A new report from ISC2 reveals a significant shift in the cybersecurity job market, with hiring managers now prioritising non-technical and personality attributes over purely technical skills when recruiting early-career professionals.
The 2025 Hiring Trends report, which surveyed 929 hiring managers across six countries including the UK, shows that while technical knowledge is still vital, skills that AI cannot replicate are becoming more valuable.
The report, a deep dive into recruitment and retention strategies, defines “early-career” professionals as those with less than three years of experience, including recent graduates and individuals transitioning from other fields. It found that the highest-ranked skills were not technical concepts like encryption or monitoring, but rather teamwork, problem-solving and analytical thinking. This result suggests that organisations are looking for candidates who can think strategically and collaborate effectively, reflecting the complex reality of modern cybersecurity roles.
The report stated: “Our goal with this study was to highlight the current challenges—and opportunities – and offer recommendations for cybersecurity hiring managers, HR professionals and early-career cybersecurity candidates navigating today’s market. By providing these insights, we hope to shed light on ways cyber teams and candidates can align expectations across these stages of the employee lifecycle.”
For non-technical skills specifically, teamwork and the ability to work independently took the top two spots. This highlights the dual nature of the job, where professionals must collaborate in crisis scenarios (like a “war room” after a major threat) but also handle tasks like investigating alerts on their own.
Among personality attributes, problem-solving once again claimed the top spot, followed by analytical and critical thinking. The report notes that the rise in importance of these skills may be driven by the increasing use of AI. As AI tools become more capable of handling routine technical functions, the uniquely human skills of critical thought and strategic prioritisation are becoming more sought-after. This echoes findings from the 2024 ISC2 Cybersecurity Workforce Study, where 51% of respondents agreed that non-technical skills would become more important in an AI-driven world.
When it comes to technical abilities, data security, cloud security, and data analysis remain the most important concepts, though the report notes a growing focus on AI skills. However, the data suggests that employers may be more willing to train new hires in technical skills, seeing them as something that can be developed on the job. In contrast, attributes like a desire to learn and attention to detail are seen as qualities that are much harder to teach.
The report also sheds light on the responsibilities that hiring managers are willing to entrust to new staff. Entry-level professionals are most likely to be assigned tasks like documentation, event management, and reporting. As their experience grows, junior-level professionals are seen as capable of handling a much wider range of responsibilities, including intrusion detection, endpoint remediation, and even penetration testing.
For those looking to start or advance a career in cybersecurity, the message is clear: while technical credentials are a good starting point, demonstrating proficiency in non-technical skills is key to standing out in a competitive job market. The research offers valuable insights for both hiring managers looking to build resilient teams and candidates hoping to align their skills with what employers are truly looking for.
