What is a Cybersecurity Consultant?

Karan Mandre

Within Cybersecurity is a world of roles, expertise, and technologies. It’s easy to get lost and it can be hard to navigate this world if it isn’t defined. I recently had the pleasure of learning more about consulting in the security space, and I thought it would be helpful to write some of the notes I took. Here I lay out a few points on what security consulting looks like.

What does a Security Consultant do?

Security consultants come from different areas of focus and backgrounds. The job itself requires a mix of skills, influence, and communication styles. Ultimately, a consultant breaks down a problem into simple steps. A large part of the role is to ask (and keep asking) thoughtful questions. Clients, companies, and individuals might not know what they need help with, but a security consultant can use their toolkit to figure it out and provide the necessary solutions.

A great consultant is personable, a relationship builder, and demonstrates leadership aptitude. These key characteristics are imperative and far more valuable than just being an engineer that’s looking to do a specific task.

Consulting + Sales

Sales are about influence. This is an important and effective part of the consulting process because relying on technical skills alone isn’t enough. A great consultant learns, over time, how to maneuver the sales piece of consulting. The more effective your services are, the better it is for the sales team.

Through the conversations that a consultant has with a client, there are endless opportunities that the consultant can provide the sales team. This is where those specific sales skills grow. If the approaches used by the consultant are authentic and rooted in providing a better security posture for clients, then it’s wonderful for the whole company and mission.

Soft skills

In a perfect world, the sales aspect is an organic part of helping clients with their concerns - by going above and beyond their expectations, you’ve sold far more. As you become a better consultant, your selling ability gets better as well. Understanding risk management, breaking down problems, and simplifying seemingly complicated solutions is incredibly valuable. It’s those soft skills that determine excellent security consultants.

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