Martin Voelk is a senior network and security consultant and online marketing expert with a number of certifications in the field. He has a bachelor's degree in computer science and vocational training as an electrical engineer. Voelk has previously worked as a network engineer, project manager and a systems engineer in the industry. He also maintains Martin Voelk's Blog, where he provides tools, links and current news on security, marketing and other IT related information.

Why did you decide to pursue this career field?
The fascination of network security. Initially this was driven by movies when I was a child. Later on, I discovered a real interest in cyber security.

What type of preparation did you do to get into this field?
Networking itself. I started off as a network engineer (routing and switching) and later on developed myself into network security. I had limited technical college exposure to network security, so all I learned was down to experience, working with senior people and self-study.

What was your career path like in this field? 
I always worked as a contractor, so I had to experiment quite a lot in my spare time, read books about network security, hacking and ethical hacking to be good enough for a new assignment.

What types of skills is someone required to have to work in your position?
A really good foundation of IP and all associated protocols. Someone who doesn’t understand how a network works will struggle understanding how protocols can be exploited by hackers. You need to start to understand all protocols in normal operation, what applications do and what client server relations look like, before even starting in securing those.

What do you do on a typical workday?
I am pretty much hands-off now. I do consulting on security matters (more on the business level now), write a lot of documents and advise on compliance regulations and standards. I help companies securing their infrastructure.

Do you plan to advance to another position within your career field? 
Currently not. I may grow my consulting business though. I work with a few others, but we are small.

What type of person do you think is best suited for a job in your field?
Someone who likes to go above and beyond traditional textbooks. Someone who loves technology and is willing to think out of the box and explore the smallest details of networking down to packet level.

Do you have any advice for those who are looking to launch a career in your field?
Start to understand networking first, client/server, applications, protocols, firewalls. Once you know how things work in normal operation, try to secure them. Cisco is good to get a good understanding that can be followed by vendor independent certifications. One thing though— certifications prove only certain things, as nothing beats experience.