Recruiting for Information and Cyber Security professionals is no easy task, particularly when there is a shortage of skilled professionals, especially with specific qualifications and experience. Demand for talent continues to grow as more and more organisations (big and small) realise that they need cyber security experts. Here is our advice for attracting and recruiting top talent in this competitive market.
It’s no secret that there is a shortage of skilled people in Cyber Security, however, companies often intensify the shortage by demanding that cyber job applicants have mastered a large number of highly specialised practices, as well as soft skills like project management and communication.
It can be difficult to find employees who possess all the skills, experience, and intangibles that a job requires, the skills gap is compounded by the fact that the industry and threat landscape changes and evolves so quickly that it can be difficult for professionals to keep pace with new skills and demands.
A good course of action is to prioritise, by which set of skills are most important and hire for those positions. Security has traditionally fought every battle and tried to hire for every skill, you must become smarter about how you build your team whilst maintaining defence against all areas that are vulnerable to cyber security threats.
Organisations often struggle to find talent, due to demanding a specialised skill set at a low cost. Where specialist market skills do not fit into traditional salary bandings. As important as security is, no company has an unlimited budget therefore, costs including salaries, software, hardware, training, and certifications all must be considered, companies need to be selective about the skills they truly need and be willing to pay competitive rates for those skills. Via Resource have put together a UK and US salary guide in the Information and Cyber Security industry which you can use as a benchmark. There are a lot of openings in the security profession but the dream list of qualifications they want is either not realistic, or not realistic for the pay grade.
Companies are often looking for highly experienced resources or those with long academic and professional backgrounds in cyber security but there are not many out there, mainly due to the young age of cyber security. But if you look closely, many of our current generation of cyber security thought leaders came from education backgrounds outside of cyber. These leaders brought with them a diverse set of experiences and ideas, and the industry is richer for it. There’s no reason this trend should stop.
Cyber security is a young and rapidly moving industry. As such, finding specialist expertise is always going to be challenging. However, candidates are exceptionally motivated to gain experience and relevant certification according to a recent survey by Via Resource, and have the ability to learn on the job. Therefore, when possible, recruit for potential and provide your new hire with the specialist training you need.
Hiring processes at many organisations are inefficient and lengthy, potentially causing companies to lose candidates and it’s no longer enough to simply post a cyber security job online and wait for applicants to appear in your inbox. Recruiting is constant and organisations need to be present in the community or be connected to someone that is if they want to really utilise on the thriving network that is cyber security. Via Resource blog on a Nine Vital Steps To Hiring Niche Talent could be useful for you.
It is very important to have a fast recruitment process in a market that’s as competitive as others. Before starting the search, refine your recruitment process to ensure it’s as streamlined as possible. Making sure those involved in interviews and decision making are available and can prioritise the candidate. You don’t want to offer a position to a candidate two weeks after their final interview and to find out they have accepted another role somewhere else.
Naturally, getting specialist recruitment support is another way to increase your chances of a successful hire. If you would like to discuss your Cyber Security requirements with our team, please get in touch.
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