The power of the pivot

Take your career to the next level with insights and inspiration from the global Black Hat MEA community. 

This week we’re focused on…

Why a pivot in your cybersecurity career can be a really good thing, both for you and for the field of cybersecurity itself. 

Change is the only constant…

But even change itself can become boring. What we mean by this is that there’s no role in cybersecurity that isn’t evolving; but you can get bored of the specific kinds of changes you have to adapt to, over and over again, in your area of work. 

So this newsletter is for the SOC analyst eyeing up cloud security, or the compliance specialist with incurable curiosity about pen testing. If you’re feeling stuck, remember this is your career – and taking a new direction doesn’t have to set you back. 

Because maybe now is your time to try something new. 

Why is pivoting good for you? 

Firstly, it’s about expanding your skillset and your toolkit – not starting over. Shifting into a new area will bring fresh challenges and learning curves, but you already know a lot; and you’ll be able to bring your knowledge into a new space to help you solve the problems you come across there. 

If we can ask you to suspend disbelief for a moment and think of yourself as a tree, then a pivot doesn’t mean cutting that tree down – it means expanding upwards and outwards from your roots and reaching new areas of the industry. 

The threat landscape never stands still, so you shouldn’t either. Continuous learning is built into the DNA of cybersecurity. When we interviewed Black Hat MEA speaker Dr. Srijith Nair (CISO at Careem), he said:

“Saying yes to things and opportunities that you are scared of is a sure-fire way to learn something interesting, especially about yourself.”

Finally, we’ve got to mention burnout. 

Dr. Leila Taghizadeh (CISO for IberoLatAm and Global Head of Cyber Risk at Allianz) told us:

“Without a doubt, burnout and stress are massive issues in the cybersecurity space. It’s no longer a question of ‘if’ there will be a new threat – it’s a constant stream of high-stakes situations, where even a single oversight can have disastrous consequences.”

This is exacerbated when your role becomes repetitive and drains your enthusiasm. A well-timed pivot brings new energy into your work life, and reignites your motivation. It’s a chance to rediscover what drew you to the industry in the first place (a love of solving puzzles, or protecting people, or the psychology of a hacker?); and this can protect your mental health. 

Is pivoting good for cyber resilience too?

Yes. Because we know that diverse experiences in cyber help to build stronger, more resilient systems – and when you pivot, you bring knowledge from one role into a totally different one. 

Strong security requires the ability to see the bigger picture. And the more pictures you’ve seen and understood in great detail before, the easier it is for you to do that. 

Imagine you pivot from incident response to security architecture, for example. You bring all that perspective from incident response into the development of architecture, so you can bridge gaps that your colleagues don’t know how to, and spot vulnerabilities that no one else has noticed. This builds robust, layered defences – exactly what we need to withstand today’s complex threats. 

Teams that embrace internal mobility and skill-mixing are more adaptable and innovative. When you’re empowered to pivot, you’re more likely to share knowledge, mentor others, and champion best practices. By being the one to take that leap, you’ll help to encourage a culture of continuous improvement and learning; which enables your organisation (and the wider industry) to stay ahead of adversaries. 

Make your pivot count 

Here are our five tips for a successful move: 

1. Assess your strengths. What skills do you have that could transfer to a new area? Don’t underestimate the power of soft skills like communication, critical thinking, and project management.
2. Think about what you enjoy the most.A pivot shouldn’t just be about what you’re good at; it should also be about what you want to do.
3. Collect skills. Be strategic about upskilling to position yourself for your pivot. That might mean identifying any target certifications or hands-on projects that align with your new direction.
4. Network and learn.Reach out to colleagues in your area of interest, attend industry events, and join online communities – cybersecurity folk are a helpful crowd, and you’ll find people willing to share advice and opportunities.
5. Embrace the experience of not being the expert in the room. You’ll feel out of your depth – but that’s a good sign. It means you’re pushing yourself. This discomfort is temporary (probably), and the rewards on the other side of it will be worth it. 

Pivoting in cybersecurity is a mark of adaptability and ambition; not failure. Each new skill you learn, each new perspective you gain, makes you a more valuable professional and strengthens the industry as a whole. 

So if you’re feeling that call to make a change, don’t ignore it – security needs you to be your most excited, motivated, ambitious self. 

Have you already done it? 

If you’ve already pivoted your career, we want to hear your story. Open this newsletter on LinkedIn and tell us about it in the comment section – you might be the one to inspire someone else to take their next step.