Is a Role at a Security Startup Right for You?

The pros and cons of cyber startups

The job market in cybersecurity has been tough the last few years, but are things starting to turn around? 

Mimi Gross, executive recruiter and career strategist of People by Mimi, joined Friends Friday to talk with PlexTrac’s Dan DeCloss and Anna Lee about the cybersecurity job market. Specifically, they discuss the startup landscape. 

Mimi has helped thousands of marketers make big moves, build teams, successfully map out their career paths, rebrand their job search positioning and make lasting connections in the cybersecurity community. She coined the philosophy of “people-led-growth” as a foundational team building and career architecting principle. Great teams build great companies, and building great teams is always people-first. 

Tune in to hear her take on the job market right now and the pros and cons of choosing a startup as your next move. She breaks down the types of personalities thrive in one of the most challenging — and rewarding — workplaces. . 

Watch the full episode or read the highlights.

The security job market today

Anyone who has spent any amount of time on LinkedIn is very aware that jobs in cybersecurity have gone from boom to bust in the last couple of years. But there are signs of life again both in hiring and in the industry as a whole.  

“The hiring is, though, it’s more strategic, it’s definitely more risk adverse. A lot of the layoffs we’re really an over correction from a time where people were just throwing money at hires hoping that it would solve the pain of the immediate issues facing a company, especially startups. I will say bigger companies as well. But startups had the money to just throw money at problems from a human resource perspective,” said Mimi. 

She continued, “I would say, throwing in a little positivity to what’s going on, because I really don’t see, I don’t see doors being shuttered. That’s when we would start to say, oh, we’re really looking at a dark time, is when you would see companies really closing down, not companies getting more efficient with their funds and things like that. So that’s, you know, I don’t want anyone to call me, you know, rose colored glasses, but it’s real.” 

Dan shared his perspective and experience as founder hiring through the boom and where things stand today. “And it kind of started to build up, and so people started investing money, and founders and startups, well, you’re under some, I would say, intrinsic pressure to how you’re going to spend the money. Anytime you’re raising capital, a founder is going to be asked, ‘What are you going to use the money for?’ So you kind of have to have an answer to that question. And a lot of times, the best way to spend money in terms of where you truly see it as an investment is people. Right?” 

He continued, “If I bring on people, they’ll help solve the problems that we need to grow. And that can be very dangerous, too. It’s not just hire people to throw at a problem or just hire people expecting that to translate into immediate growth for a company. And I think that’s, that’s where you saw that over correction. There was a large influx of people being hired and now kind of coming back to this is actually where we should be, right, in terms of our size of a company.” 

Is it time to take a chance on a startup again?

Mimi shared that courting the perfect job for you is very much like dating. Looking for the right opportunity, especially in the current market, requires being more selective but still being willing to take a chance.

Mimi said, “It’s one of my core recruiting and job search strategy philosophies, which is that I, you know, like if you want the best book about recruiting and searching for a job, take like any dating book. And it works better for recruiting and job search than it does even for dating, because dating is so complicated, there’s too much emotion. With job search. It’s the same principles.” 

She continued, “Follow your instincts. If there are red flags, they probably are real, but definitely look, right? If it’s a pink flag, that could end up actually being a plus for you. But if it’s a red flag that, you know, then that means there’s a reason. By pink flag, I mean looking for opportunistic situations where maybe other people don’t see the value, like a Warren Buffett type of scenario for hiring and job search. Let’s say for a job searcher, it might not be the hottest company on the market that’s growing like that. But you like the people, you like the problems they have — because everybody has problems. You like those problems. They’re problems that you aren’t afraid of. You’re the best person for that job. So another person might come and not see that as being an amazing job. That’s an amazing job for you.”

The benefits and challenges of startups

When asked to describe the benefits of working at a startup, Mimi turned the question on its head. “So I think that really, the benefits of startup life are the challenges. Just like, you have to really thrive on change and enjoy it. The major thing that is another prerequisite is the ability to take ownership over something that’s not even necessarily your fault. If you can take ownership, that’s the best indicator you will be successful at a startup and be able to benefit from the benefits.”

She went on to describe what she sees as the main opportunity offered by startups: “And the top benefit I’ve seen is career skyrocketing. So in a larger environment there’s going to be a lot of people who will be above you or next to you doing things that you might want to be exposed to or that, you know, you could be really good at and it will be considered stepping on toes to even get into it. So I think that that’s what I’ve seen. People just come back to me, who aren’t lifers, come back to me after entering startups, and just saying, ‘Wow, this accelerated my career five years ahead. Something that I would have had to wait for somebody to retire or get fired or quit.’ So that’s the huge benefit.” 

Anna added from her experience breaking into cyber at the early stages of PlexTrac, “Yeah. So that’s interesting. You mentioned that there can be a lot of opportunity. I think there’s a lot of opportunity not just to learn and grow, but specifically to break into a new industry because you might get a chance that no one else is willing to give you, which is what happened to me. I was in higher ed and nonprofit work doing exactly what I’m doing now. But to break into this industry, I wouldn’t have had that opportunity without PlexTrac taking a chance on me very early when they just needed help. Thanks, Dan!” 

Hack your job at a startup

Mimi asked Anna and Dan about hiring outside of immediate industry experience. “I want to ask you, and I hope this is okay, just because there is an element that I’ve seen where startups are risk adverse when it comes to hiring somebody from outside the industry. So I want to ask you, when you joined, what was it that was that bridge that they knew with certainty that you would be able to kind of grow into that? Cause I think a lot of people wanna know that.” 

Dan shared that he looks for problem solving and research skills in candidates that may not have direct experience — people who can “hack” the job and provide value. “So early on, you know, that’s where you kind of look for those folks that they may not have all that experience, but can they dig in and research and solve the problem? I mean, truly be a hacker right at the end of the day, which is my background, I mean, like, you know, you get on a pentest and you gotta be able to figure out the technology you’re testing in about a week, or you’re not gonna provide any value to the customer.”

Mimi said, “Well, I mean, I love talking to a startup that has the right attitude about hiring because people are looking for that. So, you know, I think it’s, it’s great. It’s great to hear that. And I think anyone who is on this job search right now, in this time, and is falling into, the darker perspective space, I think this is just a great example of companies that are hiring that are doing things right, and it makes me feel hopeful, so I hope it makes the world feel hopeful.”

PlexTrac is hiring! Check out plextrac.com/careers for details and to apply.