Thomas Richard talks to Beth Wolfe, Senior Director of recruiting, Daxko
The Cyber Security Recruiter PodcastShow Notes
Recruiting in a whiplash market: Beth Wolfe on fraud, pay corrections, and building real connections Thomas chats with Beth Wolfe, Senior Director of Recruiting at Daxko, about today’s volatile hiring market, candidate trust issues, and recruiter best practices.
Beth shares her 12-year journey at Daxko through global growth and acquisitions, overseeing a recruiting team in the US and India and contributing to roughly 700+ hires as the company grew from about 150 to 850 employees.
They discuss the post-2022 swing from candidate-driven to employer-driven conditions, COVID-era overhiring, and a compensation “market correction” after inflated salaries and frequent counter-offers. Beth advises job seekers to personalize outreach, leverage mutual connections, and follow up politely, especially amid rising fraudulent applications enabled by AI. They cover fraud signals such as new email accounts, VPN use, VoIP numbers, camera-off interviews, and even purchased verified LinkedIn profiles, stressing recruiter intuition.
Beth attributes her career progression to tenacity, grit, curiosity, and courage, and recommends reading broadly, citing “Good to Great” and “Inspired” (Marty Cagan).
00:00 Welcome and introductions 01:04 Beth Wolfe background 01:59 700 hires at daxko 03:14 Day in the life 06:36 Why the market swings 09:17 Getting noticed by recruiters 12:14 Networking beyond Linkedin 15:21 Covid hangover and pay reset 35:56 Networking reciprocity 36:20 Approaching recruiters right 39:16 Beyond linkedin networks 41:28 Polite persistent followups 42:27 Market correction reality 46:26 Salary context and surveys 22:30 Career growth traits 55:17 Candidates respect feedback 59:22 Fraud signals in remote hiring 01:03:40 Spotting deepfake patterns 01:13:48 Wrap up and thanks
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00:00 Welcome and introductions 00:39 Lindsay career snapshot 01:41 Threat intel at Human 02:37 New book launch 03:33 Malware needs context 04:42 Spotting real people online 08:25 AI as attack amplifier 09:45 Phishing at scale 11:50 Democratized hacking risks 15:18 Path to VP leadership 20:00 AI proof risk communication 21:53 Time boxing MIT MBA grind 23:13 Writing a book discipline 23:49 Small wins and purpose 25:15 Book writing deepens mastery 26:39 Communication skills through practice 29:15 Behind the scenes struggles 32:02 Mentors versus sponsors 34:41 Security community collaboration 35:48 Whats next and book teaser 37:46 Boat go faster mantra 39:49 Final thanks and wrap up
Recruiting in cybersecurity & AI: Relationships, what great candidates do, and fixing broken hiring processes Thomas hosts the Cybersecurity Recruiter podcast with Spencer Grant, lead recruiter at 7AI, discussing recruiting realities, relationship-driven hiring, and how top candidates stand out. Spencer describes his career path largely shaped by following a strong manager and emphasizes providing a “three-star Michelin” candidate experience. They outline traits of great candidates: depth of technical understanding (the “whys”), outcome-focused thinking tied to business ROI and honesty paired with curiosity. Spencer critiques broken application processes and advises proactive outreach after applying, strong interview preparation - company research, coding/system design readiness - and asking substantive questions. They discuss AI’s impact on jobs, valuing human touch over automated screening, and Spencer’s Meta layoff and contracting path back to full-time. Book recommendation: “The Mental Game: Winning the War Within Your Mind.”