How to Prepare for your First Cyber Security Interview

Your first cyber security interview can feel different from other job interviews because employers usually assess your technical knowledge and your ability to think through security problems. You are not expected to know everything especially for an entry-level position. You should be able to demonstrate that you understand cyber security, the fundamentals and show that you can reason clearly.

1. Understand the role you applied for:

You can start by studying the job description carefully. Cybersecurity covers a lot of areas like security operations, penetration testing, incident response, vulnerability management, governance, risk compliance, cloud security and network security. You need to try to identify the main responsibilities and technologies that where mentioned in the description and let your preparation focus on those skills. You also need to understand the organization, what it does, the type of information systems and infrastructure that you may need to protect.

2. Review cybersecurity fundamentals :

Before you go for any interview make sure you can understand and explain the fundamental concepts like CIA trade, authentication, encryption, firewalls, VPN, malware, social engineering, vulnerability, risk assessment, access control, network security, incident response, security logs and common attack techniques. You do not necessarily need advanced techniques. What is important is being able to explain these concepts accurately with a good understanding.

3. Prepare for technical questions:

Entry-level cybersecurity exams are made to tell whether you actually  know how security systems work. You may be asked to explain anything or what you would do in a particular situation just to test your understanding. When you are asked technical questions like this explain your reasoning instead of just giving an answer.

4. Learn how to investigate security incidents:

Incident investigation is an important part of the cybersecurity role. Understand this general process, identity – contain - investigate – eradicate – recover – document and learn. You should understand why each stage is important. When you see a suspicious file don’t just delete it immediately, investigate to know how an attacker entered the system. You also need to get used to logs, alerts, timestamp, user activity, network traffic and system events.

5. Become familiar with common cybersecurity tools:

You need to master every cyber security tool before your first interview. Having knowledge on these tools can make your preparation stronger. You need some research tools depending on your position like wireshark, nmap, blue suit, splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, nessus, metasploit, Kia Linux, SIEM platforms and EDR systems. Don’t only try to memorize everything focus on what each tool is used for.

6. Be ready to discuss your practical experience:

One of the major challenges of a beginner cybersecurity is that they may have little to no experience. You can still demonstrate the knowledge you have from legitimate learning activities. You can focus on what you worked on, the problem you investigated, tools you’ve used, what you discovered and what you learnt. This gives the employer evidence that you can apply the knowledge that you have.

7. Prepare for behavioral questions:

Cyber security is not only technical, it also involves communication, investigate carefully, documents and knowing how to perform under pressure. You need to prepare for questions about working under pressure, making mistakes, working with a team, handling confidencial information, learning unfamiliar technologies, communicating technical problems to people who are new to technical issues and prioritizing multiple security alerts. Your answers should tell your employer that you are careful, accountable, curious and good at communicating.

8. Know your CV thoroughly:

Anything on your CV can become an interview question. If you have any certifications, programming language, security tools or technical projects you should be prepared to discuss about it. Don’t claim that you are proficient just because you have encountered it a few times. Interviewers can ask follow up questions just to find out your actual level of knowledge. It is best to avoid exaggerating your experience. It is best to be truthful about having basic work knowledge.

9. Research the organization:

Before you go for any interview always make research on the organization, industry, product, service or the types of cyber security resks they can face. Different industries can be prone to different types of malware of security risks. Thus can help yoh understand why a cyber security position exists in that organization and it allows you to ask any needed questions.

10. Prepare your own questions:

interviewers usually ask you if you have any questions towards the end of the interview. You need to ask useful questions about the actual work is like. This helps you determine if the role actually matches your career goals.

11. Practice explaining technical concepts simply:

Cybersecurity personnel's usually have to communicate with people that are not involved in the field. You should practice explaining concepts without using any complicated terminologies that are not needed. If you are asked to explain something during the interview you should be able to explain it in a lame man’s terms without memorizing a whole textbook.

12. Don't pretend like you know something when you dont:

This is very important during your first cybersecurity interview. If you are asked a question that you can not answer do not try to makeup an answer. You can try to explain what you know and how you would find the answer to the question. Cybersecurity involves continuous learning. Explain that you can learn, investigate and reason carefully is more useful than pretending you know something that you don’t.

Final preparation

Before the interview do everything that has been listed here and then practice explaining your answers out loud. As an entry-level cybersecurity, the interviewer is not necessarily looking for someone who knows everything. They just want to know whether you are reliable, can think logically, communicate clearly and are capable of continuing learning.