Page 62 - Cyber Defense eMagazine - October 2017

Suggestions

At this junction in time, it is not the easiest act to find qualified, motivated people to work
in InfoSec. There are people that hide behind certification instead of showing their
InfoSec abilities through work experience. With this process, there needs to be some
level of application of common sense with the hiring process in this field. The HR
representatives involved with the process, the mind-set needs to be flexible. The HR
staff should not have a stagnant mind. With this stagnation, the view of the field remains
in a certain state while the remainder of society has moved well on. The mind is much
like a parachute; it only works when it is open.

Not every person is hiding something. At times, candidate’s backgrounds are not as
complete or documented as others. In InfoSec, at times the candidates may not have
contiguous employment or documents for the entirety of time worked at an institution.
There may be periods of research, school or other related areas.

If certain HR Departments do not allow some form of variance or make it too difficult for
a person to apply and complete the hiring process, the candidate will move onto another
business. There are ample opportunities present in the field to allow them to accept
another position and be gainfully employed as a productive member of society.

The choice is up to the individual HR Departments. Common sense and flexibility can
be applied, or day by day, bit by bit, the InfoSec teams will slowly diminish in numbers
at their facility. At some point, there will be a significant issue. This attrition is easily
spotted, especially by competitors looking to poach your staff.

About the Author

DRP began coding in the 1980’s. Presently DRP is a Cybersecurity Lab Engineer at a
Tier One supplier to the automobile industry. DRP is presently completing the PhD
(Information Assurance and Security) with completing the dissertation. DRP’s interests
include cryptography, SCADA, and securing communication channels. He has
presented at regional InfoSec conferences.

62 Cyber Defense eMagazine – October 2017 Edition
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