SiliconRepublic.com headed down to Yahoo’s Dublin office to meet some of its senior leaders and discuss the skills they’re looking for.
Last month, we took a look at some top companies hiring for cybersecurity roles in Ireland.
One of these was media and tech company Yahoo. To find out more about the talent it’s looking for, SiliconRepublic.com headed down to its Dublin office to speak to some of its senior leaders.
Sean Zadig is Yahoo’s chief information security officer, also known as the ‘chief paranoid’. He sees security as a feeling the company wants its customers and employees to have.
“The focus of security is changing behaviour. You’re getting people to do something that ultimately introduces friction and is sort of counter to what they naturally want to do,” he said.
“We try to find talent that is atypical and so a lot of security people come from computer science backgrounds or from law enforcement or military … but increasingly we’re trying to find people who bring different views and sort of a diverse perspective to the field because increasingly we’re trying to solve not technical problems but behavioural problems.”
Zadig added that those who can interact with people, who can understand their needs and can influence them, are the types of people Yahoo is looking for in its cybersecurity team.
Outside of cybersecurity, Yahoo is also on the lookout for engineers. Cecilia Treharne, VP of engineering, said she looks for people who really love to learn.
“We really value diversity in thought and in discussion because that enables us to build better products.”
For those who are looking to work at Yahoo, Treharne advised candidates to be their authentic selves. “We want to get to know the real you,” she said.
“I’d also say be ready to come in with solutions and ideas that you have. Be able to participate in those kinds of discussions and be willing to share your thoughts. It’s important as well to talk out loud when you’re thinking through how you might solve something or when you’re working with each other within teams, those are really great things to do.”
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