***Warning: This post is over 3,000 words, if you intend to read the whole thing, bring a snack.***
As my studies focus on both Computer Networking & Telecommunications, and Cybersecurity, my primary focus is on companies that set the standards in those areas, and the federal government, which is one of the largest consumers of those products.
The first employer I researched is the US government. I am already a federal employee and this would allow me to both capitalize on my existing years of service as well as to complete my time toward retirement that I am already invested in.
The US government does the majority of it’s hiring through it’s USAjobs.gov website. The vast majority of available positions can be found listed there, as well as listings for jobs that may not be hiring at the time, but will allow you to submit your application for review for possible future openings. Due to the nature of the hiring practices there is no direct contact until a particular agency has chosen to interview you for a position you’ve applied for. At that point you will be contacted, and further information will be provided to you for the next steps you need to take to interview for the job. Among the information given to you will be a contact point with methods of making that contact, any additional requirements for references or further processes, such as a background check, and a location and time for you to do your initial interview. The first contact point you get will likely be a Human Resources Agency and not direct contact information for who you are interviewing with. It can be frustrating, but the system is designed to ensure fairness in hiring practices and has to comply with all federal regulations on the same.
Due to my interest I will apply based upon geographic location, the nature of the job offered, and the advancement potential withing both the job and the organization to which I am applying. Also wishing to show that I am interested in providing as most I can to my organization I will ask the following questions:

1. What further qualifications can I or should I gain to increase my effectiveness in my position as well as to qualify myself for possible advancement.
2. Does the job provide training in those areas?
3. Does the job require travel? If so what is the nature and duration of the travel required?
4. Does the job have the potential for telework from home? If so, to what degree?
5. What would those conducting my interview say were the most unexpected facets of the job, and how well do they think my training would prepare me for those unexpected responsibilities? Is there training that would target that area that I can take to increase my effectiveness?
6. What information do they think that I should have that I may not have asked about, due to my not knowing the full scope of the job?

I can’t say that my research increased my interest as I have been on track for this destination throughout my college experience, and the job I have now allows me interaction with the people that I hope to end up working for. I have sought their advice in choosing the nature of my education, and I have followed it to tailor my qualifications as much as possible to make myself an ideal candidate, in their terms. While no agreement can be made regarding future employment, I have been assured that having met the goals I have set will make me very qualified for any position that I have expressed interest in, and greatly increase my likelihood of being hired. I do note that the government rates 4.2 stars our of 5 at glassdoor.
Another effect of my interactions with those in this field is that I’ve been able to look at the various position and speak to people already working in them to gain the information I have. In effect I have it direct from the source, both at a supervisory and worker level, and have not seen any information available elsewhere which would offer information I don’t already have. I am effectively applying for a new position in the company I already work for and have easy access to the majority of information I need. The only information past this point would be that which is specific to the job itself that I apply for, and that will be dependent on factors that cannot be determined at this time. What I have done is to make myself as broadly qualified as I am able to allow me greater flexibility in application areas.
If I were to imagine a possibility where I could work outside of government service, my personal interest lies most heavily in cybersecurity. When it comes to this field there are a handful of names that are the known and proven leaders in both the technology and software development to combat weaknesses as they are discovered. Many of these companies go beyond combating at the time it occurs to working to look for new vulnerabilities that a customer may have and close those openings before they can be exploited. This broadly divides the field into those who fight known weaknesses, and those who explore for such weaknesses. I would wish to work for a company that would offer me the opportunity to do either, or possibly both.
With the education I have received in college thus far, the two companies that I have gained familiarity with are Cisco and Palo Alto. Both these organizations have been foundational parts of my degree studies and through those studies captured my interest.
Cisco maintains a web page for job application where you can filter the jobs on country, state, job type and area of interest to find those positions that might interest you most. This site is well designed and beyond the options already mentioned it contains links to further options for positions that available for current student and recent graduates, and the fields in which those positions are found. Found at https://jobs.cisco.com/ it is a very friendly process, but, like the government jobs above, and many other big names in the field,  the application process first occurs online, and not until selected are you able to get most of the information asked for in this assignment.
Applying for a job requires registration, and you also gain the option to be notified of other jobs of the same nature as they become available. While not able to pin down the information that you would gain once selected for a specific position I was able to get information about the Human Resources department of Cisco, who controls the hiring process.
Name – Cisco
Address – 300 East Tasman Drive, San Jose, CA 95134
Home Page – https://www.cisco.com/
Phone – (408) 526-4000
Contact Person – Francine Katsoudas, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer
Further research found that according to glassdoor, Cisco was rated #46 on the list of Best Places to Work in 2021. (https://www.glassdoor.com/Overview/Working-at-Cisco-Systems-EI_IE1425.11,24.htm) According to Cisco in a 2020 News announcement of their ranking #1 from both Great Places to Word and Fortune Magazine, they credit their success to making employees feel empowered as team players, and provide services and benefits to the employees well above the normal expectations.
My research simply confirmed my interest in Cisco, showing that in the fields of networking and cybersecurity they are still one of the leaders, and there is no indication of them losing that position in the foreseeable future. It offers good opportunities and job security.
Questions I have would include:

1. What are the opportunities for work in different locations in the United States? In the World?
2. What is the potential for professional development within the organization?
3. As a Cisco employee, what is the nature of my access to Cisco Training Programs?
4. Does Cisco have a mentoring program for new hires, and does it have a path of professional development outlined?
5. If such a path exists, how much of it is individual effort and how much does the company support?

As mentioned above, the other company and products I’ve become familiar with during schooling are those of Palo Alto. Also a highly respected company and another of the top names in both technology and cybersecurity, Palo Alto has a hiring website similar to Cisco’s. Found at https://jobs.paloaltonetworks.com/ga-persona/ it is a very well designed page, and immediate starts with employees discussing the benefits they find of working at Palo Alto. The front page introduces you to the company, and offers insight into the companies priorities on inclusiveness, focus on underrepresented communities, specific focus on veterans, a link to basically submit a resume for future consideration, and a list of locations that Palo Alto can be found.
 
I’m going to break profile for a minute here to make a few points. My politics are what I consider to center-right, but I am more complex than that and have viewpoints that fit very well on the left. When reading about the focus on diversity and inclusiveness ones first impression might be to dismiss it as simply more of the same noise made by everyone to signal how woke or equal they might be, but if you follow the links provided you quickly find a webpage devoted specifically to the subject that shows it is not simply said, but actively acted upon and provides specifics of what they do to support these programs. That page, found at https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/about-us/inclusion-diversity give detail demographics about the company makeup and demonstrates their efforts. As a veteran I am personally impressed by the effort they make specifically toward veterans, down to and including offering free training in cybersecurity to veterans. Speaking for myself I find that this is a company that makes you feel like you want to be a part of what they are doing, and that they not only also want you to be a part, but they will actively work to make you one. Other factors restrict my choices, but if I had the freedom to do so, Palo Alto would be a priority opportunity for me to pursue. In order to be fair, I went to glassdoor at https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Palo-Alto-Networks-Reviews-E115142.htm?filter.iso3Language=eng to see other opinions. The company has an overall 3.7 stars of 5 rating, with diversity, and compensation and benefits both scoring a 4.1, and work/life balance scoring only a 3.4. A quick review of the salary information at glassdoor also reveals that Palo Alto offers an extremely competitive salary, well above the industry norm. Reading through the reviews with a focus on the negative comments makes it appear that the company is very driven and expects full support from it’s employees, and can undergo rapid changes as events develop. As a veteran, this is a familiar environment, but for someone who views their job simply as the way they make money, this would probably be a poor fit. I can’t make any firm determination, but I get the impression that if you are someone who is performance driven, cares about the work they do, and are motivated to commit to extra work as needed to meet goals, this would be a very good fit and allow for a great deal of job satisfaction.
Other links on the first page quickly allow access to a variety of information about careers, information about the working environment and benefits and it is impressive. The more I read about the company the more I wish I could pursue it. The then offer a link to information specifically aimed at current students and recent graduates. The company is aggressively pursuing new employees by offering simply amazing opportunities and guided entrances to those opportunities. They finally discuss locations they have across the world available for work, and finally a FAQ page.
The FAQ page answers quite a few questions, and most that someone interested in a job there would have, giving you a solid guide to the hiring process and the steps involved. As with the others, once you apply you will need to wait for contact for further information, but they explain the process in detail, and it seems designed specifically to address many of the typical anxieties experienced with the job pursuit process.
Company information on the Human Resources department are:
Name – Palo Alto Networks
Address – 3000 Tannery Way, Santa Clara, CA 95054
Home Page – https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/
Phone – (408) 753-4000
Contact Person – Liane Hornsey, Chief People Officer
As to the questions I would ask, Palo Alto has already addressed much of that curiosity on the hiring site. I already know what geographical locations the company has, (Australia! Oh yes, pretty please!), their career development program, information about retirement contributions, health insurance, and sick, parental, and vacation time, as well as an extremely generous leave program for those in the reserves or National Guard while meeting their active duty requirements. So the questions I am left with are relatively trivial.

1. Are there position opportunities for routine travel to offices in other countries?
2. Is it possible to obtain permanent positions in other countries?
3. What can I focus on to increase my contribution and value to the company?
4. When can I start?

As is probably obvious at this point, further research into this company greatly increased my interest. Comparing a very thorough company introduction to the reviews and complaints on glassdoor appear to give a fairly complete view of the company. A quick look at https://www.indeed.com/cmp/Palo-Alto-Networks/ doesn’t appear to contradict any information, although the overall review was slightly higher at Indeed.
Outside of already planned career choices and companies I am familiar with, a search of the internet for “best cybersecurity companies to work for” introduced me to quite a number of companies I was unfamiliar with. A result from Forbes at https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2020/10/18/the-best-cybersecurity-companies-to-work-for-based-on-glassdoor/?sh=7c64fe793d9c based on glassdoor reviews of employees willingness to recommend the company to a friend, I found BigID, SentinelOne, KnowBe4, Zscaler, AuthO, and several others, all of whom I have never heard of. As someone who is both cynical and has studied statistics, I question results that are based on percentages and do not provide actual numbers. So a 100% employee satisfaction rate doesn’t really offer me information on which to base a judgment. I went to glassdoor to gain more information and found that BigID had 55 reviews, was listed as having between 201 and 500 employees, and an overall rating of 4.7 stars. Likewise I found SentinelOne with 173 reviews, 501 – 1000 employees and an overall 4.9 rating. KnowBe4 had 475 review, 1001-5000 employees, and a 4.8 rating. Zscaler had 927 reviews, 1001-5000 employees, and a 4.7 review. Auth0 had 113 reviews, 501-1000 employee, and a 4.7 rating.
If I were truly hunting for a job, I would apply to all of these, and probably more, the Forbes list offers both a top ten, and the next 20, of which I already covered Cisco from. I would research into working locations and opportunities to work from home, as being my top priorities at this point in my life, and then into pay and advancement potentials. But as I only need one more company for this assignment, KnowBe4 caught my attention for further investigation.
Not knowing anything about the company KnowBe4, I first appreciated that the company itself was active on it’s glassdoor site, offering links about both their diversity, and an entry titled “Why Work With Us?” The fact it asked “with” instead of “for” was interesting as possibly indicative of a company attitude that was more cooperative than executive, a first point in their favor. A fairly comprehensive post, it offers a great deal of information. In fact, too much to even list simply the areas of information given. I reviewed it and the things that caught my attention were (in order presented): company wide monthly bonuses; full insurance; on-site yoga classes and 15$ massages on Thursdays; fresh fruit delivered weekly; tuition reimbursement, certification completion bonuses, reimbursement for certificate training material; remote work; dress code (I quote  “If You Don’t Get Arrested On Your Way To Work: You Are Good!”), free snacks, coffee and tea; Free Food; Game room; Events including boat cruises, theme park visits and movie nights; Active interaction between all levels, including 10 “Lunches with the CEO” per month with randomly selected employees; and an active community involvement program.
Reviewing KnowBe4’s website, https://www.knowbe4.com/products/enterprise-security-awareness-training/ you learn they focuses on security awareness and training solutions. The focus is on smarter users to reduce a companies exposure vulnerabilities. The training is available online and assessments are performed before and after training to determining the effectiveness of the training and to identify areas where further training is required. The make testing material available to businesses to maintain a continuous program verifying that protocols are being met. Their programs give reports detailing how the system is working, and allowing for early identifications of personnel who may be falling off their security requirements. This allows for targeting training easily available from KnowBe4’s platform.
As is common practice, their application is via their website at https://www.knowbe4.com/jobs and once selected you will be contacted with further information. Not having that specific information I was able to find the following Human Resources information for the company.
Name – KnowBe4
Address – 33 N. Garden Ave, Ste 1200, Clearwater, FL 33755
Home Page – https://www.knowbe4.com/
Phone – (855) 566-9234
Contact Person – Alyssa Roels
As for questions, I was already able to ask my primary one of their policy of hiring older employees, I was assured they were more than open to the idea, so I think I know what to plan on doing after retirement! Other questions that interest me are fairly typical of the earlier question I had and are addressed on the website, so I know that there is work from home opportunities, there are overseas positions, and the company enthusiastically supports employee professional development. The review at glassdoor shows that employees are very satisfied with their compensation, and are quick to recommend working there. My call to the company to get information resulted in a discussion of the paper I was doing and why, further questions about my degree, where I was in schooling, what my focus would be, and ultimately if I was interested in apply for a job when I graduated. I told them my future was pretty well locked in and that lead to the age discussion and yet another invitation to apply when I retire from federal service. At this point the only questions I would have would be specifics about living in the area and when I could start. So after research I find myself greatly interested in this company.
 
 
Additional references used for background information
 
Columbus, L. (2020, October 18). The Best Cybersecurity Companies To Work For Based On Glassdoor. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/louiscolumbus/2020/10/18/the-best-cybersecurity-companies-to-work-for-based-on-glassdoor/?sh=7c64fe793d9c
 
USAJOBS, (n.d.). The Federal Government’s official employment site. https://www.usajobs.gov/
 
Cisco Systems, Inc., https://www.cisco.com/
 
Palo Alto Networks, https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/
 
KnowBe4, https://www.knowbe4.com/
 
glassdoor, https://www.glassdoor.com/member/home/index.htm
https://www.glassdoor.com/Overview/Working-at-United-States-Federal-Government-EI_IE236635.11,43.htm
https://www.glassdoor.com/Overview/Working-at-Cisco-Systems-EI_IE1425.11,24.htm
https://www.glassdoor.com/Overview/Working-at-Palo-Alto-Networks-EI_IE115142.11,29.htm
https://www.glassdoor.com/Overview/Working-at-KnowBe4-EI_IE969384.11,18.htm