Introduction: Why Entry-Level Cybersecurity Hiring Feels Broken
Cybersecurity is one of the fastest-growing technology sectors in Europe, and the Netherlands is no exception. Demand is accelerating as companies face new threats to infrastructure, finance, and data. Yet for graduates trying to enter the field, opportunity remains elusive. The Dutch cybersecurity job market is projected to grow 15% annually, but entry-level positions remain scarce (Nucamp, 2025). Compounding the issue, companies worldwide report it takes more than six months to fill many cybersecurity roles, with junior positions often stretching one to three months (Kaspersky, 2024).
This contradiction—urgent demand but long hiring timelines—shows why early-career cybersecurity hiring feels broken. Students apply broadly with little feedback, employers wait too long to fill critical roles, and universities struggle to align fast-changing security practices with curricula.
The outcome: systemic friction. Graduates are stuck in lengthy hiring processes, employers gamble on uncertain signals, and universities feel pressure to catch up.
At Talantir, we see a clear alternative: evaluate candidates through practical, real-world tasks rather than static CVs or abstract tests.
Current Frictions in Early-Career Cybersecurity Hiring
1. Application Volume
Entry-level cybersecurity roles are in high demand, but the openings remain few. Each job attracts a large pool of applicants, leaving employers sifting through dozens of resumes that list similar certifications—CEH, Security+, CISSP (Associate)—without evidence of hands-on skill. Strong candidates risk being overlooked if they lack a brand-name internship or prestigious university affiliation.
2. Time to Hire
Hiring processes are protracted. According to industry surveys, filling cybersecurity positions often takes more than six months, and even junior roles require one to three months (Kaspersky, 2024). For employers, that means prolonged exposure to threats while vacancies remain unfilled. For graduates, it creates weeks or months of uncertainty with little feedback.
3. Skills Mismatch
The CIPD Labour Market Outlook shows that over half of employers in Europe report challenges finding candidates with the right skills (CIPD, 2023). In cybersecurity, mismatches appear when graduates understand concepts like encryption or firewalls but lack exposure to:
- Cloud security configurations (AWS, Azure, GCP)
- Incident response protocols
- Security operations center (SOC) workflows
- Compliance frameworks like GDPR or ISO/IEC 27001
This leaves employers hesitant to invest in inexperienced talent and students uncertain about their readiness.
4. Poor Signal Quality
CVs and cover letters don’t reveal whether a candidate can spot a phishing attempt, triage an incident, or communicate risks to stakeholders. Interviews often reward confidence and theory over real security problem-solving. Employers are left making hiring decisions without reliable evidence of capability.
5. Assessment Drift
Some employers assign abstract logic puzzles, long take-home tasks, or generic coding tests. While these may filter candidates, they don’t mirror real-world cybersecurity scenarios—like identifying vulnerabilities in a system or responding to a simulated ransomware attack. Candidates feel misjudged, and employers still lack relevant insights.
Why Cybersecurity and Information Security Roles Are Hard to Evaluate
Early-career cybersecurity roles present unique evaluation challenges:
- Hybrid skill mix: Cybersecurity engineers need technical skills (networking, coding, monitoring tools), regulatory knowledge, and communication ability. Graduates rarely arrive with all three.
- Rapidly evolving threats: New attack vectors and tools appear constantly, leaving curricula struggling to keep pace.
- Unclear job titles: “Cybersecurity Engineer,” “SOC Analyst,” and “Information Security Specialist” can mean different things at different companies, confusing candidates and employers alike.
- High stakes: Mistakes in security can cost millions or damage reputations. Employers become more risk-averse, raising the barrier for entry-level hires.
As a result, employers lean heavily on proxies such as certifications or university prestige—criteria that do not always reflect actual readiness.
The Alternative: Work-Sample Evaluation
Instead of filtering through CVs and abstract tests, employers could evaluate candidates through short, realistic tasks that reflect day-one responsibilities.
For cybersecurity and information security engineers, work samples might include:
- Reviewing a log file and identifying anomalies
- Writing a short incident report on a simulated breach
- Configuring access permissions for a sample cloud environment
- Spotting vulnerabilities in a small piece of code or system configuration
These exercises can be completed in 30–90 minutes and provide sharper insights than resumes or interviews.
Why it works:
- Students: Show they can apply theory in practice, even without big internships.
- Employers: Gain confidence by seeing how candidates handle realistic security tasks.
- Universities: Align curricula with industry needs, integrating hands-on security scenarios.
Work-sample evaluation is widely recognized as one of the strongest predictors of job performance. In cybersecurity, where the stakes are high, its value is even clearer.
Talantir’s Perspective: Capability-First for Cybersecurity
Talantir is built around capability-first readiness and hiring. Students progress through structured career roadmaps, completing authentic cases, before entering employer-aligned challenges.
For cybersecurity and information security engineers, this could look like:
- Roadmap cases: identifying phishing attempts, monitoring simulated logs, or setting up multi-factor authentication.
- Milestones: integrated projects such as responding to a simulated breach or drafting a GDPR compliance checklist.
- Challenges: employer-specific exercises like auditing a mock system or preparing a short incident report.
For students: This builds clarity and confidence while producing a portfolio of evidence.
For employers: Instead of 200 CVs, they review deep profiles showing how candidates approached tasks, supported by AI-generated abstracts of their decision-making.
For universities: Security-focused roadmaps can be embedded into programs with minimal effort, providing analytics on student readiness and employability.
By grounding readiness in real work instead of proxies, Talantir helps students stand out, employers hire with confidence, and universities align with fast-changing industry needs.
Conclusion: What If We Evaluated Real Work, Not Promises?
Early-career hiring for cybersecurity and information security engineers in the Netherlands is riddled with friction: oversubscribed vacancies, lengthy timelines, mismatched skills, and weak hiring signals. Traditional methods like CV screening and interviews fail to capture what matters most—whether a graduate can respond effectively to real threats.
Work-sample evaluation provides a fairer, faster, and more reliable alternative. By shifting to authentic, manageable tasks, employers can identify motivated, capable candidates sooner, students gain equitable opportunities to prove themselves, and universities better prepare graduates for industry demands.
What if we evaluated real work, not promises? That’s the reset Talantir puts at the heart of early-career hiring.
Explore how work-sample evaluation can reset early-career hiring standards.