Stuart talks Security: Hiring Managers

Stuart talks Security: Hiring Managers - get your sales hat on

Insider insight for hiring managers in the cyber security space to help them overcome the challenges associated with hiring in the face of the skills shortage. This edition focuses in on selling the opportunity.

How many times have you been in the situation where you’ve managed to get talent through the door, vetted the candidates to the point of offer stage and then they’ve either rejected the offer, pulled out or in some cases, gone dark completely? You are certainly not alone. According to our recent Cyber Security in Focus research over 36% of hiring managers see ‘getting offers of employment accepted’ as a headline challenge.

The cyber security skills shortage is well advertised. The competition for skills is immense. This is not a market place where you can afford to not put your best foot forward when great talent is sitting right in front of you. Know that if you have a candidate in process they are more than likely to be involved in other processes with other companies (getting phone calls from recruiters on a daily basis). Once a candidate has their mind made up on making a move, they tend to start exploring all their options (there are some exceptions such as when the opportunity is highly unique, or the candidate is working exclusively with a recruiter, or the candidate is an immediate referral from your own network etc.) If those circumstances do not apply, then read on.

Throughout the entire interview process it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to sell the candidate on your business. This will include: the security journey you are on, your team, your leadership style, the culture and the vision of your company, dammit even the coffee. Because believe me, your competitors are. If a candidate felt that the whole process was an interrogation, rather than give and take, it’s not going to stick. If the process was anything less than slick, then it will result in a suboptimal first impression for your potential new hire. When the market is competitive you’ve got to avoid creating self-inflicted wounds of this nature. When it comes to offer time their needs to be no doubt.

You know how hard it is to get talent through that door, so make sure you do everything you can to make sure they come back.

Don’t sell yourself short.