Computerworld - There always comes a time in a security manager's life, and usually more than once or thrice, when she has to make a decision about whether to stay in her current job. That time just came my way, and I wouldn't have expected beforehand that I would end up turning down two six-figure jobs in a row to stay and work for one of my state's poorest agencies.
A lot of things influenced my decision, but the recent disasters wrought by hurricanes Katrina and Rita got me thinking a lot about life -- the significance of it, the quality of it and the shortness of it.
Even though I am located far away from the Gulf Coast towns that were affected by those storms, I was glued to CNN's Web site during the day and its TV news channel during the evening. I had a hard time sleeping at night as my thoughts lingered on my husband, my children and grandchildren, my parents, my sisters and brothers, my aunts and uncles, great aunts, cousins and grandmother. Some of them live in South Florida or Texas, but fortunately, none of them was harmed during the recent hurricanes. They're all OK, but I'm still stressed out by the events.
It was in the midst of those weeks of restless nights and high emotional stress that I was contacted by a former employer who wanted me to come back to my old job. Then a local company that had happened upon my resume got in touch with me. I even received an e-mail from a very large company in another state that wanted to talk to me about a director of security position with at least 100 direct reports.
These overtures were above and beyond the handful of e-mails I usually receive every week from various consulting companies inquiring about my availability. Those show up because I had formerly been an independent security consultant, and my resume is still in a large number of company databases. From what I can see, the demand for security professionals is still very high and is seemingly climbing.
Meanwhile, in response to the hurricanes, the SANS Institute, working with the American Red Cross, put out a call for security volunteers. Most of the work was centered in our nation's capital. That's too far a commute for me to volunteer, but I signed up anyway, hoping that my talents could help in some capacity. I really wanted to make a difference amid all the human suffering brought on
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