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Cybersecurity careers span a vast number of job titles and positions. People specializing in cybersecurity might work as a researcher at a security company, a penetration tester for a consultant firm, a secure software designer or security quality assurance manager for a software company, an IT consultant specializing in cleaning up after a cyber security incident, a government employee trying to harden the government systems against a cyber attack by a foreign nation, a cryptographer developing new encryption schemes, an IT consultant specializing in hardening systems for clients, a crytanalyst trying to determine if there are any weaknesses in an encryption scheme, a computer scientist devising new techniques to detect attacks as they happen, and many more careers.

People interested in a cybersecurity career would be best prepared by pursuing a college degree in Computer Science, Computer Information Systems, Software Engineering, Mathematics, Management Information Systems, Computer Engineering, and similar college majors. Not all universities provide cybersecurity courses within those majors, so one would want to look for degrees that provide concentrations in "information security", "information assurance", "computer security", "cybersecurity", "cryptography", "cyber defense", and similar options.

Several major media outlets and career research companies have highlighted the growing need for trained cybersecurity specialists in the coming decade. The cybersecurity field has one of the highest expected 10 year growth rates of all careers in the nation. People with cybersecurity skills are also competitive for a wide variety of related careers, particularly as the "Internet of Things" becomes more pervassive and technology touches every aspect of modern life.

The following information is gleaned from a variety of sources (each source is attributed in its section) and shows the potential careers available in the field of cybersecurity or in fields which need a strong understanding of cybersecurity for success.

In its 100 Best Jobs of 2015 report, U.S. News & World Report use several metrics to rank jobs listed by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. These metrics include the 10 year job growth, median salary, unemployment rate, number of job openings vs. number of job seekers, stress level, and work-life balance.

These are some cybersecurity related jobs that made the rankings (it should be noted that the top 10 jobs were either medical or technology related):

Rank	Job Title	Median Salary	Unemployment Rate	Job Openings	Growth by 2022
3	Software Developer	$92,660	2.7 percent	139,900	22.8 percent
7	Computer Systems Analyst	$81,190	3.5 percent	127,700	24.5 percent
8	Information Security Analyst	$88,590	3.5 percent	27,400	36.5 percent
11	Web Developer	$63,169	3.8 percent	28,500	20 percent
21	IT Manager	$123,950	3.5 percent	50,900	15.3 percent
31	Computer Systems Administrator	$74,000	0.3 percent	42,900	11.7 percent
34	Database Administrator	$78,520	3.1 percent	17,900	15.1 percent
63	Computer Programmer	$76,140	4.2 percent	28,400	8.3 percent

CNN Money's Best Jobs in America list was developed in collaboration with PayScale.com. They ranked the jobs based on number of jobs, expected job growth, median salary, job satisfaction, education level required, promotion opportunities, stress, and telecommuting.

The following are cybersecurity related jobs and their rankings:

Rank	Job Title	Median Salary	Growth by 2022
1	Software Architect	$124,000	23 percent
2	Video Game Designer	$79,900	19 percent
8	Database Developer	$88,200	23 percent
9	Information Assurance Analyst	$96,400	37 percent
17	IT Program Manager	$122,000	15 percent
32	Software Quality Assurance Analyst	$110,000	15 percent
38	IT Security Consultant	$110,000	37 percent
39	Telecommunications Network Engineer	$90,500	15 percent
40	Technical Consultant	$101,000	23 percent
47	IT Research and Development Engineer	$108,000	20 percent
67	Network Architect	$122,000	15 percent
71	IT Network Engineer	$79,100	12 percent
83	Database Administration Manager	$120,000	15 percent
90	Information Technology Auditor	$88,200	25 percent
98	Database Administrator	$89,100	15 percent

Forbes has a list of degrees with the highest starting salaries in 2015. The data was gathered from Michigan State's Collegiate Employment Research Institute, which surveyed 3,300 employers. The starting salaries for majors related to cybersecurity are:

Degree Program	Average Starting Salary
Computer Engineering	$56,576
Software Design	$54,183
Computer Programming	$54,065
Computer Science	$52,237
Mathematics	$47,952

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) has several resources on starting salaries for various degrees on their Starting Salaries page.

Degree Program	Starting Salary
Computer Engineering	$65,497
Computer Science	$62,149
Management Information Systems and Services	$60,829
Mathematics	$52,821

PayScale.com has a list of early career and mid career salaries for various majors in its list of Majors That Pay You Back.

Degree Program	Early Career Salary	Mid Career Salary
Electronics & Communications Engineering	$64,100	$113,200
Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE)	$66,500	$113,000
Computer Science & Engineering (CSE)	$66,700	$112,600
Computer Engineering (CE)	$67,300	$108,600
Computer Science (CS)	$61,600	$103,600
Computer Science & Mathematics	$63,200	$101,400
Software Engineering	$61,700	$99,800
Business & Information Technology	$56,900	$99,100
Applied Mathematics	$54,300	$96,500
Management Information Systems (MIS)	$56,300	$95,500
Mathematics	$50,300	$92,900
Computer Information Systems (CIS)	$52,400	$89,900
Information Systems (IS)	$53,500	$88,900
Telecommunications	$46,600	$88,400
Information Technology (IT)	$51,100	$86,500
Information Security	$53,400	$85,800
Networks & Telecommunications	$50,300	$79,200
Information Technology & Systems	$51,400	$76,200
Information Technology Management	$53,400	$74,800