ISSA AUSTIN

ISSA, especially the Austin ISSA chapter, is a gateway to a lot of career opportunities in the local security industry and an excellent platform to meet security professionals from a wide variety of backgrounds, which I found helpful when I changed career tracks to include Application security focusing on web and mobile space. I’ve especially benefited from the training either through the ISSA workshop or the monthly security talk.

There are many benefits to being a member of the ISSA Capitol of Texas chapter. Most important to me are consistently excellent education and training opportunities and the many networking events and meetings sponsored by the chapter.

Joining Austin ISSA was one of the best decisions I’ve made. The community is very welcoming and always willing to help grow a young security professional’s career. After joining in 2010, I obtained leadership experience by being appointed the first ever Marketing Director of the chapter, made invaluable contacts with some of the chapter’s senior members, and landed a position in the security industry.

When I retired from the military in 2011, I thought I had prepared everything necessary for the transition; training, certifications, resume building, etc. But I was still lacking an extremely important aspect of my new career: networking with like-minded professionals and ensuring I stayed on top of security topics. The ISSA Capitol of Texas chapter fills that role and more. I’m grateful for the monthly interaction and the excellent discussions.

I enjoy being a part of an ISSA as it provides me an opportunity to hear and exchange ideas with other security professionals experiencing similar challenges. I was most recently able to attend Josh Sokol’s Risk Management Training which provided me with ideas that I can apply to my organization’s Risk Management program.