Exactly!

While The InfoSecMentors Project may be on a break until September, there are still plenty of conversations happening about mentoring! One blog post in particular has so correctly hit the nail on the head I wish I could copy and paste the whole thing! (But I won't. Remember kids, plagiarism is bad m'kay!)

This article comes from Ramit Sethi at iwillteachyoutoberich.com (not a security-related blog, but couldn't hurt to read it) called "Why Successful People Don't Want To Mentor You." His take is that these days so few people actually put in the work to be a good mentee that it has left a bad taste in everyone's mouth about being a mentor. So it's not entirely your fault that it is so hard to find a good mentor. Fortunately, those that really do want to put in the effort will be part of a very short list that gets catapulted to the top. Ramit explains exactly how to do just a few hours of work before you approach your ideal mentor to guarantee they will jump at the opportunity to work with you.

From the article:

• "Here is the 1-2-3 Choice Technique: “Hi Ramit, I love your book on blah blah. I noticed you said I should XYZ in chapter 5, and so I tried it. I’m stuck due to XYZ. So I’ve come up with 3 possible routes:
• blah blah1
• blah blah2
• blah blah3

Which do you think I should do?

This will get almost a 100% response rate, since you have actually done the work in your head…plus all I have to do is tell you which is best. GOOD JOB."

Brilliant!

I also thought the article had an interesting point about how as mentors we create these huge artificial barriers to intentionally make it difficult to contact us, perhaps without realizing it. Having your email address public may not be practical for other reasons, but at least consider making your LinkedIn profile public and be responsive there. And if you're a mentee, please be respectful of this direct access you have to the people in your industry. You may not realize it now but being "kooky," flakey, or lame is actually ruining it for the rest of us!

As part of the InfoSecMentors Project, I can vouch that everything in this article is true. The substantial majority of mentees are not doing the legwork, and so setting yourself apart is very doable (and totally worth it!) Look through past examples on this blog about the type of projects and jobs people get exposed to after they do the homework. Listen to the podcast at the end of Ramit's article for dozens more specific examples. Do this, and as Ramit said, "you will find people that LOVE helping other ambitious people who take action."

Good luck! (Not that you need it!)

Guest Blog: Michelle Klinger "And when exactly am I supposed to find time for that?"

Today, our guest blogger is Michelle Klinger. Michelle has spent the last 5 years as a security assessor for Fortune 500 companies. She has joined the InfoSec Mentors program as a way to increase her technical skills and gain a better understanding of the industry.

As I begin to pursue my information security career in earnest I have come to the conclusion that in order to truly succeed in this industry, it requires an inordinate amount of time and energy be devoted to the trade. Now I know what you are saying... DUH! I suppose to be successful in any career one must devote endless amounts of time. I obviously recognize that hard work is required to succeed but I am more curious about the info sec community specifically and how you deal with these pressures.

I use Twitter specifically to connect, interact, and network with the info sec community, and I’ve been lucky enough to make some good friends with what Andrew Hay calls “D List” security professionals. But as I read my tweet stream I am struck by all of the activities these D list, successful, security professionals engage in: giving talks; blogs (both writing and reading); attending conferences; “real job”; side projects; reading security articles; podcasts (both recording and listening to); and attending local security meet-ups. When do you sleep?! I want to know what the secret is for being able to maintain this level of devotion. Does one need to be single? Is it absolutely necessary to have an understanding spouse? Or have you just resigned yourself to the fact that people are going to be disappointed and pissed off that you never have time for them?

Now I’ve committed to taking this seriously to learn as much as I can….I’ve subscribed to various podcasts & blogs; I’ve participated on a few Bsides panels at BSidesSF and even gave my own talk at BSidesBos, wrote my first blog, attended several conferences, co-planning BSidesDFW (shameless plug), and even signed up for InfoSecMentors. And so as I begin to come to the realization that there are not enough hours in the day, I turn to the experts for advice on what I should expect or watch out for? At the very least send me that dohicky thing that is able to make time stand still...

In addition to finding the balance between the daily grind and the extracurriculars, you can find Michelle Klinger working on her latest side project, Security B-Sides DFW. This B-Sides is an unconference event held in Dallas-Fort Worth on Saturday, November 6, 2010. The committee is still looking for sponsors, and the Call For Speakers is still open. To show support, tweet "#BSidesDFW November 6, 2010: Don't Mess with Security! http://bit.ly/BSidesDFW"