The Cybersecurity Recruiter talks to Joe Scholefield, Director of Compliance, DEFCERT

CMMC Readiness, Compliance Consulting, and Career Lessons with Joe SchofieldIn this episode of the Cybersecurity Recruiter Podcast, Tom speaks with Joe Scholefield, a former sysadmin/network engineer and ex-Dell cybersecurity manager, now serving as Director of Compliance at Deafcert, about helping defense contractors meet CMMC (based on NIST requirements) and preparing for DoD third-party assessments. Joe explains CMMC readiness commonly takes 12–18 months, with faster progress driven by aligned stakeholders, minimal internal resistance, and strong cross-department project management. They discuss CMMC as both a cost and revenue differentiator, increasing supply-chain pressure from primes like Lockheed and RTX, and a looming assessor bottleneck given the number of companies needing certification versus C3PAOs. Joe shares career advice on knowing when to move roles, the impact of earning a bachelor’s degree over 17 years to avoid HR filtering, the importance of soft skills in consulting, and recommends the “CUI Center of Excellence” Discord community.00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro01:03 What Joe Does Now02:52 Helping Clients Succeed03:36 Racing Through CMMC05:24 CMMC as Revenue Driver06:36 Supply Chain Pressure07:46 Bottleneck and Assessors08:50 Rollout Timeline Debate11:39 Why CMMC Exists13:08 Career Growth Lessons16:27 Hiring and Soft Skills19:19 Restaurant Skills for Consulting20:29 Career Growth and Timing Moves20:43 Finishing a Degree Late22:37 Degrees and HR Filters23:51 Certs and Hiring Signals24:34 Job Search Fatigue Tips26:31 Small Teams Hiring Stakes27:17 Finding Community Resources29:01 Mentors and Giving Back31:26 Making Time for Growth32:31 Work Life Balance Advice33:08 Golf and Disconnecting33:55 Wrap Up and Thanks