Building Your Career

Image

Building Your Career Topic Page

With the proliferation of big data, data analytics and new technologies and laws across the globe, privacy concerns have reached new heights. This topic page provides resources, news, tools and guidance on building a career in the privacy field.

Featured Resources

REPORT

2023 IAPP Privacy Professionals Salary Survey

This report explores the compensation, both financial and nonfinancial, offered to privacy professionals.
Read More

VIDEO

A conversation on privacy careers with Krysten Jenci

This white paper explores how the roles of privacy and cybersecurity professionals are becoming increasingly interdependent, and compares the challenges faced by both professions.
Read More

WHITE PAPER

Building the next generation of security and privacy professionals

This LinkedIn Live discusses how privacy careers have evolved, the importance of mentors in the field, tips for those starting out or looking to advance, privacy roles in government and what is on the horizon.
Read More

WEB CONFERENCE

The State of Salary and Jobs in Privacy

This webinar unpacks the most critical takeaways and results from TRU’s 2022 & 2023 data privacy jobs reports and what both organizations see happening in real-time today.
Read More

REPORT

Privacy and Data Protection in Academia

Today, demand for qualified privacy professionals is surging. In this report, the IAPP catalogued academia programs with privacy curricula in their law, business and computer science schools.
Read More

VIDEO

Privacy Careers: Job placement three years in

This LinkedIn Live provides tips on establishing a personal brand and making inroads in the privacy profession a few years out of graduate school.
Read More


Career Central Digest newsletter

Job seekers, meet top employers looking for privacy professionals. Employers, meet job seekers with the privacy training you need. Our job board and Career Central Digest newsletter connects people worldwide. Browse what’s available. Advertise your openings. Your career and your organization will thank you. by subscribing to the IAPP Career Central Digest newsletter.

Additional News and Resources

Aspiring privacy professionals compete in moot court

The fifth annual Helsinki Information Law Moot court competition was held Friday, 17 March. The Helsinki Information Law Moot is a competition aimed at helping students excel in the discipline of information law. The competition gathers people and students worldwide to explore topics including privacy and data protection, access to documents, governmental surveillance and more. The organizers — Tobias Bräutigam, CIPP/E, CIPM, FIP, a partner and Head of Data Protection at the law firm Bird &... Read More

Privacy pro compensation trends 2002-2022

What am I worth and how do I increase my value as a privacy professional? What do I need to pay my privacy staff to attract and retain them? These are the recurring questions hiring managers and specialists have asked for the last two decades as the privacy profession exploded and morphed in multiple directions, and resource models have increasingly become strained. Why have they been so hard to answer? The short answer is: constant flux. Since I joined the privacy ranks in 2000, near the birth... Read More

Tech company layoffs hit privacy community, ‘spook’ job seeker marketplace

The largest companies across the technology sector have been hit by tens of thousands of layoffs in recent months. Unable to maintain major growth experienced during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, many such companies look to cut back and privacy professionals have not been immune. Just last week, Google announced it is laying off 12,000 employees and Amazon notified employees of a second round of layoffs as part of a plan to reduce staff by 18,000 people. Earlier this month, Salesforce cu... Read More

Privacy is hiring! Tips to recruit, tips to move

In this LinkedIn Live event, IAPP Vice President and Chief Knowledge Officer Caitlin Fennessy, CIPP/US, discusses the state of the privacy job market alongside TRU Staffing Partners founder and CEO Jared Coseglia, Olympus Corporation Senior Vice President and Global Chief Compliance Officer Eva Gardyan-Eisenlohr and Aristocrat Global Privacy Counsel Cody Fredrick. Read More

The evolution of a privacy legal career

WilmerHale Partner Kirk Nahra, CIPP/US, was featured on the “How I Lawyer” podcast hosted by Georgetown University law professor Jonah Perlin. Nahra, a former member of the IAPP Board of Directors and winner of the 2021 Vanguard Award, discussed how the privacy legal field did not exist when he first started his career. He also touched on how various aspects of law eventually led him to pursue a career in privacy and data security.Full Story... Read More

Cybersecurity Supply/Demand Heat Map

This interactive heat map from Cyber Seek provides a granular snapshot of demand and supply data for cybersecurity jobs at the state and metro area levels, and can be used to grasp the challenges and opportunities facing your local cybersecurity workforce. Click To View ... Read More

Breaking Into Privacy: Tips for transitioning into privacy from other roles

Original Broadcast Date: December 2021 Privacy is a hot market. If you have even some privacy experience, many opportunities await. But how do you get that experience? In this LinkedIn Live, IAPP Vice President and Chief Knowledge Officer Caitlin Fennessy, CIPP/US, Microsoft Senior Privacy Strategist Bethan Cantrell, Smartsheet Senior Privacy Counsel Holly Gion, CIPP/US, Hintze Law Managing Partner and Founder Susan Hintze, CIPP/US, CIPT, FIP, discuss the different ways to get your foot in the ... Read More

Demand for privacy professionals soars in ‘dynamic,’ ‘cross-functional’ field

Growing up with a deep passion for sharks that left her wanting to “spend all day everyday with them,” Melanie Ensign pursued a college degree in marine biology. About halfway through the program, Ensign realized she was not particularly excited by jobs in the field, so she changed course, a decision that ultimately led her to cybersecurity and privacy. “If you were to ask me, was it a waste of time for me to study marine biology if this is where I was going to end up? Absolutely not,” said Ens... Read More

Privacy job market at ‘full-tilt hiring boogie’

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to present new privacy challenges from mandated vaccinations to remote work, and new privacy laws and regulations emerge throughout the U.S. and across the world, the need for privacy professionals shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, the privacy job market is seeing the opposite, TRU Staffing Partners Founder and CEO Jared Coseglia and Hintze Law Founder and Managing Partner Susan Hintze, CIPP/US, CIPT, FIP, said during a LinkedIn Live with IAPP Senior We... Read More

Profiles in Privacy: Life had other plans for eBay’s CPO, and it brought her to privacy

When Anna Zeiter, CIPP/E, CIPM, started her law career 12 years ago, she knew three things for certain. “I never wanted to work in privacy, I never wanted to work in-house and I never wanted to work in Switzerland,” she said, adding, “You have plans and life has other plans.” Zeiter has a Ph.D. in free speech and, after graduating wanted a career in media law, started out on that path as an associate with DLA Piper in Hamburg, Germany. There was a privacy component to the role, which accounted... Read More

Applying privacy law in 3 dimensions: How to focus on solutions and maximize value

Privacy professionals must answer mission-critical questions daily. Is it OK to share data with this strategic third party? Can we deploy this new marketing feature? Can we place this function in the cloud? Can we deploy this new monitoring tool into our workforce environment? Are we required to delete this data, and if so, what does this mean? Do we need to notify regulators and individuals of this event? Over the years, I've observed that highly successful privacy professionals focus on apply... Read More

How to get started in privacy engineering

Published: August 2020Click To View (PDF) Privacy engineering is a rapidly growing field in our increasingly data driven world. This infographic offers advice on how to jump start a career in this dynamic profession. It offers tips for pursuing a cross-disciplinary education, searching for career opportunities beyond Big Tech, writing about privacy issues, networking with other professionals, becoming an expert in your own privacy, earning privacy credentials, staying informed about privacy i... Read More

IAPP releases Job Task Analysis Survey results

If you are one of the IAPP’s more than 6,000 Certified Information Privacy Managers, you may have participated in a Job Task Analysis survey for the CIPM program last spring. While these important surveys fulfill an essential obligation as part of the IAPP’s ANSI-ISO accreditation, they also ensure we adequately keep a pulse on the evolving field of privacy as it relates to our certification programs. As the field evolves, so, too, should our exams. Below, you’ll find some highlights from the re... Read More

How the pandemic has altered the privacy job search and what to do about it

A job search at any time can be challenging, but in a pandemic that has left many out of work or furloughed and dramatically altered the face of networking with scarce in-person meetings, successfully finding your next position can feel insurmountable.  Privacy professional Brittany Charles, CIPP/US, a 2018 graduate of Syracuse Law who most recently worked at Facebook, has embraced that challenge head-on using the virtual tools at her disposal. She has identified other privacy professionals on ... Read More

Report: There is a shortage of privacy professionals

Axios reports there is a shortage of privacy professionals at a time when it is critical for companies to comply with privacy regulations. "Companies around the globe are having trouble finding people," said Perkins Coie Partner Dominique Shelton Leipzig, CIPP/US, adding it's important "to realize that every company is a data company — it’s not just big tech." The report notes the "privacy profession is very much an evolving discipline," especially as law schools have introduced privacy courses ... Read More

Privacy pros’ salaries rise, yet pay gaps by gender persist

This year’s IAPP salary survey has provided us with a detailed look at compensation trends in the privacy profession around the world. This piece highlights a few of the survey’s main findings, including the growth in salaries and additional compensation and regional disparities in pay. It also discusses ways that greater gender equality in pay for privacy professionals can be achieved. First and foremost, this type of research owes a debt of gratitude to those IAPP members and Daily Dashboard ... Read More

Five Lessons I Learned Transitioning from Security to Privacy

With the ever-evolving privacy requirements changing the global landscape, many information security professionals are being tasked with adding to or leading information privacy programs. It may seem like a natural progression, but there are five lessons I had to learn when I made my transition from working in the security and audit (with a focus on security) fields to information privacy. In this white paper, learn tips to help make the transition from security to privacy, and get insight on some of the disconnects between the two fields. Read More

Looking for career advice? Take it from these former newbies

Since its launch in 2013, the Westin Fellowship program has sent eight privacy professionals out into the world after spending some considerable time dedicated to the research center here at the IAPP. The Privacy Advisor recently caught up with seven of them to talk about life on the other side; the challenges they’ve faced so far and what advice they might share with someone looking to break into the privacy space. The general takeaway? Get involved, read a lot and reach out to fellow privacy ... Read More

How I Got My Start in Privacy – Article Series

Last Updated: November 2017 In this series for The Privacy Advisor, we ask privacy professionals who've been in the field for at least a few years to describe how they got their starts. The series aims to help new privacy professionals gain insights and ideas on how they might jumpstart their own careers. Kirk Nahra, CIPP/US, Wiley Rein"As a career, privacy came quite logically but completely accidentally for me. Like everyone of my vintage, privacy was not something a lawyer thought about... Read More

DPO Job Description

Cobbling together information from the GDPR and Article 29 Working Party guidance, the IAPP has developed this sample DPO job description. This description is intended to be a jumping off point for you to create one that fits the needs of your organization. Read More