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The differences between securities analysts and security engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a securities analyst and a security engineer. Additionally, a security engineer has an average salary of $104,524, which is higher than the $84,334 average annual salary of a securities analyst.
The top three skills for a securities analyst include incident response, security policies and NIST. The most important skills for a security engineer are java, cloud security, and infrastructure.
| Securities Analyst | Security Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $84,334 | $104,524 |
| Hourly rate | $40.55 | $50.25 |
| Growth rate | 32% | 32% |
| Number of jobs | 33,422 | 86,093 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
Securities analysts, also known as financial analysts, are responsible for collecting and interpreting data on securities, economies, corporate strategies, and financial markets. They provide clients with recommendations on investments based on in-depth research. This role has various duties and responsibilities that include putting out a buy, sell or hold recommendation in the financial markets, assessing the value and financial stability of companies, and meeting with company representatives to better understand their business practices. Securities analysts are also responsible for devising financial models.
Security engineers are responsible for developing and overseeing data and security software to help prevent data breaches, leaks, and taps related to cybercrime. Other duties and responsibilities include developing new systems to help protect computer networks and assets, configuring firewalls, and conducting penetration testing to pinpoint vulnerabilities. Additionally, security engineers are responsible for investigating attacks and help prevent cybersecurity threat. They are also responsible for creating new processes for authorization, encryption algorithms, and authentication, and analyzing current security policies.
Securities analysts and security engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Securities Analyst | Security Engineer | |
| Average salary | $84,334 | $104,524 |
| Salary range | Between $59,000 And $118,000 | Between $77,000 And $141,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Maine | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | ICE Mortgage Technology |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Technology |
There are a few differences between a securities analyst and a security engineer in terms of educational background:
| Securities Analyst | Security Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | University of Pennsylvania | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between securities analysts' and security engineers' demographics:
| Securities Analyst | Security Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 70.5% Female, 29.5% | Male, 86.4% Female, 13.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 9.6% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% | Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 9.6% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4% |
| LGBT Percentage | 9% | 9% |