Analyst in SOC - interview preparation tips

hal9k2

Hi

Next week I am going to have job interview for Analyst in Security Operations Center.

I personally never worked in IT security area, (I am currently implementation engineer sort of programmer, tester, pm) with several years of experience in OCR market, but don't like this position however it pays good.

I was preparing for this some time getting basics certs like Security+, eJPT. Recently I decided to give it a try and applied for that position.

I passed two phone interviews (both of them were technical), and on first I was told that I am to good for that position and they will offer me something more (tier 2 or tier 3 Analyst??) but didn't say what, on second was asked other technical questions like what is cyber kill chain, vectors of attacks, approach for setting up security perimeters in networks. Last phone interview was with SOC manager. Now he invited me to face to face interview where as I was told they will check my other technical skills.

I know I will need to demonstrate some digital forensics skills and probably some other, however now sure what?

So my question is to people with experience in such positions or similar. What I can expect, and what to prepare for that interview?

Any tips appreciated. Thanks in advance.

ITSpectre

Great post... will follow to see responses

NEODREAM

Interesting stuff, best of luck to you in your upcoming interview!

Hope some of the folks here will be able to point you in the right direction.

DuckingUsers

Sounds similar to an interview process I went through not to long ago. Get familiar with logs and know how to determine what type of attack is taking place from the logs. I wasn't expecting anything like this so that part of the interview kinda stumped me. Before the interview they said to have a general high level understanding of certain topics but then in the interview its look at this log and you should be able to piece together that a blind sql injection attack is occurring.

hal9k2

Thanks for the answer. That is something new for me, need to find out more about this.

hal9k2

After passing series of interviews I got offered a position of Senior Security Analyst (in SOC). I can say my goal is achieved to get a job in IT Security. But I have doubts...

My biggest concerns is that my salary will go down by 20% of my current salary and negotiations failed, they didn't want to rise to the same level I have now.

I have also more questions...

• Do you guys think going into this position is a good step towards career in IT security?
• What are the possible transitions?
• What is the future of this kind of job, isn't that will be taken by A.I in the future?

I googled most of this questions, however it is always best to get answer from first hand...

Thanks in advance for answers.

NEODREAM

Congratulations on the job offer!

NetworkNewb

hal9k2 wrote: »

• Do you guys think going into this position is a good step towards career in IT security?

Yes, I think a job in IT security is definitely a good steps towards a career in IT security.

hal9k2 wrote: »

• What are the possible transitions?

Security is a pretty big field and your title could mean many different things. Too hard to tell exactly what your position best transitions into.

hal9k2 wrote: »

• What is the future of this kind of job, isn't that will be taken by A.I in the future?

Yes, AI will take our jobs. And everyone else's job as well.

cyberguypr

See, this is the kind of stuff that should not be allowed here and should trigger a mod to permanently ban someone. I just sprayed quinoa on my monitor laughing at NetworkNewb's post. That is not cool.

To answer your questions:
- The SOC monkey role is the starting point for many in security. What kills it for me is the $20k reduction. That would never fly in my book. However, if you can take the hit and don't want to wait for something better, then go for it.
- Transitions? World is your oyster. Hopefully you use your SOC time to understand security better and try to see where you wan to go next.
- AI? I would be more worried about machines taking over McDonald's job.

TechGromit

NetworkNewb wrote: »

Yes, AI will take our jobs. And everyone else's job as well.

AI really hasn't lived up to it's hype in my opinion. despite all the advancements in hardware, there still no true AI yet, even 20 years after the Deep Blue won it’s chess match against Garry Kasparov. Yes, computers are good at crunching huge amount of data, spotting patterns, etc. But it's all algorithm based, there's no independent thought.