What’s the SOC analyst interview process like?
What’s the SOC analyst interview process like?
You’ve spent all this time getting training, then you applied for jobs and then finally, you got a call back for a SOC analyst position. The interview is set up. In this article we will talk about how the interview process is going to go.
Recruiter Interview for SOC Analyst
The first interview is always the recruiter interview. This will be a 15 to 30 minute interview to get your background information and make a few notes about you. Then they will tell you that they will submit your resume to the hiring manager.
You don’t get a decision during this call, and it’s usually is a telephone call, that you’re moving forward or not. They just tell you they’re going to submit your resume to the hiring manager and its up to the hiring manager to decide after reading the notes whether or not they want to pull you in for an interview.
For this interview you want to have your background story recited and straight. You need to know how, when, and why you got started in cybersecurity. What led you to this very point. This spill needs to have fluently so you want to have practiced it. You also want to talk about what you’re passionate about and give the spill about your projects and home lab. Don’t leave this interview or any interview without talking about your home lab. This information will be used again, and again, throughout your career. Make sure its authentic.
The smoother this story goes the better your chances the recruiter actually will forward your resume to the hiring manager instead of just telling you they are and never doing it.
The second interview is the team or SOC Manager interview. I have seen it both ways but you’ll interview with both.
Team Interview
The team interview is a technical check. This might be a panel interview with two or more people and their purpose is to see how you interact under pressure and to see how well you know your tech chops. Up until this point you can make it through your degree, through your resume and a job applications, you can make it all way here and not know a thing about the computer. And that’s what they’re checking here.
You might get asked scenario based questions and the purpose is to see how you think, not necessarily that you arrive at the correct answer. Though it’s good if you can. While having technical discussions they won’t expect you to know everything. They expect you to fail at some questions and you need always be honest. There is nothing more toxic to a SOC member than to be a know-it-all and be 100% confident in an answer that is completely wrong. You simply can’t recover from that. So always leave a little room for error and uncertainty in your response even if you’re pretty darn sure you’re correct.
SOC Manager Interview
The SOC Manager interview is either the second or third interview typically and this interview is to see if you’re a good culture fit and that you won’t cause too many problems for him/her. They’ll want to know your background and maybe ask you a few high level management and personality questions.
You want to be likable and show respect. “Yes sir, no sir.” Not “hey, man.” This is the person that is ultimately responsible for hiring you, handling your compensation, bonuses, and promotions. It represents one of the hardest and most demanding jobs in cybersecurity.
The most important thing I would think to know about this interview is that you want to give the impression that you’re going to stick around for awhile. It’s not fun to hire people. It’s not fun to go through all these interviews. And the last thing they want to do is go through it again in a year.
You also want to leave the impression you can use the available resources that you have available to you and grow with them. Ask them about the training available but not put too much pressure on high-cost training. That ship has sailed a few years ago. We used to be able to ask for all sorts of high-priced crazy training and they’d pay for it, too! It was great. But you just be really excited about your subscription to LinkedIN learning and make him feel like you’re going to watch every video.
CISO/Director Interview
This interview is optional but is more common the smaller the company is. This interview is typically the last interview and if you’ve made it here they’ve pretty much already made the decision to hire you and the CISO/Director just wants to meet with you so that you know who they are and that they’re approachable and you can ask them questions if you need to after you get hired. Some CISO’s and Directors just like to meet everyone that’s on their team.
In every single one of these interviews, you want to show PASSION. What are you doing extracurricular to be involved. Make them feel like this isn’t just a 9–5, it’s not just a paycheck but its your LIFE. You live and breath cybersecurity. For the first few years, that’s exactly what it’s going to be for you, too.
Never miss an opportunity to talk about your home lab and go into LONG detail about. As much as you can. Preference if its in the cloud.
Good luck and godspeed.
Tyler Wall is the founder of Cyber NOW Education. He holds bills for a Master of Science from Purdue University, and also CISSP, CCSK, CFSR, CEH, Sec+, Net+, A+ certifications. He mastered the SOC after having held every position from analyst to architect and is the author of three books, 100+ professional articles, four online courses, and regularly holds webinars for new cybersecurity talent.
You can connect with him on LinkedIn.
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