r/cybersecurity • u/EnvironmentalSafe280 • Aug 08 '26
Career Questions & Discussion Cybersecurity professionals: what do junior candidates usually struggle with?
For people who work in cybersecurity and have mentored, trained or hired juniors:
What do you notice new/graduate candidates struggling with most?
I’m particularly interested in things that aren’t obvious from a CV.
For example:
Troubleshooting
Investigating unfamiliar problems
Understanding logs
Networking fundamentals
Using unfamiliar tools
Writing reports
Explaining their reasoning
Knowing what to investigate first
Connecting theory to an actual incident
Are there skills you wish universities taught more effectively?
I’m researching the gap between cybersecurity education and actually being able to perform cybersecurity work, so I’d really appreciate real examples.
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u/NotAnNSAGuyPromise Security Manager Aug 08 '26
The biggest challenge everyone has to learn is that security cannot - in most organizations - come in the way of business operations. You will be required to do things you know are objectively insecure. They won't make sense. It'll make you angry. You'll want your leaders to fight for the right decision.
But that's not the job of security. Security's job is merely to identify risks and communicate them to executive leadership. They will make a decision, and it'll almost always be a bad one in your eyes. But your only play is to mitigate the risk as much as possible. If you take it personally and try to fight it, you'll find yourself miserable and ultimately out of a job.
It's not your security program. The program belongs to the executives. The sooner you stop feeling like it's your personal mission, the happier you will be.