EP112 How to Build a Cybersecurity Talent Pipeline Before You Need One

Heath Adams shares his unconventional career path from accounting to the military, IT, ethical hacking, and eventually founding cybersecurity companies. • Heath argues that the cybersecurity talent gap is still very real, especially for hands-on technical roles in red team and blue team work. • He explains that traditional entry-level paths like help desk and SOC analyst roles may become more competitive as AI automates some basic tasks. • For aspiring cybersecurity professionals, Heath emphasizes networking, community involvement, blogging, home labs, and demonstrating passion publicly. • Pete and Heath discuss how job seekers should build relationships before asking for opportunities, treating networking more like long-term relationship building than a quick favor. • Heath explains how companies can improve hiring by reducing application fatigue, being more specific in job descriptions, and avoiding the search for impossible “unicorn” candidates. • He shares how TCM Security built a strong talent pipeline through its community, allowing the company to identify helpful, engaged, mission-aligned candidates before they ever applied. • Heath highlights the importance of culture, competitive pay, strong benefits, flexibility, trust, and open communication in retaining cybersecurity talent. • Pete and Heath discuss why shorter, clearer interview processes are often better than long, exhausting hiring funnels that drive strong candidates away. • Heath closes by encouraging cybersecurity professionals to build core foundations in computing, networking, security, Linux, programming, and now AI prompt engineering, while choosing a specialty that genuinely excites them. You can find Heath on LinkedIn here:   / heathadams