The Homeland Security Department on Dec. 11 announced the launch of a virtual job fair to recruit cybersecurity experts.
The job fair capitalizes on DHS' recently-acquired authority to hire up to 1,000 cybersecurity professionals across the agency during the next three years. The authority, which was unveiled in October as part of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, enables DHS to more quickly and easily hire up to 1,000 positions to fulfill critical cybersecurity roles.
"Effective cybersecurity is a shared responsibility between individuals, communities, government and the private sector to protect our cyber networks from terrorism and intrusion," said DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano. "The virtual job fair will help us recruit top cyber analysts, developers and engineers to serve their country by leading the nation's defenses against cyber threats."
Through the virtual job fair, DHS is looking for applicants with experience in cyber risk and strategic analysis, malware/vulnerability analysis, incident response, exercise and facilitation management, vulnerability detection and assessment, intelligence analysis, and cyber-related infrastructure inderdependency analysis.
Jeffrey Neal, chief human capital officer at DHS, said in October that the hiring authority will focus mainly on recruiting and hire more experienced cyber professionals, largely because the department already has flexibilities that enable it to simplify the hiring process for entry-level workers. "It doesn't mean we won't be hiring for entry level, but we have to be certain we have folks who have experience," Neal said.
For more information on the virtual cybersecurity job fair, or to participate and submit an application for a cybersecurity job as part of the job fair, click here. Also, please feel free to keep Wired Workplace updated on your experience with DHS' recruiting and hiring process by sending an e-mail or leaving a comment in the comments section below.
Brittany Ballenstedt
Brittany Ballenstedt writes Nextgov's Wired Workplace blog, which delves into the issues facing employees who work in the federal information technology sector. Before joining Nextgov, Brittany covered federal pay and benefits issues as a staff correspondent for Government Executive and served as an associate editor for National Journal's Technology Daily. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Mansfield University and originally hails from Pennsylvania. She currently lives near Travis Air Force Base, Calif., where her husband is stationed.
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