Software & IT

security engineer

Name: Security Engineer skill & career-path data
Creator: Futureful

Learned from 163 real résumés for this role.

Across 163 real U.S. résumés for a security engineer, the most distinctive skills are Juniper Ssl/Vpn, Cisco Identity Service Engine and Mcafee Ips — each far more common in this role than across all résumés. This is the real skill fingerprint, learned from résumés, not a job description.

Juniper Ssl/Vpn: 7% have it · 596.9× vs average
Cisco Identity Service Engine: 7% have it · 477.5× vs average
Mcafee Ips: 7% have it · 397.9× vs average

Based on Futureful's analysis of 102,822 U.S. résumés (2026).

What this means

Security engineers in this group lean heavily on network and firewall technologies. The most distinctive skills across résumés include Juniper SSL/VPN, Cisco Identity Service Engine, McAfee IPS, Cisco Firepower, Citrix NetScaler, and Juniper firewall, each appearing on a similar small share of résumés. Cisco telephony and Cisco switching and routing show up on a smaller number, pointing to a foundation in networking infrastructure alongside security work. The career path is well documented here. Most people arrive from security analyst roles, with others coming from network security administration, penetration testing, and network specialist positions. Moving forward, many step into security analyst, security consultant, or various IT and information security analyst roles.

AI summary · grounded only in the real data above · never invents a number

Skill fingerprint

ranked by distinctiveness

The skills that most define this role, more common here than across all résumés. The bar shows how distinctive; the % is how many people in the role have it.

juniper ssl/vpn

596.9×

7% · N=12

cisco identity service engine

477.5×

7% · N=12

mcafee ips

397.9×

7% · N=12

cisco telephony

298.4×

6% · N=9

cisco firepower

265.3×

7% · N=12

citrix netscaler

231.1×

7% · N=12

cisco switching and routing

298.4×

4% · N=6

juniper firewall

217.1×

7% · N=12

fortinet firewall

199.0×

7% · N=12

batch scripts

298.4×

2% · N=3

ip protocols

298.4×

2% · N=3

aruba wireless

173.3×

6% · N=9

firewall policy management

199.0×

4% · N=6

firemon

199.0×

4% · N=6

bluecoat proxy

132.6×

7% · N=12

Where people go next

Real onward moves from dated work history.

security analyst13% · N=15 security consultant10% · N=12 it security analyst8% · N=9 it security engineer5% · N=6 information security analyst5% · N=6 it consultant5% · N=6 associate security consultant3% · N=3 test engineer3% · N=3

Where people come from

The roles that feed into this one.

security analyst5% · N=18 network security administrator21% · N=12 penetration tester33% · N=6 network specialist ii50% · N=6 it security consultant4% · N=3 network engineer ii6% · N=3 security consultant6% · N=3 information assurance analyst6% · N=3

Common questions

Straight answers, every one backed by the real counts on this page.

What skills does a Security Engineer need?

In 163 real résumés for this role, the most defining skills are Juniper Ssl/Vpn (7% have it), Cisco Identity Service Engine (7% have it), Mcafee Ips (7% have it), Cisco Telephony (6% have it), Cisco Firepower (7% have it). These are the skills that separate this role from the rest of the workforce.

What do people in Security Engineer roles move on to next?

From real dated work history, the most common next roles are Security Analyst (13% of moves, N=15), Security Consultant (10% of moves, N=12), It Security Analyst (8% of moves, N=9).

What roles lead into Security Engineer?

The roles that most often feed into this one are Security Analyst (5% of arrivals, N=18), Network Security Administrator (21% of arrivals, N=12), Penetration Tester (33% of arrivals, N=6).

Does this page show Security Engineer salary?

No. Résumés do not carry pay, so Futureful holds no compensation data for this role and never invents a dollar figure. Every statistic here is a skill or career-move count backed by real résumés.

Where does this data come from?

The Futureful Career Atlas is built from 102,822 real US résumés, aggregated with no personal data. 163 of them are Security Engineer résumés. Every number on this page is a count of real people, and thin pages are kept out of search. Full method: futureful.app/careers/methodology.

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