
Episode #081: Burnout by Budget Season: Surviving Q4 in Security
From Relating to DevSecOps by Ken Toler and Mike McCabe
October 29, 2025 · 22 min · Season 1 · Episode 81
About this episode
Ken and Mike discuss the challenges and stress faced by security professionals during the chaotic Q4 budget season.
Send us Fan Mail In this candid and cathartic episode, Ken and Mike unpack the chaos that is Q4 for security professionals. From budget burnouts to end-of-year pentesting sprints, they explore why the final months of the year feel like a perfect storm for stress. Tune in as they share hard-earned lessons, practical advice for maintaining your sanity, and some gentle reminders that not everything needs to ship before Christmas. Whether you’re a tired vendor, an overwhelmed engineer, or just tr...
People in this episode
Hosts: Ken Toler, Mike McCabe
Topics covered
- burnout
- budget season
- security professionals
- stress management
- pentesting
- year-end chaos
Keywords
- burnout
- budget
- Q4
- security
- pentesting
- stress
- advice
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Q4, Christmas
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