Careers

Cybersecurity Engineering

Graduates from UW Bothell are near the Seattle engineering and technology sector, ready to join the growing workforce of skilled professionals and make an impact at local startups and major employers. Some students discover a deep passion for research and continue their education into Ph.D. programs.

Cybersecurity Engineering alumni work at various companies and go on to work in many different roles.

Fast facts on graduates

• 52% of our students attend the program to prepare for new employment
• 90.3% of graduates are employed upon graduation
• Majority of graduates received job offers before or within six months of graduation, some others maintained their current employment
• 88% of our graduate have jobs directly related to their graduate education
• 45% is the average increase in salary upon graduation
• Income brackets before and after the program increased: majority of those making less than $49.99k now make between $50-99.99K, $100-159.99K, $160-210K or over $210k.
• 85% of our graduates highly recommend or recommend UW Bothell

Alumni stories

Hear from graduates about what inspired them to choose the master’s program, their student experience, advice for future students, current job in industry, and how the program prepared and supported their career goals.

Meet Nhu Ly

View Nhu’s Q&A

Job: Software Development Engineer (Packaged) at Whole Foods Market on the Payments & International POS team

Background: International student, BSCSSE alumna that fell in love with cybersecurity in a research group, and MS cybersecurity scholarship recipient.

Advice for future students: Create connections early on with professors and identify a topic that interests you for your defense. Don’t procrastinate on applying for a job, and keep searching.

Meet Jessica Nguyen

View Jessica’s Q&A

Job: Sr. Security Technical Program Manager at Amazon Web Services

Background: UW Bothell BSCSSE alumna. A pilot cybersecurity co-op program with T-Mobile and UW Bothell exposed Jessica to the world of information security.

Advice for future students: Start off taking five credits your first quarter and see how you time management goes. Take note of topics that interest you for our final thesis/project!

Meet Kanisk Sharan

View Kanisk’s Q&A

Job: Security Engineer at Amazon Payment Services

Background: International student looking for a well-rounded, hands-on curriculum covering network, web application, mobile, cryptography, etc.

Advice for future students: Be proactive and reach out to the cybersecurity alumni network. Stay up to date reading security articles and blogs.

$45,400 is the difference a master’s degree makes in median earnings for those who work one year after graduation and go into the information industry (within the computer and information sciences and support services field of study).
Washington Education Research & Data Center (data is dynamic, can change)

In the news

Many roads to a destination – pathways to careers in cybersecurity

11/13/2023 – Chris Lakin, MSCSE alumnus (’17), made a career switch from marketing to Cybersecurity Engineering after completing the Graduate Certificate in Software Design & Development (GCSDD) bridge program to prepare for the cybersecurity master’s program.

Ian Moore, BSCSSE (’02), pursued a General Engineering associates degree after returning from the Navy and then transferred into the Computer Science & Software Engineering bachelor’s program. His passion was ignited when one of his classes exposed him to defense. Read more about their pathways to cybersecurity in the UW Bothell article, Many roads to a destination.

Researching security and privacy for ‘smart’ cities

10/13/2023 – Master’s students from Computer Science & Software Engineering and Cybersecurity Engineering programs traveled to Germany to participate in “smart city” research overseen by Dr. Brent Lagesse, associate professor in the School of STEM.

These students kicked off a three-year research project to collect data and then examine the complex interactions between people and their city’s services. Read the smart city research story to hear more about their student experience.

My Story: A tale of two Huskies & two heroes

10/29/2021 – Christian Dunham, MSCSE alumnus (’22), Green Beret, veteran and volunteer with Task Force Pineapple, works to get Afghan refugees safely out of Afghanistan and to the states. In so doing, he is paying forward a great sacrifice made by one of his heroes.

“My training in cybersecurity has been instrumental in keeping people alive. I have been able to steer flocks away from vulnerable communication platforms that are being used to spoof them with messages from numbers that appear to be from their shepherd but in actuality are from the enemy instructing them to go to locations where they are then captured.” Read the UW Bothell article, My Story: A tale of two Huskies & two heroes.

Perfect space for a cybersecurity master’s

06/26/2019 – A running start student aspiring to major in business, Jessica K. Nguyen decided to transition to STEM after a website development project turned into a passion for computer science.

Upon the transition, she found her place in cybersecurity, and eventually began working at Twitter in Seattle before moving on to Amazon Web Services where she is now a Sr. Security Technical Program Manager. Read the full article on how Jessica found a perfect space for a cybersecurity master’s.

Career resources

STEM graduate students have the support of an in-house STEM graduate career counselor, specialized and dedicated to helping students in these programs find the job of their dreams.

The career counselor, in partnership with the UW Bothell Career Services, works with students throughout their academics and into their professional careers, engages with employers to bring recruitment and professional development to our students, and hosts workshops for students to develop the career resources they need to prepare to apply for jobs.

Learn more about STEM Graduate Career Resources and employer engagement