How to source and screen Penetration Tester candidates

Title variants to search

Postings and resumes rarely use one consistent title. Cover all of these when searching boards and your own database.

• Penetration Tester
• Ethical Hacker
• Red Team Operator
• Security Consultant (Offensive)

Starter Boolean search string

Paste this into a job board or resume database, then tighten it with location, work authorization and years of experience.

("Penetration Tester" OR "Ethical Hacker" OR "Red Team Operator" OR "Security Consultant (Offensive)") AND ("Web and network penetration testing" AND "Tools such as Burp Suite and Nmap" AND "OWASP Top 10")

Google resume X-ray string

Replace City and ST with your target location. The intitle operators and exclusions steer Google toward resumes instead of job ads and templates. Check the privacy rules that apply before collecting contact details.

(intitle:resume OR intitle:cv) ("Penetration Tester" OR "Ethical Hacker" OR "Red Team Operator" OR "Security Consultant (Offensive)") ("Web and network penetration testing" OR "Tools such as Burp Suite and Nmap" OR "OWASP Top 10") ("City" OR "ST") -job -jobs -sample -template -hiring

LinkedIn Recruiter variant

LinkedIn supports AND, OR and NOT in uppercase. Excluding junior and non-candidate titles keeps the list clean.

("Penetration Tester" OR "Ethical Hacker" OR "Red Team Operator" OR "Security Consultant (Offensive)") AND ("Web and network penetration testing" OR "Tools such as Burp Suite and Nmap" OR "OWASP Top 10") AND NOT (intern OR trainee OR recruiter)

Must-have skills

If a candidate cannot speak to these, they are rarely a fit.

• Web and network penetration testing
• Tools such as Burp Suite and Nmap
• OWASP Top 10
• Scripting
• Report writing

Nice-to-have skills

Use these to rank candidates who already meet the must-haves.

• OSCP or similar certification
• Cloud security testing
• Active Directory attacks
• Mobile testing
• Remediation guidance

Screening questions

Three questions that separate hands-on experience from keyword matching.

• Walk me through how you test a web application.
• How do you write a finding so developers can fix it?
• What is your scope and authorization process before testing?

Before you run these strings

Operator behavior differs by platform, so test each string on a small result set first. Keep every OR group inside parentheses, avoid piling on exclusions that can remove good candidates, and add location and work authorization last. The Boolean search cheat sheet and the Dice Boolean search guide cover the details.

Where automation helps

A penetration tester requirement is only valuable if you see it early and submit a resume that mirrors it. MatchWire scrapes job boards every 30 minutes, sweeps employer career sites on a regular schedule, matches each new posting to the consultants on your bench, and drafts an AI-tailored resume for matches you queue, so your recruiters spend time on the call, not the search.

Frequently asked questions