Posted on 02/23/2012 10:32:32 AM PST by To-Whose-Benefit?
If you want to get hired into the federal government as a cybersecurity professional, it pays to know someone already working there.
According to an online survey (.pdf) of 526 federal cybersecurity professionals conducted by cybersecurity certification organization (ISC)2, referrals and recommendations from colleagues is the most common method that's led to a new hire. One hundred and four survey respondents answered the question about most common hiring methods; of them, exactly half pointed to referrals and recommendations.
Lest you think that it's time to start meeting federal employees, however, only 10 respondents said networking has been their most successful method for hiring.
The federal hiring process has long come under criticism for having a buddy system under which job descriptions and the hiring process are tilted toward already-known candidates. The strength of the buddy system, according to some human resources experts, has declined in recent years--or at least undergone a change so that buddyship is no longer the primary motivator for hiring decisions. Still, many allow that a truly open and competitive federal hiring process remains an unrealized ideal.
About a third of survey respondents said online job websites are their most successful hiring method.
Asked to rank the most challenging aspect of the hiring process, 63 of 115 respondents to that question chose "finding the candidate with the right skills."
Sixty seven respondents also said that "finding a candidate willing to withstand the lengthy hiring process" can be "somewhat" or "very" challenging.
It’s not what you know. But who you know. That is in civilian and civil places
knowing someone on the inside pays off whatever business you’re looking at, not just government.
in all reality, this is a non story.
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