Career Advice Tuesday – “Infosec Leaders Need To Be Good Recruiters”
December 27, 2011
Today I am sharing an article that we wrote that appeared in Tech Target’s Infomraiton Security Magazine. The topic focuses on life on “The Other Side of the Desk”- becoming an effective recruiter in the building of your information security team. The article scratches the surface of some important attributes that all solid information security leaders should possess in the acquiring the necessary talent in order to provide them with a better chance of success.
The original article was edited by our frien Michael Mimoso at Tech Target.
The article can be found here – http://tinyurl.com/6q8k8gk
Happy New Year,
Lee and Mike
Posted by lee | Filed Under "The Other Side of The Desk", Advice, Behavior, Career Advice Tuesday, Interviewing, Networking, Recruiting | 5 Comments
Career Advice Tuesday – “Black Hat Preview – Professional Development Workshop”
July 26, 2011
For today’s Career Advice Tuesday – we wanted to share a more detailed look at our Black Hat Professional Development workshop. The workshop will take place on Thursday afternoon – from 1:45 – 6:00PM. Anyone in attendance can come to either any individual session or stay for the whole program.
If you are at Black Hat, please come by and introduce yourselves.
InfoSec 2001 – A Career Odyssey
The Professional Development workshop is a half-day program that is designed to inspire the Black Hat attendee to think about their career as an information security professional and assist them in their journey towards the achievement of their long term career goals.
The Professional Development workshop will be divided into five (5) unique information security career topics that will be linked by a common theme – Skill Development and Differentiation.
The program will consist of the following:
1) “The Value of Information Security Certifications Survey” – Research Revealed – 1350 information security professionals responded to an independent survey on the topic – the research will be revealed
2) “Second Place Sucks” – A presentation geared toward differentiating yourself from your peers (and your competition)
3) The Information Security Leader of The Future” - a presentation that will outline the skills that employers are looking for when identifying and selecting their information security leaders.
4) “The Other Side of The Desk” – a panel that will explore the different attitudes and beliefs by job applicant and employer during the interview process
5) “Future Predictions” and “Career Advice Tuesday- Live” – Future trends will be discussed and explored – and attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions about infosec related career topics
The workshop is designed as an interactive forum that should inspire some shared thought and debate between audience members and the presenters.
Attendees should understand that they can elect to either participate in the entire workshop, or to pick and choose from select sessions that have a particular interest to them.
Session Previews:
Session 1 – 1:45 – 3:00
“The Value of Information Security Certifications Survey”
Presenters – Mike Murray and Lee Kushner – Infosecleaders.com
In February of 2011, Infosecleaders.com launched an independent survey on the value of information security certifications. The value of InfoSec certifications is a highly debated topic in the industry, and this is the first independent survey that asks questions to information security professionals (certified or not) – their opinions on topics that include – the motivations for certifications, the impression of the certification bodies, the value of skills vs. certifications, and certifications effect on employment. With over 1350 respondents, the results should be revealing and eye-opening.
Second Place Sucks -
Presenter – Mike Murray
So, if certifications are no longer the magic bullet to get you to your career goals, then what is. The topic of strategic career investments and personal branding will be the focus of this presentation. The presentation will be spent on how you can plan and execute on career investment strategies that will enable you to differentiate from your peers and successfully compete for promotions and external information security leadership opportunities.
(15 minute break)
Session 2 – 3:15 – 4:45PM
3:15 – 3:45PM
“The Information Security Leader of the Future” –
Presenter – Lee Kushner
The skills for information security leaders are changing quite rapidly. As many companies are aligning information security with their core business and branding, information security professionals will need to evolve as well. The presentation will break down the core skill components of what information security professional will need to acquire and demonstrate to be considered for leadership roles in the future.
3:45PM – 4:45PM
The Other Side of the Desk – Different Perspectives on the Interview Process
Moderator – Mike Murray
Candidate Perspective – Lee Kushner
Hiring Managers Perspective –
Bill Phelps, Executive Director Accenture
Justin Somaini, CISO at Yahoo!
Abstract:
There are two parties involved in every interview process, the information security professional (the applicant) and the hiring manager (the decision maker). While in essence, both parties ultimately desire the same outcome, their motivations lie in different places. This portion of the presentation will present to the audience the perspective of the candidate and the perspective of the hiring manager, in a way that will educate both parties and enable them to social engineer the interview process, to work to their personal advantage.
Bill Phelps:
Bill Phelps is an Executive Director in Accenture’s security practice, and has spent the past 25 years in technology services. In the past decade, Bill has been a practice leader, company founder, board member and trusted advisor helping organizations with complex management and technology challenges in the areas of information security, data center transformation and technology strategy. Bill currently has overall responsibility for Accenture’s security business in North America. Bill is aggressively growing Accenture’s security team, and plans to hire over security 200 professionals in the coming year.
Justin Somaini:
Justin Somaini is the Chief Information Security Officer at Yahoo! where he’s responsible for all aspects of Yahoo!’s Information Security strategy. With over 15 years of Information Security experience he’s seen as a leader in industry by promoting an evolution of the security and risk management models. Through his public speaking and industry involvement he’s given extensive talks and interviews on the threat landscape, public policy, security management and risk management. Prior to joining Yahoo!, Justin was the CISO at Symantec. Justin has also held security leadership roles at VeriSign, Charles Schwab and PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.
4:45 – 6:00PM
Predictions for the Future and Career Advice Tuesday – “Live”
Presenters – Lee Kushner and Mike Murray
The employment market is dramatically changing – and the closing session will begin with information security employment predictions (based on experience and research) for the next ten years. Once completed, this will be followed by a version of “Career Advice Tuesday” – “Live”. All attendees can have their personal information security career questions answered in an open forum. Topics will include skill development, compensation negotiation, career investments, career planning, and anything else you want to ask about your Information Security Career.
Posted by lee | Filed Under "The Other Side of The Desk", Advice, Behavior, Branding, Career Advice Tuesday, Compensation, Interviewing, Networking, Planning, Position Selection, Presentation, Recruiting, Resume, Security Industry, Skills, Survey, Uncategorized | 1 Comment
New Blog Series- “The Other Side of The Desk”
June 26, 2009
Interviews are the gateway to opportunity. Whether it is for the purpose of employment, education, or social activities, interviews provide a framework for information exchange, skill validation, and ethics.
All job interviews have two different components: the employer and the candidate. The main reason for employers to begin interviewing is due to the fact that they have an organizational need that they have to address. The main reason that candidates decide to interview, is that they believe that they will gain some kind of benefit by joining the employer. Depending on the candidate’s particular motivation, this could include money, responsibility, skill development, career advancement, quality of life, or a number of other things.
Upon conclusion of the interview, there are four possible outcomes, they are as follows:
Both the employer and candidate like each other.
The employer likes the candidate, but the candidate does not like the employer.
The candidate likes the employer, but the employer does not like the candidate.
Both the candidate and employer do not like each other.
When both parties agree upon the outcome, the situation is comfortable. However, when the parties leave the meetings with different impressions, people’s feelings begin to get hurt. That is when things become difficult and generally mishandled.
After thirteen years of recruiting information security professionals, I have reached the conclusion that the recruitment process itself is very delicate. The outcome of the interview process can have a significant effect on the candidate’s career and the organization’s success. There is a good deal of pressure, that can cause the process to become emotionally charged. It has become clear to me that many things have to go right during this process, to insure successful recruitment. It is possible that only one negative interaction, can undo all of these positives.
It is a true shame when opportunity is lost because of process, rather than skill.
I am astounded by the general disconnect that come from both sides of the interview process. Whether it originates from the candidate, or the employer, I have been able to witness some of the most inconsiderate forms of human behavior, in my role as a recruiter. I have seen far too many opportunities squandered due to poor communication, lack of professional courtesy, and the absence of common sense.
In response to this, I am going to begin to share some of my experiences from my time as a recruiter in this industry with both successful and unsuccessful recruitment processes. I believe that in taking some of the mystery away from the interview process itself, and sharing the different perspectives of both the employer and the candidate, we will be able to help people become more successful interviewers and team builders. I also hope that if we can help create an environment where Information Security professionals can learn from their interview failures, communicate better during this process, and can better prepare themselves for future interviews.
I promise a minimum of one blog entry a month under this title and on this subject. All of the entries will be anonymous and based on my collective experiences, not just one particular recruitment situation. If you have a personal story that you would like to share (as a candidate or an employer), questions to ask, or something you would like for me to comment on, please send them to www.infosecleaders.com/ask
Posted by lee | Filed Under "The Other Side of The Desk", Interviewing, Uncategorized | Comments Off