Henry ("Dr. Hank") Stevens ⋅ Fort Lauderdale, FL Human Resources Quality Assurance, LLC (Now Retired) ⋅ 50 years experience

I suspect that there is a good reason why you flub the interviews but the reasoning about WHY is not in the interview process or your knowledge of the field. I also suspect that you have not done accurate target acquisition and thus, are very disappointed in missing what you THINK are your goals.

And speaking of THINKING, take a step back and ask yourself, "Just what is it that I WANT to do?"

As a practicing vocational counselor, I ask my clients to first take the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI). The results give both of us a grounding in discovering the inate TALENTS that everyone has.

From the perspective of the employer, the question is what De Shawn Monroe WANT to do and is that consistent with the needs and demands of the position? Because, at its root, employees will do what you want them to do when what they do is what they want to do.

Education and experience are fine but, in the case of education, it just means that you CAN learn. In the case of experience, it means that there is SOME demonstrated track record of the tangible and relevant activity. But, the gold standard for the ER is this: Are the TALENTS that De Shawn Monroe brings to the table the talents necessary to get the job done?

In short, TALENT trumps EDUCATION and EXPERIENCE every time.

So De Shawn Monroe, just what is it that you have done to identify YOUR talents?

Here is a link to a FREE assessment instrument that is quite good. Although there is a built-in interpretation of the results, I have my own. The results are in the form of 4 letters and their percent saturation. It will look something like this: I-45 N-29 T-10 J-75. After the assessment results are known and IF you want my take on the results, please get me the results as I have described - letters AND numbers are important. My off-this-channel is hlstevens45@gmail.com. And, if you do not want my thinking on the subject, that's okay, too!

The whole point being, step back, identify your TALENTS, and pursue opportunities that exploit the same. It is all about YOU.

http://www.humanmetrics.com/hr/jtypesresult.aspx

Dr. Hank

George Wilhelmsen ⋅ Rochelle, IL Sargent & Lundy ⋅ 38 years experience

Good morning De Shawn,

I would like to suggest you seek a career in the nuclear industry. In Georgia, you have several plants where they might need your support.

We have a robust cyber security program. Based on attrition, I may be looking for a cyber security professional in the next few months at Byron Station in Illinois. If you are interested, monitor the Exelon Generation jobs web page - I'm pretty sure we have an opening somewhere if you are willing to move.

Good luck!

David Limato ⋅ Fremont, CA Hewlett Packard ⋅ 15 years experience

Hello DeShawn,

Thank You for your service.

It is a difficult industry to break into lacking experience, and it does not help if you don't do well on interview tests. Feel Free to reach out to me on Linked In.

I would say try to get your foot in the door as a network or systems administrator to get experience under your belt. Then try and apply your Cyber Security know how. Cisco , Linux or Windows Administration.
Maybe try looking at a Lab Ops jobs where they manage the companies engineering test ad development labs.

Again, Connect on Linked In and feel free to ask me for an introduction to any of my contacts.
Thanks,
Dave Limato

Izabella Howard ⋅ Portland, OR Vestas ⋅ 10 years experience

Hello!

Please do not give up! Have you considered the Wind Energy Industry? This is a young industry but growing very quickly. I have 2 postions in Portland Oregon that might be of interest you? We are currently trying to become a Industry Partner with DOD Skillbridge as well.

https://careers.vestas.com/job/Portland-Specialist%2C-Cyber-Security-OR-97209/586118101/

https://careers.vestas.com/job/Portland-Technician%2C-SCADA-OR-97209/586115901/

Warm Regards,
Izabella
Vestas.com