Plan Your Career! Career Roadmaps can take you from Entry-level to Expert

NICE is currently developing Career Roadmaps to help people learn more about entering and growing in the cybersecurity field.  If you are already a cybersecurity professional, Career Roadmaps serve as a guide to determining the steps you need to take for continued professional development. The roadmaps will also help to inform the choices you make in your career path.

What is a Career Roadmap?

A Career Roadmap is a tool you can use to plan your career development and chart your progression within a chosen field which in this case is cybersecurity.

Career Roadmaps consist of different paths tailored for various career levels or functional areas within a field (such as entry-level, mid-level, or expert); however, their foundational elements remain the same. As an example, these types of components may be in each roadmap: recommended education, suggested credentials and experience, skills/competencies needed for progression, types of training and developmental opportunities, and criteria for successful career navigation.

The skills described in each Career Roadmap will link back to the specialty areas/competencies described within the National Cybersecurity Workforce Framework (the Framework).

Why do we need Cybersecurity Career Roadmaps?

Career Roadmaps provide a variety of benefits. Here’s what they can do for you:

• Identify opportunities within your field to build skills and increase cybersecurity expertise.
• Introduce you to developmental opportunities, and teach you how to navigate the field.
• Provide you with a clear blueprint for navigating pathways of professional growth and development.
• Provide you with information on how to develop the skills needed to progress within cybersecurity.
• Guide your career choices and development decisions.
• Outline the relationship between work requirements, developmental activities, and the knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) needed for a career.
• Help you identify opportunities for development such as training and additional education.
• Create transparency by clearly identifying the steps to move up the ladder.

Who can use the Roadmaps?

Everyone! Here are some common applications:

• Help grade school students answer the question of, “what do I want to be when I grow up?”
• Guide high school juniors/seniors to select the most appropriate collegiate curriculum to enter their desired cybersecurity occupation.
• Provide college, graduate and post-grad students with supplemental activities to boost their success in landing the cybersecurity job they want (internships, cyber competitions, certifications).
• Provide seasoned professionals tools and information to enable entry into the cybersecurity field (people transitioning careers, veterans transitioning to civilian life).
• Provide cybersecurity professionals with options to shape their career path (career change, certifications, job rotation).
• Enable cybersecurity professionals to identify training to enhance their career and work with supervisors to create Individual Development Plans (IDPs).
• Assist cybersecurity supervisors to recommend training to enhance the development of cybersecurity professionals and help their employees develop IDPs to reach those goals.
• Aid cybersecurity supervisors in monitoring their employees’ progress by comparing it with sample behaviors provided in the competency models.
• Facilitate  organizations in identifying gaps and creating action plans to fill those gaps by ensuring they have the cybersecurity workforce required to meet their needs.
• Support organizations in conducting succession planning.

When will Roadmaps be available?

The Career Roadmaps are currently in development and will be accessible through the NICCS portal.