Cybersecurity is one of the fastest growing industries, and with that growth comes competition. You’re not only competing with other graduates from your university, but you’re also competing with passionate, self-driven individuals from the rest of the world who have been honing their skills inside and outside the classroom.
If you want to stand out and land your first cybersecurity job, you need more than just a degree or certification. Employers are looking for passion, initiative, commitment and adaptability, all those things that can’t be taught in a classroom.
As a manager for an Application Security (AppSec) team, I have reviewed hundreds, if not thousands of applications and conducted several hundred interviews. I’ve seen firsthand what makes a candidate stand out and outshine other candidates. Our recruitment is heavily focused on junior roles out of necessity, as we are located far from metropolitan areas and can’t easily attract already established senior professionals. However, my insights might be useful for more senior roles and even roles outside AppSec and Cybersecurity as well, but again, my target group for this paper is junior roles in Ethical hacking.

In this talk, I’ll share my real-world insights from hiring and mentoring cybersecurity professionals and show you how to differentiate yourself.
I'll share what I look for in candidates, the mistakes to avoid, and hopefully share what makes someone to truly standout and be more hirable.
By the end of this talk, you’ll have a clear action plan for building your skills, personal brand, and network so you can land that first job with confidence. It’s a lot of hard work, but trust me, it will make a difference, not just in the short run, what you do from today, will impact the rest of your career.