Information is an extremely valuable company asset. With the rise of cybersecurity attacks over the years, it only makes sense for companies to minimize their risk by hiring qualified senior information security consultants-either on a regular basis or as needed.
Like many other types of consultants, a senior information security consultant provides valuable guidance and valuable advice that help organizations reach their goals. This particular role focuses on information security, specifically the protection of company data and other IT assets.
A senior information security consultant is a highly-experienced and highly-skilled consultant that works with companies to ensure the security of their data. Their responsibilities include conducting information security assessments, ensuring implementation of information security programs, working with companies to improve security policies, and providing guidance when it comes to security management systems.
Many senior information security consultants hold master's degrees in business, information technology, computer science, and other similar fields. While many companies prefer master's degree holders, a candidate with a bachelor's degree may still be qualified. On top of tertiary education, most employers also require at least three or five years of experience in a leadership role.
Considering the heavy responsibilities that this position holds, the average annual salary of $111,000 for a senior information security consultant does not come as a surprise.
Senior Information Security Consultant Overview
Senior Information Security Consultant Careers
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a senior information security consultant. For example, did you know that they make an average of $51.75 an hour? That's $107,642 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 32% and produce 35,500 job opportunities across the U.S.
What Does a Senior Information Security Consultant Do
There are certain skills that many senior information security consultants have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, detail oriented and ingenuity.
When it comes to the most important skills required to be a senior information security consultant, we found that a lot of resumes listed 10.0% of senior information security consultants included information technology, while 9.1% of resumes included risk assessments, and 7.4% of resumes included risk management. Hard skills like these are helpful to have when it comes to performing essential job responsibilities.
When it comes to searching for a job, many search for a key term or phrase. Instead, it might be more helpful to search by industry, as you might be missing jobs that you never thought about in industries that you didn't even think offered positions related to the senior information security consultant job title. But what industry to start with? Most senior information security consultants actually find jobs in the technology and finance industries.
How To Become a Senior Information Security Consultant
If you're interested in becoming a senior information security consultant, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 67.3% of senior information security consultants have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 16.3% of senior information security consultants have master's degrees. Even though most senior information security consultants have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a senior information security consultant. When we researched the most common majors for a senior information security consultant, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on senior information security consultant resumes include associate degree degrees or doctoral degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a senior information security consultant. In fact, many senior information security consultant jobs require experience in a role such as information security analyst. Meanwhile, many senior information security consultants also have previous career experience in roles such as information security consultant or network administrator.
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Senior Information Security Consultant Career Paths
In addition to switching up your job search, it might prove helpful to look at a career path for your specific job. Now, what's a career path you ask? Well, it's practically a map that shows how you might advance from one job title to another. Our career paths are especially detailed with salary changes. So, for example, if you started out with the role of information security manager you might progress to a role such as information technology security manager eventually. Later on in your career, you could end up with the title director of infrastructure operations.
Senior Information Security Consultant Jobs You Might Like
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Average Salary for a Senior Information Security Consultant
Best Paying Cities For Senior Information Security Consultants
Recently Added Salaries
Company  | Company | Start Date | Salary |
|---|---|---|---|
Metlife Group, Inc. Senior IT Risk and Security Consultant | Metlife Group, Inc. | 08/06/2020 | $115,35708/06/2020 |
The Northern Trust Company Senior Consultant, Information Security | The Northern Trust Company | 03/31/2020 | $118,00003/31/2020 |
Secureworks, Inc. Senior Consultant, Information Security Research | Secureworks, Inc. | 03/27/2020 | $187,86203/27/2020 |
DFS Corporate Services LLC Senior Information Security Metric and Reporting Analysis | DFS Corporate Services LLC | 01/31/2020 | $72,00001/31/2020 |
Sabre GLBL Inc. Senior Information Security | Sabre GLBL Inc. | 11/26/2019 | $90,27211/26/2019 |
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Top Colleges for Senior Information Security Consultants
1. Stanford University
Stanford, CA • Private
2. University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA • Private
3. Northwestern University
Evanston, IL • Private
4. Maine Maritime Academy
Castine, ME • Private
5. University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA • Private
6. California State University - Bakersfield
Bakersfield, CA • Private
7. SUNY at Binghamton
Vestal, NY • Private
8. Villanova University
Villanova, PA • Private
9. San Diego State University
San Diego, CA • Private
10. Bentley University
Waltham, MA • Private
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Top Skills For a Senior Information Security Consultant
The skills section on your resume can be almost as important as the experience section, so you want it to be an accurate portrayal of what you can do. Luckily, we've found all of the skills you'll need so even if you don't have these skills yet, you know what you need to work on. Out of all the resumes we looked through, 10.0% of senior information security consultants listed information technology on their resume, but soft skills such as analytical skills and detail oriented are important as well.
- Information Technology, 10.0%
- Risk Assessments, 9.1%
- Risk Management, 7.4%
- Nist, 5.1%
- Physical Security, 4.9%
- Other Skills, 63.5% See All Senior Information Security Consultant Skills
Best States For a Senior Information Security Consultant
Some places are better than others when it comes to starting a career as a senior information security consultant. The best states for people in this position are Maryland, California, New York, and New Jersey. Senior information security consultants make the most in Maryland with an average salary of $135,577. Whereas in California and New York, they would average $129,754 and $122,554, respectively. While senior information security consultants would only make an average of $119,302 in New Jersey, you would still make more there than in the rest of the country. We determined these as the best states based on job availability and pay. By finding the median salary, cost of living, and using the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Location Quotient, we narrowed down our list of states to these four.
1. District of Columbia
$145,915
Avg. Salary
2. New York
$122,554
Avg. Salary
3. New Jersey
$119,302
Avg. Salary