Find an IT Security Career by Getting Lost

There must be 100 adages that run along the lines of when things seem to be going bad a new door opens and things go right. You know, the every-cloud-has-a-silver-lining type of saying.

For Stacey Halota, vice president for security and privacy at Graham Holdings Company, what went wrong was getting lost enroute to a job interview for a type setter position more than 25 years ago. She stopped at a small IT services company to ask directions.

"My career was a complete and total accident," she said in a keynote address at May's Interop conference in Las Vegas, recalling her stop for directions. "The person at the front desk said, 'Well if you don't find where you're looking for or if you don't get the job, come back because we need help.' So, I'm embarassed to admit that I never found my job interview and I went back."

Now leading the security and privacy initiatives at the parent company for the Washington Post and other properties, she can laugh about her wrong turns and other mistakes. But she also credits mentors who helped her along the way.

Her keynote delves into topics such as the California Consumer Privacy Act, data asset management, and governance.

See how she advanced to where she is today and learn from the lessons that she shared in her talk.