Cyber security professionals are in hot demand today. As much as they are demanded by employers all over the world in heavy numbers, they are also handpicked using some basic and advanced parameters that are special to this job market. This article will shed light on these few things that human resources managers have at the top of their checklist when they seek out professionals or freshers for their cybersecurity vacancies.
1. Honesty:
Honesty is one of the most vital qualities required by employers in information security professionals. This particular job is related to the safety of the company’s data, its customers, and its reputation. There is no substitute for honesty here, as you cannot trust someone with your safety if they are dishonest.
2. Positivity:
A cybersecurity professional has to deal with cyber attacks and incidents on a daily basis and that can get super depressing at times, especially when there is a hacker attack and you are trying to contain the damage. It is important that professionals show a positive and optimistic attitude in their workplace and exude good vibes to keep up team morale.
3. Creativity:
When it comes to job roles like ethical hacking or penetration testing, where the work includes performing an authorised attack on an organisation to find and fix vulnerabilities, employers look for a certain level of creativity in their Certified Ethical Hackers. Coming up with new ways to hack into an organisation requires creative skills that are necessary in this job.
4. Integrity:
The CIA triad of cyber security stands for confidentiality, integrity and availability. Integrity forms a major part of the character traits sought out by employers in information security professionals. The security engineers of any organization get a front row seat to the backstage of the organization’s most guarded secrets and data and that’s why integrity plays a crucial role in ensuring that you are a perfect fit for any organization.
5. Leadership and ownership:
Leadership is an important skill or character trait in any profession but when it comes to cyber security, it is even more significant. Many organizations are understaffed in this department and they seek out professionals who are capable of leading a team and building their team up from scratch, thus lessening the burden on the organisation.
6. Good communication:
Good communication is the part and parcel of efficient operations. This is something that is not taught in your usual ethical hacking course online but something that you learn either on your job or through a separate dedicated course. Cyber security professionals need to have this skill on the table to be able to communicate technical aspects of their work to the management or supervisors who make the ultimate decisions about crucial safety matters.
7. Cleverness and critical thinking:
It is no surprise that these professionals are in the business of defeating hackers. Hence, any employer would want their security staff to be as clever (or even cleverer) than the hackers they are trying to beat. This skill also ranks high in all types of information security job roles, whether it is incident handling, forensic analysis or penetration testing.
8. Organisational skills:
Organisational skills are usually not required in creative jobs but when it comes to ensuring safety, they matter a lot. Cyber security professionals have a lot on their plate and they need to avoid mistakes in their tasks at all costs, since it takes one tiny mistake to take down a mammoth digital structure. Organisational skills, therefore, don’t just come in handy at such work but are also actively sought out by HR managers when hiring security professionals.