Editor’s note: During Volunteer Appreciation Week, the ISACA Now blog is spotlighting an ISACA volunteer each day of the week. Today, we spotlight Han Jumashov, a Turkmenistan native and recent university graduate who is now beginning his career in IT Risk Advisory with Schneider Downs in the United States. Find out more about volunteering at ISACA through the Engage online community.
While serving as a volunteer last year at an ISACA conference in New Orleans, USA, Han Jumashov saw a big opportunity as he scanned the crowd of conference attendees.
“No matter where you looked, you saw someone who has excelled in an area that you are looking forward to excelling at,” said Jumashov, who began his full-time career as a risk professional this January. “I looked at it as an opportunity to learn something from the conference participants, to see what is something that helped them to excel and that I could take advantage of at an early stage, and to network.”
Jumashov’s proactive approach to professional development already has paid dividends. When interviewing for an internship at public accounting and tax firm Schneider Downs last year, his early involvement with ISACA earned positive feedback from an interviewer. He landed the internship, which soon turned into a part-time role, and then a full-time position beginning this year.
Jumashov said his IT risk advisory role includes SOC 2 engagements (types 1 and 2), as well as providing ISO and CMMC guidance – “anything in terms of helping our clients to improve their services that touch IT or technology,” he said.
It took lots of work to put his career on such a promising, early path – and sacrifice. Jumashov grew up in the central Asian country of Turkmenistan. As a teenager, he became interested in the prospect of coming to the United States to pursue educational and career goals, and prepared for the transition through the Undergraduate Cohort Advising program, supported by EducationUSA. While the program helped prepare him for his arrival in the US five years ago, adjusting to life thousands of miles from home, with a major global pandemic posing additional complications, has made for a challenging few years.
“I have been able to focus on the positive and realize that with not being able to see my family and maybe not having as much fun as if I didn’t have commitments, I am sacrificing so that I can achieve my goals and dreams in the future,” Jumashov said. “I would be lying if I said I didn’t have any challenges or it’s been easy, but being able to focus on my goals and the big picture helped me to not get stuck on the downsides of the experience.”
Jumashov’s involvement with ISACA has been part of his successful acclimation. He learned about ISACA while researching information security paths in 2020 and soon became a student member while attending North Carolina Wesleyan University. There, he was studying information systems while not knowing exactly what that might lead to professionally. Given his interest in how the technical aspects of IT fit into the bigger picture of an organization, he decided risk would be a great fit.
“I started digging more into where I can provide my technical knowledge but at the same time not lose the focus of the business relationships,” said Jumashov, who now lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Outside of work, Jumashov is an enthusiastic rock-climber and also enjoys studying history, especially the rise and fall of empires. But professional development remains central to his priorities. Reflecting further on his volunteering experience at the ISACA conference last year, Jumashov became inspired to one day join the ranks of ISACA certification-holders.
“Looking at the attendees with their conference badges, and seeing CISA, CISM, and all the certification names, and for me it just said my name and nothing as an appendix – it was great motivation for me to get those letters and be among that group once I have the experience I need,” he said.
In the meantime, Jumashov will continue pursuing volunteer experiences. He is active on ISACA’s Engage online communities and plans to share his expertise through authored articles and speaking opportunities in the future. Jumashov would like to see more people – including peers in his younger demographic – tap the power of ISACA’s professional network through volunteering.
“I would say definitely go for it,” Jumashov said “Not only does it provide a great opportunity to gain a meaningful experience but also a chance to give back the community of people who share the same passion.”