Navigating the Cybersecurity Career Path

CHAPTER 7Trying with Little Success?

Summary

• Know your audience: Learn about the locations, industries, and companies you are applying to. Understand what kind of business they are in and what kind of security person they need.
• Know yourself: Determine if your problem is in landing interviews or landing jobs. The solution to the problem will be different. It might be your résumé needs improvement, or it's your interviewing skills that need work. Get feedback on both.
• Network: Stay active in the security community and get noticed online. People want to help you!

Some people searching for a security role run into roadblocks. Perhaps they can't find companies they want to work for. Perhaps they can find the right company, but that company isn't hiring the kind of jobs they want to take. Perhaps the job on offer is in the wrong location. Perhaps they are applying for roles, but they don't hear back. Even knowing there is an oversupply of security jobs and an undersupply of labor, it can feel like a challenge to look for and land a security job.

This is true whether you are looking for your first security job or your tenth. Even CISOs looking for a new role find it difficult. In fact, the more senior the role, the longer it takes to find it. Even though I've been in the security profession for a couple of decades, looking for and landing a new security job is a challenge, and it will be a challenge for you, too.

Don't give up! Persistence is required. Constantly evaluating ...