The biggest mistake in cybersecurity GTM hiring is thinking it’s a talent shortage

The three issues hiding behind the “skills shortage”

The term “skills shortage” does a good job of summing up the symptom. But unpack it, and three clear issues emerge as the underlying causes.

• Hiring profiles are wrong – too many companies still recruit GTM talent as if cybersecurity were just another SaaS category.
• Expectations are unclear – employers often can’t articulate what “good” looks like beyond a resume checklist, and candidates are hired against a specification that doesn’t reflect what the role requires day to day.
• Teams are misaligned – even a strong individual hire struggles if they’re not brought into sales, marketing and presales teams already pulling in the same direction. Chemistry must be built in during the hiring process, not fixed afterward.

It’s this final point, alignment, that founders and marketing leaders returned to most often.

Why GTM teams are different in cybersecurity

The qualities that make GTM professionals successful in cybersecurity go beyond traditional sales and marketing experience. It takes technical curiosity, an understanding of how cyber threats affect customers, commercial awareness and the ability to collaborate across multiple teams.

This theme emerged consistently throughout our conversations with cybersecurity startup leaders.

Ed MacNair, CEO of TrustLayer (previously Censornet), sees this challenge from the hiring side where finding talent is difficult at both a technical and sales and marketing level. He believes integrity is a non-negotiable when hiring for GTM teams.

“It’s about really understanding exactly what your customer’s needs are, being creative, being open, and being an active listener. Specifically for cybersecurity, it’s also really important that you know and understand what the implications are for the customer’s organization.”

What the best GTM teams do differently

The organizations that consistently build strong GTM teams don’t approach hiring as a search for the perfect resume. They focus on finding people who will grow with the business, complement the existing team and strengthen collaboration across sales, marketing and channel functions.

Across our Q&A series, three themes emerged time and again:

• They prioritize mindset and adaptability over checking every box on a job description.
• They invest in developing people rather than expecting every hire to arrive fully formed.
• They recruit for team fit and alignment, not just individual performance.

This is where hiring profiles begin to make the difference. Mark Terry, Head of Marketing at CyberOne, believes organizations often place too much emphasis on finding the “perfect” candidate rather than someone who can develop with the business.

“For me, what I’ve often found is that it’s more about training and developing people – taking them on a journey with you and the company – rather than hiring someone who appears to be perfect for the role. The staff who go on this development journey are generally retained longer because of it.”

The same principle applies to team alignment.

Claire Pitman-Massie, VP of Field, Digital and Channel Marketing, EMEA at Ping Identity, believes involving sales and channel teams in recruitment is essential because success depends on how well people work together, not simply what they have achieved individually.

“For me, the challenge is getting the right person to fit the mold. There are tremendous marketing people out there – I don’t believe there is a skills shortage when it comes to GTM skills but rather finding the right fit. One of the things that I am big on is alignment with our sales team and our channel team.

“When I am recruiting, depending on the level, I involve the sales team and the channel team because there needs to be that alignment between individuals and team. There needs to be chemistry! Otherwise, it just doesn’t work. That lack of alignment is often where you find the rivalry between sales and marketing.”

Strong GTM teams don’t happen by accident. They’re built deliberately, with collaboration considered before an offer is made, not after someone joins.

The bottom line

The cybersecurity skills shortage is real, but it doesn’t fully explain why some organizations consistently build stronger GTM teams than others.

Instead of asking, “Where do we find better candidates?”, the more valuable question is, “Have we created the right conditions for the right person to succeed?”.

For cybersecurity startups and growth-stage organizations, where every hire has an outsized impact on growth, that shift in thinking can make all the difference.

If you’re building a GTM team and want to hire people who will grow with your business, strengthen team alignment and accelerate growth, we’d love to help. As specialist cybersecurity recruiters, we understand the unique hiring challenges facing startups and growth-stage businesses. Our Pay-as-you-Grow model has been designed specifically to support businesses at that stage of growth.

If you’re a GTM professional looking for your next opportunity, we’d also love to hear from you.