i have a CS degree and some internship experience but nothing in security specifically. the job posting says 'security experience preferred' but not required. i'm honestly not sure if i have a shot or if they're just collecting resumes at this point.
does anyone know if the technical bar for the associate SWE roles is similar to what's described for senior DE roles? or is it more standard coding interview stuff? also is there any point trying to cram security concepts in two weeks or would that be obvious.
really just not sure whether to invest heavily in prep for this or calibrate expectations.
3 replies
sec_sasha
new grad SWE vs detection engineer are genuinely different tracks. for associate SWE (not security-specific) it's going to be more standard coding, system design basics. you don't need to deep-dive YARA syntax. know your data structures, be able to talk through distributed systems at a conceptual level.
staff_steph
cramming security concepts in two weeks is fine for surface-level but they'll see through it pretty fast if you have no foundation. focus on the coding side, have a genuine answer for why you're interested in cybersecurity. 'the mission matters to me' reads as real. 'i like security' reads as noise.
recruiter_rita
the 'preferred not required' language is real. apply. the risk is just your time. if you get screened out fast, at least you know. but the associate path exists specifically to hire people they can grow, so no security background is explicitly fine.