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Socializing the Talent Search

The hard reality in the staffing industry is that the best people aren’t looking –they’re
working! That’s why recruitment advertising is often a hit-or-miss proposition in a field such
as cyber security, and why social media and referrals are often more productive in identifying
top talent. This kind of “socialized” talent search can be conducted in-house, but it often
makes sense to engage an outside staffing firm (i.e., a temp-to-perm or temporary services
agency) that maintains a large professional network that includes social media channels.
Here’s another reason to outsource the cyber talent search: if your position is posted with
several staffing firms, they will compete to offer the best candidates. Not only that, but they
will also handle the clearance process.

Whether the talent search is conducted in-house or outsourced, a clear hiring process must
be established that can be expedited if an ideal candidate is identified who needs to be
brought on sooner rather than later. When a talent opportunity presents itself through the
search process, the company must be ready to hire.

Narrowing the Field

You can see the skills listed by a candidate on his or her resume, but unless you talk to that
person, preferably face to face, you will not be able to gauge whether or not they are a good
fit with your team. Another advantage of using an outside staffing firm is that they will have
done all the background checks, including criminal/financial screenings and verification of
security clearances, so that you can concentrate on the interview process to determine the
candidate with the best fit.

In fact, the biggest pitfall in finding top cyber security talent is hiring somebody off his or her
resume. Not only must each candidate be thoroughly vetted, including reference and
clearance checks, but if you’re the hiring official you must talk to candidates! And you need
to do more than ask the “standard” interview questions. Instead, asking open-ended
questions is a better way to get a feel if the candidate is the right person.

If the person is being hired for a cleared position, the Facilities Security Officer (FSO) needs
to verify his or her clearance. When all is said and done, everything on the candidate’s
resume should be up-to-date, verifiable and fully vetted.
Here is a cautionary note about background checks. If you are going the outsourcing route
and are using a tech staffing firm, until you know who you are dealing with and trust their
capabilities, it’s wise to ask for documentation of background checks to confirm results of
financial/criminal screenings and security clearance verification. After you have been dealing
with the staffing firm for a while, your confidence level should increase.

Extending the Offer

After checking references and clearances, rank the top three candidates. Then offer the
position verbally to the A (first choice) candidate. Give the A candidate 24 hours to make a

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