Sourcing a competent employee for a company is one of the most complex processes. You cannot wait for the right candidate to come and join your company by themselves by seeing a tiny job open post. Likewise, hiring an ideal candidate from hundreds of job applications is only easy with strategy and procedure.
Securing competent Cyber Talent becomes more challenging with massive job opportunities in the industry, and candidates are hard to find. Therefore, hiring agencies/companies must be strategic and active in the talent sourcing hunt in today’s market.
Here, we have compiled a precise Sourcing and Screening Cybersecurity Talent Guide to help you understand the procedure of talent acquisition and get your hands on the most competitive talent pool. Let’s get started:
Table of Content
- Why Hiring Cyber Security Experts is Important?
- Challenges in the Acquisition of an Ideal Talent
- A Step-by-Step Guide for Cybersecurity Talent Acquisition
- Conclusion
Why Hiring Cyber Security Experts is Important?
With the increase in technology and internet use, companies have become more prone to cyber-attacks, which cost millions to the industry. Cybersecurity talent, therefore, has become a crucial part of the high-functioning, modern IT Team. The right talent safeguards the company and its products/ assets from outside threats keen to access companies’ critical systems and steal data.
Challenges in the Acquisition of an Ideal Talent:
Here is a list of common challenges faced while hiring, sourcing and screening cybersecurity talent. Let’s have a look
- The job information mentioned is not sufficient
- The hiring manager is not aware of the exact requirements
- There is not enough talent in the pool
- Experts find it hard to fill the roles
- Applicants are not compatible enough
- The budget is not sufficient
- The hiring person is unable to reach the ideal candidate
- Incomplete knowledge of various online sourcing channels
- Lack of time to hire or lengthy process of hiring
- Lack of competency to measure results and performance
- Need for more structure and process of recruitment.
A Step-by-Step Guide for Cybersecurity Talent Acquisition:
Here is a step-by-step guide for the acquisition of cybersecurity talent. Let’s have a look!
1. A comprehensive job description:
How can the right talent approach you when you have listed down a huge list of requirements that are impossible to meet in one person? Likewise, if your job description is vague, you will get hundreds of applications, and not a single person is compatible enough. Focus on three must qualities of cyber security talent, i.e., working knowledge of modern programming knowledge, competency to manage firewalls, and ability to penetrate talent.
2. Focus on experience, not certificates:
While sourcing talent, it is important to focus on their experience and eagerness to equip them with the necessary experience rather than focusing on fancy degrees and certificates. A university graduate must have hands-on information on the things, but cyber security talent needs experience. The right candidate might have more hands-on experience than a degree holder, and experience weighs heavy while dealing with cybersecurity threats.
3. Search for passive talent:
It is possible that the most compatible person for the job. However, they might listen to the position and package you are offering. These experts need much persuading to switch roles and move to the next stage. Therefore, standard tactics of hiring will not apply.
Here, your strength to communicate with the experts and deliver the best experience to candidates comes in handy. However, take your time to observe these candidates before making a move.
4. Make use of sourcing channels:
The sourcing channels include both online and offline sourcing channels. i.e.,
Online sourcing channels:
- Candidate database websites, including Indeed, Career Builder, etc.
- Industry-specific websites such as GitHub for developers and Behance for developers
Offline sourcing:
- Offline sourcing includes networking with talent in conferences and seminars in closed groups and community meetings.
5. Utilize the Talent in an Application Tracking System:
When you have started hiring candidates, you can utilize the talent in ATS apart from fulfilling the requisitions you got just now. ATS system creates a talent pool that can be used to fulfill the future requirements of the job post. The ATS is full of applications that have been kept on hold for the future, rejected, hired, or hired but could not moved further. Engaging with a candidate who was previously contacted for new jobs is a cost-effective and time-efficient way of sourcing talent.
6. Use Social Media Platforms:
Social Media Platform has emerged as a massive talent pool hub. These platforms help in sourcing experts and are ideal for company branding. Let’s have a look at a few of these platforms.
LinkedIn:
LinkedIn is a social heaven for recruiters and candidates to find the best professional match. It is a great place for professional engagement and showcase your talent. Likewise, it is a great place for company branding. Hence, the right talent can engage with suitable companies on LinkedIn comfortably.
Facebook:
Facebook might not be a professional network, but it is one platform with huge followers. It can be used as a platform for company branding and attracting potential candidates.
Slack:
It is considered a professional communication tool for the professionals. It is regarded as an ideal platform to engage with outstanding candidates.
Reddit & Quora:
Both platforms are great discussion forums where you can brand the company and engage with potential cyber security talent. You can observe the passive candidates here and approach them when they are right.
7. Stay on one page with the hiring manager:
When you are hiring as a recruitment agency, you must be on the same page with the Hiring manager. Communication is important, as in the last, they are getting the talent onboard. A few of the practices followed by the best recruitment agency are as follows:
- Conduct a kick-off meeting as soon as they get the job requirement
- Take the insights of the hiring manager
- Review a few resumes together to identify their exact needs and get along with them.
- Adopt an agile and deft approach while recruiting to keep the hiring manager in the picture throughout the process.
Conclusion:
That’s all for now! We hope it will help you effectively source and screen the best cybersecurity talent. Remember that hiring is complex, and following a strategy can be easier!
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