How to Get an Information Security Analyst Job: Interview Questions, Answers & Advice (Part Two)

by Brianne Houck
February 27, 2017

Written by Joe Moles, Director of Detection Operations at Red Canary

Job hunters who are searching for an information security analyst job have several factors working in their favor. First, it’s no secret there’s a shortage of talent in the information security industry; everyone’s pretty familiar with the stat that there were one million cybersecurity job openings in 2016. Second, information security analyst jobs consistently rank high amongst those opportunities, partially because the career path for information security analysts offers a good trajectory for growth. The position was ranked #7 in the best technology jobs and #3 in the best jobs in 2016. The bottom line: there are a lot of options, and plenty of potential.

Interview Questions, Answers & Advice

This post is the second in a two-part series on how to get a job in information security. In the first part, we covered how to get into information security if you’re new to the industry. Now, we’ll focus on two of the most important parts of landing a job in any industry: preparing and interviewing. The following advice is based on what I’ve seen as a hiring manager in charge of finding world-class information security analysts for Red Canary’s Security Operations Center (SOC).

A reminder to my fellow geeks who are already in information security: I encourage you to read and share this post and the one before it. The more we can do to increase the volume of talent in our industry, the better.

 

A Skill Every Information Security Analyst Job Hunter Should Have: OSINT

Part of applying for an information security analyst job (or any job, for that matter) is doing your research on the company and team. Open-source intelligence (OSINT) and its use is an important skill, so put it to use before you even submit your resume. Research the company and understand what they do, how they do it, what is important to them, who the people are. The amount of information that can be found about a person or organization on the Internet anymore is astronomical. Even those dedicated tinfoil hat wearers have some presence on the Internet or in the InfoSec community.

Putting forth this effort is critical for two reasons. First, you should know the background and expectations for the team you are looking to join. Second, it makes the conversation much more productive if you can talk intelligently about the company and ask good questions. If I have to explain more than once what the role and company are about, the interview is already over. But if I have someone come out of the gate asking good questions about the team and the company, my interest is piqued. It shows me you are really interested in this job for its own merits, not because you are resume spamming every company or job within a keyword search.

Pre-Interview Dos and Don’ts for Information Security Analyst Jobs:

  • DO: Put your investigative skills to work! Research the company and the people in the organization
  • DO: Have a solid understanding of what the company does and be prepared to ask smart, informed questions
  • DON’T: Spam your resume to every company that shows up based on a keyword search and expect good results

Read the Full Article Here

Jobs at Red Canary

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