No experience? 7 ways to stand out to information security recruiters

Introduction

Information security jobs are tough to get into, and with good reason. In order to land such a role, you need to demonstrate to a potential employer that you have what it takes to be the best in your field. That often means showing off your skills and experience as they relate to IT in general and security specifically. With so much emphasis on the importance of certification in all fields that relate to IT, you might be wondering why experience is so important. Surely this is enough to prove that you know what you are doing, especially if you have a degree or a high-level certification?

Experience is so important because it teaches you real-world skills that a certification simply can’t, such as the extreme example of becoming a Cyber Security Incident Responder (CSIRT). Real-world scenarios are never perfect, and things can get really messy outside of a lab environment. Having experience shows potential employers that you have worked in some pretty challenging and stressful conditions, which can help to reveal more about your suitability for a position with them.

If you are just starting out, then you are probably already asking yourself how to get the experience that employers want. On the surface, the whole process appears to be an infinite and impossible loop: employers want experience that you don’t have, so you have no way of gaining any experience because you can’t get a job without any experience. Right?

The list

Fortunately, there are many creative ways to stand out in information security. You just have to be willing to try a few new things and experiment. There are probably many other ways than just the methods that we are going to be talking about, but this list should be an excellent starting point for you.

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