First IT Security Conference

CIO

Morning everyone. For the past 6 months, I have been trying to land my first infosec position as a security analyst at a SOC type of environment but wasn't getting anywhere until yesterday.

Some members here suggested that I attend conferences, join meetup groups etc.. and it's finally paying off. Yesterday I attended my first IT security conference and had a chance to speak to a VP of a company that I had applied to. We exchanged contacts and gave him a copy of my resume.

Not sure if anything will develop by I just feel it's one step closer to landing my first SOC role.

To date, I've passed my Sec+ and joined the local infosec group in town.

I'll keep everyone updated if anything develops

beads

I find local conferences and meetups to have the highest pay back for the least amount of effort. Black Hat has become a bit of a shadow of what it started out as the premier hacking conference. Now, because the large general conferences have all pulled stakes there is no good mass marketing opportunities save BH. DefCon tries hard to keep to its roots but will be assimilated into the marketing borg and becomes less relevant every year.

The smaller localized cons like CircleCity and Thot are the way to go. Small, more intimate and filled with people who really want to share and learn the craft. Local meetups as you have seen are kind of a mixed bag. Some nights are awesome filled with great conversation other times a recruiter shows up with 20 pizzas and too many people just looking to find a job not a position.

Meh, can go both ways. Glad to hear you took the board's advice and started down the meetups path.

Good luck!

- b/eads

Danielm7

Nice work!

JoJoCal19

Good luck! Networking has definitely helped boost my career a couple of times.

IaHawk

Is there any particular site you guys use to look up local conferences? With all the marketing spam I receive, I think I know about a majority of them but wondered if you guys used anything else.

Remedymp

Don't forget to create a linkedin account as well.

CIO

I use eventbrite to find the infosec conference held yesterday in Austin. Once the popular organizers, i visit their website to follow up with upcoming events in nearby cities.

I plan to attend Defcon in Vegas next year.

CIO

Remedymp wrote: »

Don't forget to create a linkedin account as well.

Linkedin is great but i have noticed a lot of recruiters contacting me regarding 3 to 6 month SOC roles. Although I want the experience, it doesn't make sense for me leave a full-time technical support role for a contract role and hope that it ether gets extended or turns into a full-time role.

I told them I am able and willing to relocate anywhere in the location for the experience but definitely not for a 3 to 6 month role.

Do you guys think im going about this the wrong way?

Remedymp

CIO wrote: »

Linkedin is great but i have noticed a lot of recruiters contacting me regarding 3 to 6 month SOC roles. Although I want the experience, it doesn't make sense for me leave a full-time technical support role for a contract role and hope that it ether gets extended or turns into a full-time role.

I told them I am able and willing to relocate anywhere in the location for the experience but definitely not for a 3 to 6 month role.

Do you guys think im going about this the wrong way?

It's very rare that they would bring you on as a contractor and not want to convert to full time unless it's a specific project they need fulfilled.

That being said, Contracting can be a blessing in disguise to get your foot in the door for a major role. The reason why SOC roles tend to be contract or LTE to hire is because it's easier to role you on and off than bringing you on as a FTE.

You would want an LTE position so you can get the experience under your belt and then move on when ready.

You also get paid more than FTE for the engagement. I moved for a nine month role and then got offered twice as much for a new role just based on my experience being a contractor.

YMMV.

PocketLumberjack

@CIO Thanks for the Eventbite tip, I found conferences in the city I'm from and the city I where I would like to work!