Ken Underhill is the author of Hack the Cybersecurity Interview along with Christophe Foulon and Tia Hopkins; we got the chance to sit down with him and find out more about his experience of writing with Packt.
Q: What are your specialist tech areas?
Ken: Cybersecurity, Cloud Security, GRC, Executive Leadership
Q: How did you become an author for Packt? Tell us about your journey. What was your motivation for writing this book?
Ken: The Packt team reached out. Initially I was the only author for the book, but I felt readers would benefit more from the perspectives and experience of multiple authors. We wanted to write this book to share our knowledge with people looking to start and grow their cybersecurity career.
Q: What kind of research did you do, and how long did you spend researching before beginning the book?
Ken: I did not need to do any research for the book.
Q: Did you face any challenges during the writing process? How did you overcome them?
Ken: A lack of time and I simply budgeted time in my schedule so I could complete chapters. This meant saying no to a lot of other things but anything worth doing in life requires short-term sacrifice.
Q: What’s your take on the topics and technologies discussed in the book?
Ken: This book is for cybersecurity job interviews. While there are some technologies discussed, the important thing is for people to master the fundamentals. The fundamentals of how things work and why we do certain things from a security perspective have not changed much in 20+ years. Technology changes, but not the fundamentals that the new tech is built off.
Q: Why should readers choose this book over others already on the market? How would you differentiate your book from its competition?
Ken: None of the other “interview prep” books on the market specifically address cybersecurity job interviews and the vast majority of information you can find in current books is the same bad information people keep sharing. This book gives you the real information for cybersecurity job interviews from authors that have collectively hired thousands of people just like you over the past 20 years.
Q: What are the key takeaways you want readers to come away with from the book?
Ken: You should understand the different job roles mentioned in the book and you should be better prepared for your interview after reading the book.
Q. What advice would you give to readers learning tech? Do you have any top tips?
Ken: I suggest focusing on your soft skills, like public speaking, negotiation, emotional intelligence, etc. If you can master the soft skills and convey that to employers, you can speed up getting hired.
Q. Do you have a blog that readers can follow?
Ken: I have a television show. A link can be found by visiting www.CyberLife.TV
Q. Can you share any blogs, websites and forums to help readers gain a holistic view of the tech they are learning?
Ken: Gerry Auger has a lot of free information on his Simply Cyber YouTube channel and website for cybersecurity careers.
Q. How would you describe your author’s journey with Packt? Would you recommend Packt to aspiring authors?
Ken: The Packt team made it a smooth process.
Q. Do you belong to any tech community groups?
Ken: Lots and too many to list. If people want to reach me, the best place is LinkedIn.
Q. How do you keep yourself up to date on tech?
Ken: I use podcasts, courses, and just doing things hands-on.
Q. How did you organize, plan, and prioritize your work and write the book?
Ken: I blocked out time on my calendar and eliminated all distractions.
Q. What is that one writing tip that you found most crucial and would like to share with aspiring authors?
Ken: Instead of trying to have a light writing schedule that is broken down over (x) months, it’s much better to pretend that you have half the time to write and just get it done.
Q. Would you like to share your social handles? If so, please share.
Ken: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kenunderhill YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CyberLifeTV
You can find Ken’s book on Amazon by following this link: Please click here
