Maryland Cyber Jobs platform takes a skills-based approach to hiring

The Cybersecurity Association of Maryland is looking to help companies address the gap between unfilled jobs and workers with skills to fill them with a new platform.
The nonprofit, which looks to provide connecting points the state’s cyber companies, is partnering with Germantown-based SkillSmart on Maryland Cyber Jobs. It’s available to employers, whether they are cyber-specific companies or larger companies with cybersecurity positions open. That’s evident from the roughly 20 companies that are currently listing jobs, which range from ETC-based startup Point3 Security to downtown Baltimore investment firm T. Rowe Price. Government entities can also sign up.
CAMI Executive Director Stacey Smith said the desire to focus on jobs grew out of the results of a survey of 300 companies that the organization conducted. Besides sales, filling jobs stood out as a major need for the companies.
“Besides sales, one of their biggest needs was workforce,” Smith said.
The platform prizes candidates that are the right fit over the volume of applications, and in turn is designed to save time and effort in the hiring process. Companies work with the SkillSmart team to create job listings based on specific needs. The platform is designed to match up job seekers with openings based on their skills. In cases where they don’t match up, the platform provides info on resources from CCBC, UMBC and TranZed Apprenticeship Services on how to acquire those skills.
“It truly is helping job seekers identify their skills as they match up to jobs that the employers are looking to fill,” Smith said.