- Career vs. Job
- Developing Job Roles
- SOC Job Roles
- NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework
- Role Tiers
- SOC Services and Associated Job Roles
- Soft Skills
- Security Clearance Requirements
- Pre-Interviewing
- Interviewing
- Onboarding Employees
- Managing People
- Job Retention
- Training
- Certifications
- Evaluating Training Providers
- Company Culture
- Summary
- References
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Onboarding Employees
Once a job role is filled, the hiring manager will need to prepare to bring the new employee into the job role. This process is also called onboarding the new hire. It is critical to properly prepare for a new employee, both to ensure that the new employee’s time isn’t wasted waiting beyond the designated day to start work and to ensure that the new employee has a positive first impression of the new job. A new employee will be frustrated if he or she arrives the first day ready to start working but doesn’t have a workspace and computer allocated—basic essentials which should be prepared before the new employee arrives. The following list are requirements a hiring manager needs to prepare prior to the new employee’s arrival. Provisioning of these items can be done by other team members such as desktop support and human resources, but it is the overall responsibility of the hiring manager to ensure these items are available prior to the arrival of the new employee.
Allocated physical space within facilities, such as a desk and chair if applicable to the role
Expected office supplies
Computing equipment
Employee identification and credentials such as telephone numbers, user IDs, and passwords
Special software or tools
Scheduling of education or overview of job role, if necessary
Printed or electronic documents on processes, policies, methodologies, and other items relevant to the job role
The hiring manager also needs to prepare other internal team members for the arrival of the new employee. Information such as the background of the new hire should be shared with the direct team. Additional information such as personal interests can be shared to promote a positive chemistry, if disclosure of those details is authorized by the new hire prior to his or her arrival. Skills and duties associated with the job role should be shared and validated with the direct team so expectations for the new hire are clear to everybody.
Onboarding Requirements
Certain SOC roles will have specific onboarding requirements. Those requirements can include obtaining authorization to access sensitive resources, learning existing processes, attending training for new hires, and signing off on required compliance documentation. Some training might involve shadowing employees, with the goal of switching from a monitor to an interactive role as the new hire learns skills and processes. For example, a new hire might be assigned to monitor the incident handling procedure the first month on the job or work on a fake incident before being responsible for interacting with a real incident. Senior team members can review how a fake incident is handled by a new hire and provide coaching and reference to procedures as the new hire transitions into an operational role.
SOCs that follow industry guidelines should have new hires study the guidelines relevant to the job role. An example is having a new hire who is part of the incident response program first review the NIST 800-61 (Rev. 2) Computer Security Incident Handling Guide or the FIRST PSIRT Services Framework (introduced in Chapters 1 and 3, respectively). Required reading can also be provided before a new hire starts, which the hiring manager could reference and even quiz the new hire about to ensure learning objectives were achieved the first week they started the new role. Expectations for this material can be shared as part of the expected onboarding process as a new hire’s first few weeks schedule is developed by the hiring manager.
It is critical to ensure a smooth transition into a position for any new hire. The first few weeks will determine if the candidate is a fit for the role and will be capable of handling the associated responsibilities. Part of creating a welcoming environment for employees is properly setting career expectations.