Information Security Analysts Are In High Demand In Chicago
Small businesses may still be disturbed by the hacker news from Symantec Security Response. Fifty percent of all cyber attacks are for small businesses with less than 2,500 employees, and one of the reasons is because of the lack of computer security.
In the same report, businesses with fewer than 250 employees dealt with cyber attack increases from 18 percent in 2011 to 31 percent in 2012. Verizon's study confirms that weak or no passwords tend to be the easiest way that hackers get into small business computers. No matter how many warnings go out about making passwords more complex, The Wall Street Journal supports the latter study: "123456" and "password" continue to top the list of passwords for computer users. From 2011 to 2014, this pattern has not changed.
So it is no coincidence that information security analysts have become one of the top 10 jobs for 2015, according to Crain's Chicago Business. A recent CareerBuilder study confirms that of the top five jobs, Information Technology positions is third most likely to hire the most permanent, full-time staff for businesses.
The average wage for information security analysts professionals is $41.43 per hour with an annual salary of over $86,000, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In Chicago, that annual rate can skyrocket to over $91,000. A bachelor's degree is the minimum requirement in pursuing this profession.
There's also a demand for job applicants who know how to use Cloud, mobile or search technology, cyber security, and big data.
Even outside of the technology field, the job market is continuing its hiring practices across the board. Although the southern and western regions of the U.S. will be hiring the most permanent, full-time staff with an average of 36 percent, the Midwest isn't far behind with 35 percent.
The new $10 minimum wage law for Chicagoans, starting in July, won't stop employers from creating STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) jobs for the next 12 months, which is an increase of 26 percent from last year.
Shamontiel L. Vaughn is a professional journalist who has work featured in AXS, Yahoo!, Chicago Defender and Chicago Tribune. She's been an Examiner since 2009 and currently writes about 10 categories on Examiner.com.