Hiring a cybersecurity workforce is still a challenge to various industries as the skill gap continues to grow. We are now approaching three years of hybrid and remote working, and organizations and individuals equally have had to adjust and strengthen their security infrastructures. And this push for more security talents will only grow stronger in the rest of 2023 in new and unique ways.

Cybersecurity features have become an essential part of a company's infrastructure, and moving ahead by ignoring them is just next to impossible. Even though these features are present in a company's IT infrastructure, the present manpower is incompatible to stop or combat cyber attacks.

This is worsening the productivity of companies and keeping them technically compromised. This concludes that a potential cybersecurity team can change the entire game for industries needing their presence.

Contrary to the importance of cybersecurity manpower, and the growing requirement for advancements in cybersecurity, there is still a global gap of 3.4 million talents in the field. With 64% of global businesses have gone through at least one sort of cyberattack, the threat landscape continues to widen, and those who counter these attacks have never been more important.

Our cybersecurity talents are the unsung heroes of the current generation who deserve more recognition. But instead of recognizing their potential, industries are facing the following challenges in hiring them-

Give Real & Practical Hands-On Training

Unfortunately, we need to start acknowledging the lack of the right cybersecurity talent as a current technical hiring challenge, and this will continue as we will have to encourage the younger generation to turn into cybersecurity professionals.

With the growing need to combat cyber attacks, and the lack of required man force in the industry, proper cybersecurity education has become essential. Though more and more universities are creating cybersecurity courses, it still remains very small to the challenges industries are experiencing nowadays.

To prepare young generations of cybersecurity talents to succeed, the courses must be developed based on the latest and probable cyber attacks. Along with the right courses, they must be given practical and real training in cybernetics instead of theoretical training.

Undoubtedly, industries and businesses should also have to take ownership of this training. To make 2023 a cyber year for your businesses, as an employer, you have to give training to all employees on preventing and reducing cyber risk because it is really the best way to tackle the ever-growing cyber threat landscape. Every employee in a company plays a role even if it is to bring awareness of avoiding unsafe links and phishing emails.

Highlight Cybersecurity Work as Exciting and Diverse

To also reduce the churn of cybersecurity employees, companies and universities should focus on the impact, uniqueness, and advantages of working within the industry. For instance, day-to-day cybersecurity tasks are different, so many diverse types of people will be able to enter this industry.

The tasks should not be repetitive and employees due for this job should never be bored. The role of cybersecurity professionals is continuously evolving due to the increasing sophistication of attackers and constant creativity, and this is an important factor when looking for a job. Promoting these most prominent work qualities will be vital as the industry looks for the effective development of its own workforce to protect against threats.

Also, companies should keep supporting their cybersecurity teams. Having the right talented and motivated team helps employees feel empowered, excited, and reassured about their careers. As leaders and organizations, we are responsible for building safe environments for our employees.

Empower Team with Modern-Day Cybersecurity Applications

As said above, keeping the work profile of cybersecurity professionals diverse is crucial as it helps them stay motivated.

Not only should work profiles be diverse but also companies need to provide a state-of-the-art cybersecurity department where the latest desktops would be available. Many organizations which are equipped with potential cybersecurity applications have saved their data and necessary documents from being hacked.

The lack of appropriate cybersecurity applications is with mid and small-size businesses. These companies don’t have an ample budget to fix this issue and thus have to compromise here. This is a check time for large to small businesses as avoiding these necessary technical requirements won’t be right for the future of their companies. 

Therefore, companies should get a fixed budget for their cybersecurity applications so that they can stay safe and ahead in the competition of acquiring the right technology.

Refurbish Your Hiring Processes and Rethink Selection Criteria

Companies should have a fixed number of non-negotiable criteria for applying candidates such as work experience, and exposure to the latest cybersecurity technologies. Although in a competitive market like cybersecurity, it is worth revamping these criteria and keeping them flexible as well. 

Businesses seeking talented people should revamp their hiring procedures to make them streamlined and speedy. The tech hiring market is competitive, and the cybersecurity workforce market with the current talent gap is even more. Streamlined procedures and reaching fast aspirants through the entire procedure will be vital to the closure of candidates for companies.

Underrated Work Profile

Though there is a huge need for cybersecurity professionals, a lack of the right education, and the increasing importance of cybersecurity applications to companies, the job profile is still underrated. 

Like cybersecurity, there are multiple technologies evolving at the same time, but being one of the most required technologies, it’s still difficult to get a single cybersecurity professional. 

Exposure to the industry is indeed a requirement, and everyone concerned with the industry needs to play their role. Be it companies, creators of cybersecurity professionals, universities, or aspirants, everyone has to contribute.

Conclusion

With the growing demand for cybersecurity professionals, it’s high time to rethink the hiring process. If universities bring quality courses, the right candidate will be delivered. When the right candidate enters a company, he/she can better improvise the infrastructure and keep the company's data safe and secure. Along with this, companies should also invest in innovative and modern-day cybersecurity applications for their data protection.

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