The US-based cyber association ISC2 has published its 2025 Hiring Trends research report, on trends in recruitment, hiring and retention strategies for early-career cybersecurity talent. The highest-ranked skills were not purely technical. Teamwork, problem-solving and analytical thinking topped the list, ahead of technical skills for data security and cloud security.
Building on that report, ISCS here is ‘deep diving’ into the skills that cybersecurity managers value in early-career candidates and the responsibilities that they assign to entry- and junior-level professionals. For the purposes of this research, โearly careerโ does not only refer to those just graduating or entering the workforce for the first time. It also includes individuals who have recently transitioned into cybersecurity from other fields or those who have fewer than three years of experience in the cybersecurity professionโspecifically under one year for entry-level professionals, and one to three years for junior-level professionals.
This data is a resource for managers expanding their teams to include junior members, or for early-career job seekers looking to better understand the skills and experience hiring managers are looking for in candidates.
Research Design: Rating and Ranking Skills
The survey provided cybersecurity hiring managers with a list of 45 skills spanning non-technical, technical and personality-related attributes. Respondents rated how important it was for entry- and junior-level candidates to be familiar with each skill listed โ from โvery importantโ to โnot at all important.โ
Next, they rank ordered those skills they considered important. For our analysis, we reported the rank order resultsโmeaning we focused on the skills that most often ranked top on participantsโ lists, rather than whether they were considered important generally.
Non-Technical Skills
For non-technical skills, the top two spots went to what may seem like opposing qualities: teamwork and the ability to work independently. This ranking reflects the reality of cybersecurity roles, where professionals need to collaborate closely across teams within an organization (e.g., as consultative advisors to product teams or lines of business or in โwar roomโ scenarios after a major threat or incident) but also handle certain tasks, such as prioritizing and investigating alerts, on their own or within a small security team.
The top-ranked personality attributes this year were problem solving, analytical thinking and critical thinking. These results suggest that hiring managers are prioritizing entry- and junior-level cybersecurity candidates who can approach and tackle complex challenges thoughtfully and strategically.
The top technical skills identified were data security (encryption, handling and monitoring), followed by cloud security and data analysis.
At first glance, the top five technical skills have shown little change since 2022. Data security and cloud security continue to hold the top two spots, while data analysis has risen to third place. These are followed by AI skills and risk assessment and management. The increased focus on AI skills is not surprising given the rapidly evolving and escalating cyber threats that AI is enabling.
For non-technical skills, ISC2 sees a similar trend, with the top two remaining unchanged from 2022. This year, verbal communication, project management and documentation skills followed behind. Meanwhile, customer service experience and presentation skills, which were much higher in 2022, dropped toward the bottom of this yearโs list. This shift suggests organizations are prioritizing skills that strengthen internal team performance and operational focus, rather than external-facing abilities.
For personality attributes, problem-solving once again claimed the top spot. Analytical and critical thinking โ possibly driven by the increased use of AI โ rose in importance this year, followed by a desire to learn and attention to detail. Notably, creativity, which ranked second in 2022 โ fell out of the top five.
Non-technical and personality attributes are qualities that employers may find challenging to teach or may not typically invest in training for. In contrast, technical skills may exist already in many candidatesโ backgrounds or be seen as something that can be developed through on-the-job training.
Impact of AI
As AI tools become more capable of handling certain technical functions, the human skills that AI cannot replicate may be becoming more valuable. This aligns with findings from the 2024 ISC2 Cybersecurity Workforce Study, where non-technical skills topped hiring managersโ priority lists. In addition, 51 per cent of respondents agreed that โnontechnical skills will be more important for cybersecurity professionals in an AI-driven world.โ
London event
The London chapter of ISC2 is running an event on November 19; visit www.isc2.org.
