How To Prepare For a SOC Analyst Interview

Kamini Kumari
3 min readJun 29, 2022

A security operation center (SOC) is responsible for protecting the organization from potential security threats. There are SOC analysts, security engineers, Shift leads, and SOC managers in the SOC team. SOC analyst is a cybersecurity professional that proactively monitors an organization’s security infrastructure and detects security incidents and potential vulnerabilities in the security posture. These professionals are proficient in incident handling, log management, and threat hunting. Many Cybersecurity professionals like to start their careers as SOC Analysts. It is one of the exciting and most favored job positions for newbies or experienced professionals. However, The interview process to get this job role can be quite challenging. This section highlights the preparation strategy and what type of questions to expect in the interview.

What type of questions to expect in a SOC Analyst job interview?

1. Questions related to your background

These questions may include the sources of the information security news, your analytical background, and your position and achievements in the previous organizations.

2. Questions based on Linux

These questions may revolve around your experience with Linux, securing Linux servers, and changing the DNS setting in Linux. You must be well-versed with Linux and other operating systems such as Windows and Mac.

3. Technical questions

The interviewing panel may ask you questions on widespread Cyber threats and vulnerabilities. Get an in-depth understanding of phishing attacks, SQL injection, DDOS attacks, TCP working, and the difference between TCP and UDP.

4. Questions about the SOC and various SOC processes

The interviewer may ask you questions regarding the SOC architecture, responsibilities of the L1 and L2 SOC analysts, SOC models, and SOC implementation stages.

Here are the 20 most common SOC Analyst Interview Questions and Answers that may help you to get a basic understanding of what to expect in a SOC Analyst interview.

SOC Analyst Interview preparation

· Collect all the possible information about the organization, like what the organization deals with, who the people in the top hierarchy, projects they are working on, security tools, and platforms they are using to secure their IT environment. They will expect you have the required knowledge about these tools and security platforms.

· Keep yourself updated with the recently uncovered vulnerabilities or cyberthreats. The interviewer may check how aware you are of recent happening in the industry.

· Search for the frequently asked interview questions online and prepare your own answers. It will help you to control your nerves and present yourself confidently.

· Create a list of your previous achievements. You may be asked directly, or you may give examples of these achievements wherever necessary.

· Demonstrate your skills while answering the questions on your previous accomplishments and previous job roles.

SOC Analyst Training with Infosec Train

Infosec Train is one of the reputed IT security training providers across the globe. It offers a wide range of training programs for various certification courses. Here are some of the training programs that can help you to acquire the necessary skills for a SOC analyst job role:

· Infosec Train’s SOC Analyst training program

· IBM QRadar SIEM Tool Training

· EC-Council’s Certified SOC Analyst training course

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