ERS consultant Alisha Chambers doesn't do anything halfway, so I should have known that sending over 7 short questions would get a short novel in response! Here's Alisha's decryption of the life of a cyber security consultant:
Why
did you want to be a recruiter?
In short -
I didn't. In fact, I interviewed for one role before joining Executive Recruitment
Services, and I turned down an opportunity to join recruitment as I wasn't
sure it was the right career path for me!
I graduated
university with little idea of what I wanted to do, so naturally,
temping seemed like quite a good option. Joining as a member of the admin team
initially, I was given the chance to join the legal recruitment team in a
matter of months because of my chosen degree and interest in the consultants’
work. From there I was fortunate enough to be granted time to work across all
of our sectors (including IT and Engineering), before finally settling on
an area I love to recruit in: Cyber Security.
Why
did you want to stay a recruiter?
The
diversity. I'm never doing just one thing. I'm constantly interacting with
Clients and Candidates or updating my knowledge on the market, and
I'm always being pushed to better myself.
My choice
of recruitment environment plays a very big factor in this; it could even be
the biggest. Recruitment companies don't have the greatest reputation for developing
their staff, or for giving them the freedom to find an area they enjoy and
thrive in. What I knew of recruitment was dog-eat-dog, target-driven,
performance-focused and, suffice to say, pretty ‘cut-throat’. Fortunately, I
stumbled across one of the few recruitment companies willing to invest in their
employees and give me the time to establish a sector I was passionate
about. Three years on and I enjoy
it more now than ever before.
What gives you the edge in your sector?
A genuine
interest in it. By experiencing different sectors of recruitment, I
was able to choose the one that captured my interest enough to get me chatting
to Candidates and Clients in much further detail than most. I don't
just ascertain if a CV is a seemingly accurate reflection of the job
specification I'm working on before kicking it out to the Client. I want to
know why the candidate chose this
sector, what interests them the most in their area of expertise, why they took
their skills down the route they have and what value they look to bring to my
Clients.
Honest
enthusiasm and interest in a topic, especially one as technical as Cyber,
aren't easy to fake, and my Clients and Candidates seem to find
comfort in a conversation with someone who knows the market and
is looking to understand their requirements before offering services to
help.
In reality,
if it’s a choice between having a career-changing conversation with a recruiter
who’s looking to get you off the phone as quickly as they are hoping to
collect the commission, or discussing your future with the girl who
can't quench her thirst for Cyber and has a genuine drive
to secure the role most interesting to you - it might be worth having a
chat with that Cyber girl; she could be a good start....
What is the most difficult part of your job?
Reliance on
others to get things done. I'm very independent and I've always enjoyed hard
work, including the benefits that the hard work reaps. But
in this industry some of the job depends on the decisions of others, whether it
be Candidate or Client, and I suspect it's letting go of that element
of 'control' that I find most difficult.
What do you repeatedly see on CVs that is your biggest pet peeve?
I suppose
it's more of what I repeatedly fail
to see that is my issue. I don't understand candidates who are
prepared to spend their time creating a great CV that’s reflective of
their entire academic and commercial experience, but fail
to disclose contact details.
I’m no
stranger to calling up a current employer or figuring out a different method of
getting hold of a candidate, but why hinder your chances at securing a new
role? Not every recruiter will go the extra mile, and it’s far more
tempting to close the CV of a candidate with no contact details than it is to
get on the hunt and devote valuable time to tracking them down. I’m big on
using all the tools available to you to achieve what you want. A simple email
address can go a long, long way.
What has been your single favourite moment working in recruitment?
It happened
recently – I managed to get signed to the PSL of one of the oldest and largest
Defence corporations in Cyber – not only a company on my radar because of
Cyber, but one I have always held an interest in because of their ongoing work
across Defence. Securing the Cyber site was definitely the cherry on top!
What's
your favourite pen testing technology name, and if you had to name one that you
invented, what would it be?
John the Ripper – it just goes without saying! It could well have been Kali – if the rumours
of the name arising from the female warrior in Bhagavad Gita had been true –
but as it stands, John’s password cracker is my favourite.
I’m all over this - I’ve already decided if I were
technically astute enough to design and develop my own tool, it would definitely
need to be called CyberRocket. One of our Engineering Account Managers likes to
shout ‘Dispatch War Rocket Alisha!’ when I'm in a CV race… and I’ve
grown quite fond of the concept of dispatching CyberRocket in the future!
***
If you'd like to chat with Alisha about hiring requirements or potential job opportunities, give us a call at 01923 22 55 81 or email alisha_chambers@ers.co.uk
