Cyber Security Jobs?? (Dallas, Post, Howe: house, job market, college)

[JKL005]

We have plans to relocate from Northern VA to Dallas but it seems increasing difficult to get a job there. My husband is in his early 60s, specializes in cyber security with over 25 years experience with the federal government and related agencies. Been job hunting for over 2 months now. Sent out over 10 resumes and so far no interviews. Could it be he's from out of state? Trying to understand the corporate culture in terms of the hiring process so do employers in Dallas, TX prefer hiring locals specifically in the field of IT/Cyber Security related jobs? If we stayed in the NOVA or DC area, finding similar jobs would not be a problem. I just thought Dallas was a big metropolitan area with high concentration of tech jobs but am I misguided?

We are at the point where we are contemplating just moving to TX anyway and then job hunt after settling there so perhaps he has a better chance of competing with local candidates and hopefully landing a local interview.

It's very disheartening as I just can't understand why someone as highly qualified is unable to get a response from potential employers and I'll be so grateful if someone can point us out what we are missing here and any helpful advice much appreciated.

Thanks so much!

[jdallas]

early 60's in cyber security applying from out of state? The DFW area attracts a huge number of highly educated, young professionals so he is likely 1 of at least 100 applicants for each position. 10 resumes!? He really needs to step up his game and get a local mailing address with mail forwarding to your current location. At his age, it's highly likely he is running into age discrimination as well. Try limiting his resume experience to the last 15 years and removing dates that give away his age

[DitsyD]

Agree with jdallas.

There is lots of competition for jobs here. 5 resumes a month? 10 resumes a week would be better. 10 a day even better than that.

Having an out of state address probably isn't helping. A company might prefer someone that could start immediately rather than "I need to sell my house and find a new place to live, THEN I can start work."

His age might have something to do with it, as stated above. They might think that someone older isn't quite up on current cyber risks and how to prevent them. Or, they may feel that someone with lots of experience will demand a higher pay than someone younger.

[jpushiys]

Some more things that might help :
* Post your resume on an online job/career site
* Have a public linked-in profile
* Work with a local recruiter if possible

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by jdallas

early 60's in cyber security applying from out of state? The DFW area attracts a huge number of highly educated, young professionals so he is likely 1 of at least 100 applicants for each position. 10 resumes!? He really needs to step up his game and get a local mailing address with mail forwarding to your current location. At his age, it's highly likely he is running into age discrimination as well. Try limiting his resume experience to the last 15 years and removing dates that give away his age

Very good advice.

[JKL005]

I think "removing dates that give away his age" is not going to fly. Recruiters are not stupid. They are going to probe even further why there's the gap or absence of the information. And if you do land an in-person interview, what are you going to do to hide your age then? It would just come off as dishonest. And after some research seems age discrimination is not unusual in the IT field but personally I think it would be a shame to reject someone solely because of their age and "assuming" they are less up-to-date on technology, more expensive to hire and not as valuable than their younger counterparts. What I don't get is, doesn't the years of professional experience and knowledge come as a plus versus a newbie?

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by JKL005

I think "removing dates that give away his age" is not going to fly. Recruiters are not stupid. They are going to probe even further why there's the gap or absence of the information. And if you do land an in-person interview, what are you going to do to hide your age then? It would just come off as dishonest. And after some research seems age discrimination is not unusual in the IT field but personally I think it would be a shame to reject someone solely because of their age and "assuming" they are less up-to-date on technology, more expensive to hire and not as valuable than their younger counterparts. What I don't get is, doesn't the years of professional experience and knowledge come as a plus versus a newbie?

To most companies, decades of professional experience denote one of two things: $$$$ salary expectations or someone who may not be up to date on cutting edge industry knowledge.

It is VERY common advice to only list the last 15 years' experience on one's resume and to leave off college graduation date. Hell, I'm in my late 30's and I follow that advice. If they're surprised by his age when he arrives to interview, then at least he has his foot in the door (literally) and can knock their socks off in his interview. It's better than his resume continuing to get deleted.

My recommendation is to google Liz Ryan's "Ask Liz" column. She is a HR professional who writes really honest columns about job searches and workplace situations. I'm sure she's given lots of advice about job searching so late in one's career and probably has valuable insight that will help your hubby have an appropriate resume and successful job search.

[pharpe]

A resume does not get you a job. The only thing a resume does is get you past pre screening. The interviews are what get you the job. Your husband needs to get in front of as many people as possible to sell himself. He should tailor his resume to give him that ability. Most resume experts recommend only putting your most recent jobs on your resume anyway (regardless of age) because they are the most relevant and people don't want to read all that. Again, resume do not get you a job. It's just to get you in the door. There should not be anything on there that can possibly hurt you.

Think about it like this:

Option 1 - Put everything on the resume including dates. Prescreen determines he's "over qualified" (Legal way to say too old) The process stops here and he has no shot.

Option 2 - Less jobs and no college dates on resume. Not pre screened out and gets a chance for interview. He walks into the interview and maybe the hiring manager thinks he's too old. At least at this point he has the opportunity to sell himself. Explain how he's kept himself up on all the latest industry trends, what his depth of experience can bring, etc


As for the number of resumes to send out I tend to disagree with the group here. Maybe for entry and lower level jobs spamming out 10 generic resumes a week is a good strategy. However, for upper level executive positions I think a target approach is better suited. I realize it is tough coming from so far away because this involves networking mostly but there are ways. Is he a member of any profession organizations that have chapters in DFW? Leverage professional contacts in VA and see who has ties or contacts in Dallas. Use LinkedIn. An experienced recruiter in this field could also help. Use all this to get targeted opportunities and tailor your resume specifically to each job. I'm sure he has much more experience that can fit on a page or two. The trick is to glrean the most relevant for the specific job.

[Mershu]

I would suggest getting a local Dallas phone number through google and have that number forward to your cell phone. I still have my Arizona cell number, but use my google number when visiting the job market.

If you do not have an address yet, just list 'Dallas, TX 72345' (or whatever city you are leaning towards moving to) on your resume.

[Siphon9r]

What level of position is he seeking? If it's Director, VP or above expect a much more difficult search as there are a lot fewer openings. Being remote could be particularly difficult, you may have more luck moving first. I know we only hire people out of state when we either have a specific referral or have absolutely exhausted local options. Take seriously the resume length suggestions above. When I see a resume with 15-20+ years of experience it says "expensive". Sometimes that is what I am looking for and I have the budget, but often 8-15 years is more of a sweet spot unless its a leadership position.

Another thing to consider is cyber security in the federal government may not provide the skills some private organizations are most eagerly looking for. Cyber Security is as much about dealing with regulations, building policies and procedures, risk management/mitigation and planning as it is firewalls and expensive software. A private entity may be looking for someone with experience dealing with SOX, PCI, FFIEC or HIPAA. I'm not sure the federal government would provide operational experience in those areas. This could somewhat restrict the type of jobs that would be a good fit.