ISERC’s “Reverse Job Fair” Aims to Bring Neurodiverse People into Cybersecurity
Meeting random prospective employers at a job fair can be stressful for job-seekers, especially those people who think and act differently from the rest of the crowd.
But what if the job fair routine was reversed, and instead of job candidates trying to fit in with company requirements, the companies tailored the jobs to meet the skills of the unique candidates?
That’s the idea behind the cybersecurity “reverse job fair” being developed by the Integrated Security Education and Research Center at Virginia Tech’s Pamplin College of Business. ISERC recently received a grant of $194,270 from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, to create a program to bring more people with diverse ways of thinking into the field of cybersecurity.
“In security work, you need as many different perspectives as you can get, because it's all about asking questions and being curious,” said Dr. Arianna Schuler Scott, ISERC’s Senior Associate Director, who is helping develop the project.
The grant is geared toward bringing neurodivergent people and others with certain disabilities into cybersecurity careers. Neurodivergent (or neurodiverse, a term also used) refers to people with conditions that can include autism spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), dyslexia, dyscalculia and Tourette's syndrome.
According to a Rand 2023 study, neurodivergent people can assist national security organizations because common strengths often include “pattern recognition, analysis, visualization, problem-solving, memory, and achieving a state of hyperfocus to complete a project.”
These people are often shut out of security careers, Schuler Scott said. The project’s goal is to break down barriers by pairing companies with talent in a job fair setting where the businesses observe firsthand the skills of the candidates.
“Cybersecurity cuts across different sectors,” Schuler Scott said. “There are all sorts of roles that require different competencies, skillsets and experiences. … Employers are not leveraging disabled candidates as a hacker talent pool, and they need to be.”
Virginia Tech is part of the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative, a statewide network created in 2019 that connects Virginia universities and community colleges to businesses, governments and other institutions to improve cybersecurity research, workforce training and innovation opportunities. Virginia Tech, which leads CCI’s Southwest regional node, and partner institutions currently train more than 220 students in cybersecurity topics.
Virginia currently has more than 51,000 job openings in cybersecurity, the most of any state, according to the website CyberSeek.org.
The reverse job fair is part of a wider project called Modernizing Talent Management in Virginia, Maryland and D.C. (MTM VMD), a regional workforce partnership collaborating on a 12-month plan to create career paths for neurodivergent people. Dr Schuler Scott is working with community-based non-profit professional networks and local government services that include The Cyber Guild and Women’s Society of Cyberjustsu and the Virginia Department for Aging and Rehabilitative Services.
The reverse job fair will be held in Spring 2025. Attendees of all majors and years are invited, and will learn about cybersecurity roles, generate their own personalized skills profiles and participate in cybersecurity games to show employers what they can do. Employers will be coached before this event, on how cybersecurity work helps deal with risk, and how emerging talent can support business requirements. Guidance is provided on working with neurodiverse talent, and developing assessment criteria. If you are a four-year or community college student, or a company (including non-profits) based in Virginia, Maryland and D.C., interested in participating then join the mailing list or contact the project directly at MTM-VMD@vt.edu.
