Decoding Cybersecurity Hiring: Riki Blok on Industry Trends, Key Skills, and the Future of Remote Work

Riki Blok is a management recruitment consultant who specialises in cybersecurity. Riki heads up a team of recruitment consultants at the employment agency Talenza, filling positions in security, infrastructure, dev ops and cloud. This role gives him a unique perspective on the cybersecurity industry, and in his conversation with host Cole Cornford, Riki shares his insights on what companies are looking for in their hires, both for entry level and more senior security roles. Riki and Cole chat about current trends in the industry, what skills are most important in potential employees, changing expectations around remote work, and plenty more.Secured by Galah Cyber with Cole Cornford website 4:40 - Riki’s background and career journey.11:30 - Riki: as a recruiter, I’m the least important person in the interaction.13:40 - Cole reflects on opportunity cost.14:20 - Cole: recruitment’s a tough industry: why?17:00 - Cole: I follow David Mayster’s philosophy.20:00 - Riki: Video calls and pandemic changed recruitment industry.23:00 - Team culture is hard to drive when everyone is working remotely.24:20 - Pros and cons of video calls in recruitment.26:20 - Hybrid work.27:00 - Riki: recruiting for big tech firm that requires hybrid work.27:50 - Cole: what are some trends in cybersecurity recruitment?28:40 - Riki: In general, seeing a maturing of the industry.30:20 - Riki: gender diversity trending in right direction.31:20 - What are the right qualifications/requirements for a cybersecurity job.33:00 - Importance of networking.35:00 - Limited amount of entry-level cybersecurity jobs.36:30 - Cole: if you can’t empathise with people, you’re screwed.38:20 - Tips for people further along in their career.39:20 - Riki: your appearance matters.41:10 - Cole overdressed at Atlassian office.42:00 - Quick fire questions.Mentioned in this episode:Call for FeedbackThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrpSpotify Ad Analytics - https://www.spotify.com/us/legal/ad-analytics-privacy-policy/