1. Job & Skills in Demand: Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity isagrowingconcernforthe government,businesses,andindividuals,contributingtohigh
demandforprofessionalswhocandesign,build,andprotectsystemsandprivate information.If youare
someone whowantstohelpinthe fightagainstcybercrimesandothersystembreaches,youneedto
understandwhichtypesof Cybersecurity jobsare available where youwanttowork,whatskillsand
certificationsare mostindemand,andwhichemployersare hiring. Havingthisinformationcanhelp
youbetterplanyour educationandcareerpathway.
Thisblogpost identifies Cybersecurity jobsinhighdemand inthe U.S. andin the Tri-state areafrom
March 1, 2015 to February29, 2016. We also explore the skillsandcertificationsrequestedmostoften
injob ads,employerspostingthe mostjobs,andotherinformation.Todothis,we analyzedon-linejob
postingsusingatool called LaborInsightfromBurningGlass Technologies,whichletsresearchersmine
the detailedinformationstoredinjobpostings.Seethe Methods section,below,formore information.
Job titles for Cybersecurity related jobs are diverse - No one job title
dominates the mix.
We found a total of 170,451 Cybersecurity-relatedjobspostedon-line inthe U.S.betweenMarch1,
2015 and February29, 2016. The mostfrequentlyadvertised jobtitles,itturnsout, make uponlya small
percentage of all Cybersecurity jobs. Figure 1,below,providesalookat the mostin demandjobtitlesby
percentage of the total. You can see that eventhe topthree jobs - SecurityEngineer,SecurityAnalyst,
and NetworkEngineer- eachmake up lessthan5% of all on-line postings. Thissuggeststhatthere are
manydifferenttypesof jobtitlesthatinvolvesome aspectof Cybersecurity.

2. Figure 1. Most FrequentlyAdvertisedCybersecurityJobTitlesinthe U.S.,March 1, 2015 - February 29,
2016, by Percentage of Total Job Postings
Total N= 170, 451
While 3 out of 4 Cybersecurity jobs can be categorized as IT jobs, positions
also exist other job groups.
Whenwe roll the job titlesupintocategories,though,we cansee some more meaningfulpatterns. Not
too surprisingly,as youcan see inFigure 2, below, overthree-quartersof Cybersecurity jobsadvertised
on-line are ITjobs.There are othercategories aswell,suchas research,planningandanalysisjobs(15%
4%
4%
4%
2%
2%
2%
2%
2%
2%
1%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Security Engineer
Security Analyst
Network Engineer
Information Technology Auditor
Systems Administrator
Information Security Analyst
Security Consultant
Software Development Engineer
Information Technology Specialist
Security Specialist

3. of total jobpostings),Finance jobs(9%),ManagementandOperationspositions(7%),andLaw,
Compliance andPublicSafetyrelatedjobtitles(4%),aswell asothers.These categoriesare overlapping,
too,so one job title mightbe inbothIT and Finance,forexample.
Figure 2. Top Five Categoriesof CybersecurityJobsin the U.S.,March 1, 2015 - February 29, 2016, by
Percentage of Total Job Postings
Total N= 170, 451
76%
15%
9%
7%
4%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Information Technology
Research, Planning, and Analysis
Finance
Management and Operations
Law, Compliance, and Public Safety

4. Jobs in Cybersecurity are most concentrated near Washington DC and in
Northern California, but there is also high demand in the New York/New
Jersey area.
As youmightguess due to concernsabouthomelandsecurity,Cybersecurity jobsare mosthighly
concentratedin the areasaround WashingtonD.C.(See Figures3and4 below).Beyondthis,the highest
demandforCybersecurity professionalsisinNorthernCalifornianearSanFranciscoand San Jose. As
Figure 4 shows,areasincludingDallas,Atlanta,andDenveralsohadhigherthanaverage demandfor
Cybersecurity jobsrelativetotheirtotal employedpopulation.The New York/NorthernNewJersey area
alsohas highdemandforCybersecurity professionalsintermsof the raw numbersof job postings –over
13,500 last yearalone.The Philadelphiaarea,however,hasonlyanaverage levelof jobdemandfor
Cybersecurity relatedwork.
Figure 3. Map of Top 15 MetropolitanStatistical Areas PostingCybersecurityJobs, March 1, 2015 =
February 29, 2016
Total N= 170, 451

5. Figure 4. Summary of On-Line Job Demand inthe Top 15 MetropolitanStatistical Areas Posting
CybersecurityJobs,March 1, 2015 - February 29, 2016
Nationwide,the top10 employersforU.S. Cybersecurityjobsadvertisedon-linelastyearincluded:
1. General Dynamics
2. Booz AllenHamiltonInc.
3. Pricewaterhousecoopers
4. Accenture
5. Deloitte
6. VerizonCommunications
Incorporated
7. Oracle
8. Leidos
9. Mantech International Corp.
10. IBM
Information security skills are the most in-demand set of skills for
Cybersecurity jobs, followed by network security and firewall skills.
Acrossthe U.S.,there are cleartrendsinthe typesof skillsthatemployersrequestinon-lineadsfor
Cybersecurityjobs.AsFigure 5shows, almost40% of jobads seekapplicantsskilledininformation
security.Nearly25%call for networksecurityandfirewall skills.Linux andCISA are inabout20% of the
ads.Cryptography.Technical support,Cisco,Unix,andSQL roundout the remainingmostfrequently
requestedskills,appearinginbetween12-15% of jobpostings.
Metro Area
Job
Postings
Job Postings per
10,000 people
employed, last
12 months Growth in demand
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV (Metropolitan Statistical Area) 19,553 66 Much higher demand than average
New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) 13,666 16 Higher demand than average
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Santa Ana, CA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) 6,802 12 Average demand
Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, IL-IN-WI (Metropolitan Statistical Area) 6,710 15 Higher demand than average
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX (Metropolitan Statistical Area) 6,671 21 Much higher demand than average
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) 5,985 28 Much higher demand than average
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta, GA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) 4,943 21 Much higher demand than average
Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, MA-NH (Metropolitan NECTA) 4,474 17 Higher demand than average
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) 3,728 38 Much higher demand than average
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA (Metropolitan Statistical Area) 3,206 18 Higher demand than average
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD (Metropolitan Statistical Area) 3,168 12 Average demand
Baltimore-Towson, MD (Metropolitan Statistical Area) 3,158 24 Much higher demand than average
Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, AZ (Metropolitan Statistical Area) 3,051 17 Higher demand than average
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI (Metropolitan Statistical Area) 3,044 17 Higher demand than average
Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO (Metropolitan Statistical Area) 2,920 22 Much higher demand than average

6. About 1 in 10 Cybersecurity jobs advertised are located in or around New
Jersey and the selection of job titles is similar to national trends.
Locally,we founda total of 17,372 Cybersecurityjobsadvertisedon-line lastyear–about1 in every10
jobs.We lookedforjobpostingsinthe Trenton-Ewing,New York/NorthernNew Jersey/LongIsland,and
Philadelphia/Camden/Wilmingtonmetropolitanstatistical areas,whichcoversmostof New Jerseyand
parts of Pennsylvania,New York,andDelaware. Asyoucansee inFigure 6, below,the local jobmarket
isalso prettydiverse - there are noparticularjobtitlesthatmake up more than 5% of the total.
Figure 6. Most FrequentlyAdvertisedCybersecurity JobTitles,March 1, 2015 - February 29, 2016, by
Percentage of Total Job Postingsin the Trenton-Ewing,NewYork/NorthernNew Jersey/Long Island,
and Philadelphia/Camden/WilmingtonMetropolitanStatistical Areas
Total N= 17,372
5%
4%
4%
3%
3%
2%
2%
2%
1%
1%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%
Security Engineer
Security Analyst
InformationTechnologyAuditor
Security Consultant
Network Engineer
InformationSecurity Analyst
Security Manager
InformationTechnologySecurity Analyst
Network Security Engineer
InformationSecurity Engineer

7. Like we saw at the national level,SecurityEngineersandAnalystsmake upthe toptwojobtitlesin
demandinthe area, eachaccountingfor 5% and 4% of all job postingsinthe area,respectively.
NetworkEngineersare alsowithinthe topfive mostindemandjobtitles.InformationTechnology
AuditorsandSecurityConsultants,alsointhe toptennationally,roundoutthe topfive mostadvertised
jobtitleslocally.
Information Security skills are also in high demand locally like they are
throughout the U.S., but demand for skills including CISA, Risk Management,
Accounting, and others is more highly concentrated in this area.
To understandwhatskills employers inNew Jerseyandsurroundingareas want,we lookedatwhich
skillshada highlocationquotient.A locationquotient(LQ) above one indicatesahigherconcentration
of demandinthe local areacomparedto the restof the country.Asyou can see inFigure 7, below,
informationsecurityisthe mostfrequentlyadvertisedskill forCybersecurityjobs.Itappearsinslightly
more ads locallythannationally,butnotbymuch - 39% versus38%. Whenwe lookforskillsforwhich
there isa more concentrateddemandlocally,we cansee thatCISA (LQ of 1.7), RiskManagement(LQ of
2) and Accounting(LQof 1.6) all appearin a fairlyhighpercentage of jobpostingsANDare inhigher
demandlocallythantheyare inotherparts of the country.Internal auditing,riskassessment, andaudit
planningalsoeachhave a locationquotientof atleast1.5.
Figure 7. Top 15 SkillsRequestedinCybersecurityJob Postings,February 1, 2015 - January 31, 2016
March 1, 2015 - February 29, 2016, inthe Trenton-Ewing,NewYork/Northern NewJersey/Long
Island,and Philadelphia/Camden/WilmingtonMetropolitan Statistical Areas
Skills
Job
Postings
Percentage
of Total
Postings
Location
Quotient Concentration
Information Security 6,843 39% 1.3 High
CISA 4,091 24% 1.7 Very High
Cryptography 2,768 16% 1.3 High
UNIX 2,572 15% 1.4 High
Risk Management 2,285 13% 2 Very High
Accounting 2,248 13% 1.6 Very High
SQL 2,135 12% 1.3 High
Internal Auditing 2,044 12% 1.6 Very High
Oracle 1,938 11% 1.4 High
Risk Assessment 1,877 11% 1.9 Very High
Business Process 1,722 10% 1.5 High
Python 1,272 7% 1.3 High
Audit Planning 1,196 7% 1.9 Very High
PERL 1,142 7% 1.4 High
Collaboration 1,105 6% 1.3 High

8. Total N= 17,372
Consider how understanding employer skill needs can help you plan your
education and career
Giventhese trendsinthe Cybersecurity industryjobmarket,MBSstudentscanbe assuredthatthe
science andbusinessskillstaughtinthe programare helpingtopositionthemas strongcandidatesfor
jobs. You can alsouse thisinformationtohelpyoufigure outwhichtype of jobsmightgive youaneasier
time of gettinginto,aswell ashelpyouchoose electivesandotherlearningexperiencesthatcanhelp
positionyouasan “in demand”candidate forjobs.
Methods
To do thisanalysis,we usedatool called LaborInsightfromBurningGlass.Itallowsyouto mine data
fromon-line jobpostingssoyoucansee trendsinthe job market,suchas jobtitlesandskillsinhigh
demandandwhere jobsare concentrated,amongotherthings.Because manyjobsare postedseveral
timesindifferentplacesonline,the systemusesseveral methodstoeliminate asmanyduplicate
postingsaspossible (Seehere formore information:http://burning-glass.com).Togetto the interesting
information,LaborInsightbreaksupall the piecesof the jobdescriptionintofieldsthatcanbe analyzed.
Thisanalysisincludedon-line Cybersecurityjobpostingsusingaspecial filterdesignedbyBurningGlass
to locate these jobpostings.We examinedall CybersecurityjobadspostedfromMarch 1, 2015-
February29, 2016. To helpstudentsand otherentry-leveljobseekers,we limitedthe analysistojobs
requiringatleasta Bachelor’sdegree and5 yearsor lessexperience.
While thisanalysis canshowyouimportant trendsinthe jobmarket,there are limitations.Notall jobs
are advertisedon-line andnotall of those on-line are capturedbyBurningGlass.The unstructured
nature of jobads can make it difficultforthe systemtoidentifyindividual piecesof information
effectivelyinsome cases.So,there maybe some irrelevantjobscaughtinthe netand some relevant
jobsmay getleftout.Overall,however,Ihope thatthisanalysisof “real-time”jobsdatagivesyoua
basicunderstandingof whatisindemandinyour areaof interest.