Attracting the next generation of professionals is not just critical for ISACA’s future – it is critical for the future of our professions.
There are well-known people shortages across digital trust fields, limiting organizations’ ability to securely innovate and jeopardizing their essential operations given the volatile cybersecurity landscape.
This isn’t a problem that materialized overnight and, likewise, there are no quick fixes. But there are meaningful steps that can be taken, and the ISACA community is uniquely positioned to play a leading role.
So, how do we attract more newcomers to digital trust professions such as IT audit, governance, privacy, risk and security? That was a hot topic during our recent Global Leadership Summit in which more than 500 chapter leaders from 209 ISACA chapters participated.
The summit featured three thesis statements that we asked chapter leaders to tackle – one dealing with universities, another with nontraditional entry into the workforce, and a third on learning and development within an organization. Chapter leaders brainstormed actions they could take in their local communities to address each of these challenges:
University:
- Traditionally, a degree from a university is required to obtain a job in the professions we serve. However, hiring managers see a substantial gap between what students learn at university and the practical skills that are needed on the job. Higher education must transform and begin to incorporate performance-based learning into its curriculum for employers to continue to value the traditional university degree.
Nontraditional Entry into Workforce:
- The world’s largest technology companies are in the process of disrupting the world of education by launching programs that are designed to help people bridge the skills gap and land jobs in high-paying, high-growth fields without a college degree. Significant opportunity exists to fill the projected employment gap in fields such as cybersecurity by upskilling and reskilling individuals in nontraditional environments.
Learning and Development Within an Organization:
- Once at a company, upskilling and cross-skilling becomes critical but time-consuming. Employees can be faced with not having the right tools to do their existing job, and/or not being afforded the right training for advancement or movement within or beyond the company for which they work. In today’s rapidly changing environment, professionals must always be learning. Performance-based credentials can play a critical role in filling this gap for organizations.
ISACA has made it a central priority to up our game in creating career pathways for the next generation of digital trust professionals, as demonstrated by new credentials we put out this year that do not require years of work experience – the ISACA® ITCA™ (Information Technology Certified Associate) and Certified in Emerging Technology (CET) certification. We also are piloting a professional mentorship program, with more to come in 2022.
But it’s not just ISACA staff or chapter leadership that can make an impact – our entire professional community can be catalysts for strengthening the future workforce by engaging with your local chapters, companies and academic institutions. Offering job shadowing and internship programs, connecting with universities to make sure digital trust career paths are highlighted to students, carving out time and resources for employees to focus on continuous learning, and supporting the work of ISACA’s One In Tech foundation are among the ways to bring new people into IT fields and equip them to succeed.
You may have more ideas. We’d love to hear them. Connect with your local chapter leaders, or feel free to drop a line to myself or other ISACA leaders to continue the dialogue.
It’s easy to be consumed with the day-to-day work of our busy jobs, but the ISACA community has always kept an eye toward the future and prioritized investing in our fields of interest. Digital trust professionals have become the backbone of the modern economy and are essential in helping businesses understand and focus on the major risks that they face. Let’s engage the next generation of professionals and make sure they know there is a place for them in this rewarding work.