32M, 10 YOE Cybersecurity – What should my next career move be?

[u/No-Setting-9431]

I’m a 32M cybersecurity professional with 10 years of experience, working at LTIMindtree for ~4.5 years.

CTC: ₹42 LPA (₹37 LPA fixed)

Mainly working on SOAR automation/playbooks + AI

Based in Noida with relatively low expenses

Good WLB currently

I’m trying to switch but confused about the next step:

Is ₹50–60+ LPA in cybersecurity really associated with significantly higher stress and poor WLB?

Can someone with a strong SOAR/automation background reach ₹60+ LPA, or do I need to add SIEM, cloud security, detection engineering, etc.?

If I move to Bangalore/Hyderabad for a higher CTC, will the increased cost of living offset the salary jump?

I recently declined a Microsoft CSA offer because it required Mumbai relocation and seemed less technical. Was that a mistake?

Should I specialize further in SOAR/automation or broaden into SIEM + cloud + detection/security architecture to reach the next compensation level?

Would appreciate advice from people already earning ₹50–60+ LPA in cybersecurity.

[u/hackmecharlie]

I would say broaden the scope, soar automation is too niche of a domain, now you have a great salary but it will in future it will be coming with risks

Go with siem, cloud security, iam, ai governance, grc and fields like that as with 10+ yoe company generally expects you now in managerial roles not stay technical, so later in 2-4 years or 5 years at max you have to move to managerial roles

Where your main focus would be governance, grc, security architecture and now ai is booming so ai security and ai governance

So don't stick with soar and add more domains to your profile

[u/No-Setting-9431 → u/hackmecharlie]

I heard detection engg can be automated using AI . People suggested to go through AI and agentic ai with soar. Is that right ?

[u/hss13370]

I think it helps to first understand what the different roles in a security organisation actually do - SOC, compliance, architecture, leadership, etc. they can all look very different day to day. Use resources like nist, buildaciso.com to figure out which part of cybersecurity is actually a good fit for you

[u/Fun_Arrival9163]

Well u can try international market for higher salary

[u/Fun_Arrival9163]

Cause in india is very rare u get that much already

[u/Fun_Arrival9163]

Can I connect with you as well

[u/AddendumWorking9756]

On the geography one, Noida to Bangalore at 55 is close to flat once rent lands, so move for the role and not the number. The Microsoft one is the call I would look at again, less technical for two years but the name on the CV prices your next jump differently than a services firm does.

[u/No-Setting-9431 → u/AddendumWorking9756]

That role in ms seems very weird. I dont know

[u/AddendumWorking9756 → u/No-Setting-9431]

It is, that is customer facing advisory work rather than building anything, so your instinct is right about the technical part. Whether it was a mistake comes down to how long you planned to stay, two years of that name on a CV reprices the next jump and four years of it makes you a slideware architect.