I'm working with an awesome Cybersecurity candidate interviewing for a role with a financial firm. He said his favorite question when speaking with a CISO is "what problem or tech issue keeps you up at night?"
Here are a few more.
Cybersecurity Candidates: Questions to Engage and Evaluate Hiring Managers
For cybersecurity professionals interviewing for roles, you spend a lot of time prepping to answer technical questions. But the best candidates also come armed with insightful questions of their own to ask hiring managers.
Hiring managers want to see intellectual curiosity, a risk management mindset, and a drive to understand the real security challenges their organization faces. Ask questions that demonstrate your expertise and show you're already thinking about how you can drive impact in the role.
Here are 12 powerful questions that will engage tech hiring managers and allow you to evaluate if the cybersecurity role is the right fit:
1) What are your most vulnerable attack surfaces or vectors of concern currently?
2) Have you had any recent security incidents or breaches? What were the root causes?
3) How do you prioritize security debt like patching, upgrades, etc. versus new initiatives?
4) What's your roadmap for adopting zero trust security models and microsegmentation?
5) What security skillsets are you lacking most on the team you're looking to bring in?
6) What new cybersecurity tools, technologies, or frameworks are you looking to implement?
7) How do you approach security awareness training and testing for employees?
8) What are your biggest concerns around compliance with data privacy and security regulations?
9) If budget was no object, what would be your dream security project to transform defenses?
10) What impedes your ability to be more proactive versus reactive on the security front?
11) How do you evaluate emerging cybersecurity trends and decide what to adopt next?
12) Walk me through your most severe security incident response and key lessons learned.
Asking questions like these shows your deep familiarity with cybersecurity domains. It allows you to engage in technical discussions and assess if you're the ideal fit for the role.
Cybersecurity professionals, what other great questions would you ask? Hiring managers, what key areas help identify top candidates?
