It’s no surprise that when lining up the speakers for “Game Changers,” a new series at this year’s IAPP Global Privacy Summit featuring short keynote-style talks by some of today’s top privacy influencers, John Kropf, CIPP/US, CIPP/G, would be among the list of headliners.
Just look at his privacy background: Currently, he’s corporate privacy executive at Northrop Grumman Corporation, and previously, he was Reed Elsevier’s deputy counsel for privacy and information governance. He’s been a member of the U.S. Senior Executive Service and served as deputy chief privacy officer for the Department of Homeland Security's Privacy Office and senior adviser on international privacy policy. Before that, he was an international lawyer with the U.S. Department of State and served for two years with the American Embassy in Turkmenistan as country director for USAID.
But what makes Kropf’s participation even more interesting is what will follow his talk at 10 a.m. on Friday, March 6. He’ll then offer a networking opportunity where privacy pros can speak candidly about a topic where conversations are essential: career advancement.
“I’m willing to talk with them about anything related to privacy,” Kropf said of this informal chance to chat following his Privacy Career Q&A during the March 5 Game Changers session. Kropf was inspired to offer the Q&A based on what he learned from his own job search in 2014. His talk will include a top-level look at some of his findings.
It’s a session for myriad privacy pros, Kropf confirmed, including “people who are working toward getting into the privacy field and considering a search to find work in the privacy space or seasoned privacy professionals who are looking for a change.”
And his advice for those entering the privacy field or looking for that next stop on the career path? As with any job hunt, “Intense persistence,” he said.
But, with privacy, he added, “This is such a fast-moving field with emerging sub-specialties that you can still get in and become an expert.”
Whether its privacy in healthcare, education, the Internet of Things or, as Kropf pointed out, in big data—where privacy pros are contributing as new specialists like data ethicists and being sought to advise on what the “right” things to do with data are—the privacy possibilities are innumerable.
And, Kropf advised, having other outside skills can bring new perspectives to privacy. In his own case, he combined his interest in privacy and international law to look at calls for a global privacy standard. He recently had a second edition of his legal reference book, Guide to U.S. Government Practice on Global Sharing of Personal Information, released and has written some two-dozen articles around global privacy.
“Data is an integral part of our global economy,” he said. “There is a need for privacy pros who understand the intersection between privacy and international commerce and regulations.”
Want to land the perfect job in privacy? This talk and the networking session to follow is your chance to find out more. Interested in what other Game Changers are being offered? Check out the full list of speakers and talks here. Looking for job openings right now? Check out our Career Central page.