We get it, you’re happy in your cyber security role, and spending your time on the phone to someone whose help you don’t want at the moment seems like a fruitless activity. You might get 10 phone calls a day (and the rest) from Recruitment Consultants wanting to talk to you about a new opportunity. It’s a lot.
However, as fruitless as it may seem, having an introductory phone call with a Recruiter when you’re not job hunting is just as important, if not more, as when your search is in full swing.
First things first, it’s important to make sure you’re picking the right Consultant, otherwise you’ll be stuck in that endless cycle of useless phone calls. The best route is to go for a Cyber Security Recruitment Specialist. Someone who lives and breathes cyber security recruitment. They know your niche and it shows.
Start building a relationship
Building a trusting relationship with a Recruiter is key. Who doesn’t like getting a head start? That’s what your introduction with them is offering you. If you only get the ball rolling once you’ve decided to start searching for a new role, you’ve missed out on that rapport and trust you could’ve built already.
If you’ve already been in contact with your Cyber Security Recruitment Specialist twice, five times, ten times, that’s an abundance of opportunities they’ve had to get to know you. If they already know what you do well, what you enjoy, the projects you’ve worked on, the type of organisation you like to work for and your pain points, then they’re set up perfectly to move quickly for you when the time comes. They’ll even be able to tell if it’s the right move for you personally, as well as professionally. Take the head start, because the time you invest now will pay dividends in the long run.
Market Experts
This is where picking the right Consultant really comes into play. It’s not just about knowing the job market, it’s about knowing the cyber security job market. Whether you’re a CISO or a Splunk Engineer, getting some extra information on what’s happening in the cyber security space will never be a bad thing.
A Cyber Security Recruitment Specialist is an expert on your market specifically, and they see the wider picture that might not be accessible to you. You can start gaining market insight from that first phone call. You might even gain some knowledge that changes your course of action or your timescale career-wise. Having transparent conversations with a Recruiter allows you both to share new ways of working, and keep you up to date on the latest technological innovations. The least you’ll get out of it is useful knowledge. There’s nothing to lose, only to gain.
The Extras
A Recruitment Consultant will have exclusive partners; organisations and clients they work with and recruit for, meaning they’ll have opportunities for you that aren’t available on the open job market. Due to this, your Cyber Security Recruitment Specialist could help you with international security clearances. For example, Focus on Security have been able to offer candidates (that’s you) the opportunity to get NATO clearance. They can also help with Work Residence Permits if you want to relocate within Europe. If you don’t have an introduction with a Recruiter, you’d never know these were viable options for you. Make the connection early on, and you’ll get all the extras that you’d miss out on otherwise.
Career Coaching
Whether you know how you want to climb the ranks, or you’re just paddling in the cyber security pond without a clear direction to swim in yet, picking up the phone to a Recruiter can help.
Introductory phone calls are normally exploratory. If a Recruitment Consultant just asks you to talk a little more about what’s on your CV, and stops there, you might not be speaking to the right person. A good Recruiter will go further, get you to expand on things, delve into the details. ‘Tell me more about that project…’, ‘Let’s go into how that team structure suited you a little further…’, ‘What is it about having direct communication with the Board that you liked?’. By doing this, you often learn a lot about yourself, and what you want your career to look like. It’s like having your very own agony aunt, without having to write in to a 99p magazine.
Over time, Specialist Recruitment Consultants get to know the different career pathways, and they really have seen it all. They can offer you advice and coaching that could get you where you want to be in your career. Developing short and long-term strategies all starts with that first phone call.
You’re in control
You’ve had the first introductory chat, and now the ball is in your court. If you know you don’t want to be contacted for at least 3 months, then that’s the schedule you set. If you like permanent roles, you can set the timescale of contact to suit this. If you’re a contractor, you can make sure you’re in the know about opportunities at the right time, so you get a little more say in how much time you take between jobs.
You might want to have a catch-up and get a little insight into the cyber security market every 4-6 weeks. You might decide to agree to a set schedule, but they can contact you in the meantime if there’s something that would really fit what you’re looking for (which they’re qualified to do now, because they actually know what that looks like). You might want to know about every opportunity that comes along. The key point is, it’s up to you. Now you’ve had your introduction, you’re in control.
Love your job? Not looking for a role right now? Great! It’s the perfect time to start having these conversations.
At Focus on Security, we’re 100% focused on cyber security recruitment. Get in touch today to have an introductory phone call with one of our Cyber Security Recruitment Specialists.
Thank you to our Cyber Security Recruitment Specialist Contributors:
Malek Harbouche– Cybersecurity & Cloud Infrastructure Recruitment Lead- Europe
Vincent Kokshoorn – Cybersecurity & Cloud Recruitment Specialist – Europe
