomington.

Last week, President Barack Obama signed an executive order calling for the strengthening of cyber security of “critical infrastructure.”

But she said as an instructor, losing her students is a little frustrating.

Even though students who leave halfway through the two-year program have the skills to get a job, finishing the degree would allow them more mobility in the job market, she said.

“We do really try to encourage them to complete the degree,” Camp said. “It is usually only 4 more classes.”

The MSSI program was approved by the trustees four years ago due to the rising demand for a skill set in information security.

“It’s one thing to outsource a call center. It’s another thing to outsource your security architecture,” Camp said. “It is difficult to audit your own security.”

Currently, the program has about 25 students, Camp said.

All of the current first-year students have internships for this summer. Most of the internships are paid, she said, and many students are lined up with a job by the end of the summer.

These jobs are well paid, according to a press release.

Average median salary in the United States for a new employee with a master’s degree and no job experience is $45,000.

Camp’s students are entering the job market averaging $68,000 annually for their first job, according to a press release.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers just released its list of college majors with the highest salaries, and three in the top 10 were technology-based.

“I graduated with my master of science in security informatics on Dec. 14, 2012, and I started my new job three days later,” former student Evan Julian said in a press release.

“As I was completing my degree, I applied for several jobs all over the U.S. and in several other countries. In every case, I heard back from each company and interviewed with them all before going with Apparatus Inc. out of Indianapolis.”

Another MSSI student, Michael Keel, won’t graduate until May, but he already has a job in information security with the world’s largest professional services company, PwC, according to the press release.

The program is not meant solely for informatics students. It was designed so that anyone with a strong liberal arts background with some statistics experience could excel, Camp said.

“Being well-rounded is such an asset when trying to deal with structural security and human interaction,” she added.

Camp was unsure why there is a shortage of qualified people in the security and privacy field. In particular, she said she was shocked at the lack of women in the field.

“Privacy is definitely a concern for both men and women,” she said. “There are more women in library science and HCI. I’m always surprised by that, and I’ve been a professor for longer than I admit.”