[Gllug] how reliable is netcraft?

[Justin Perreault]

On Mon, 2011-12-05 at 14:15 +0000, James Courtier-Dutton wrote:
> On 5 December 2011 11:16, John Levin <john at technolalia.org> wrote:
> > As preparation for a job interview tomorrow, I checked my prospective
> > employer's website against netcraft.com. The results indicate that they are
> > running a very outdated version of their CMS. I am now wondering how to
> > raise this in my interview.

> When they ask you if you have any questions, and based on previous
> conversations it seems appropriate, ask them in a non-confrontational
> way. I.e. "I have noticed a possible problem with your web site, who
> is the web site security contact I could talk to?"

I agree with the sentiment however this example raises the escalation of
an issue. An effective research question but, it basically asks who
should be blamed.

As mentioned elsewhere in this thread asking open ended questions will
lead to more information:

"How is security policy managed?"
"What factors are used to determine upgrade time scales for software,
services, hardware, . . ."
"What are your biggest challenges when trying to balance security vs new
features?"

If they ask, 
"Is there a specific concern about our security that you know of?" 
you could answer 
"From the research I have done it seems that ..." "What have I missed?" 

They are directly asking a question so they will be more prepared for an
issue being raised. You are providing the information with clear
indication that there might be information you have not been made privy
to. By finishing it off with such a question it will lead to further
discussion or them admitting "I do not know." or "Nothing." either of
which indicates competence on your part.

If you want to raise the issue because you like the company and want it
to the most successful company possible. As mentioned elsewhere do lots
of research but then make a business case, submit it to them and
indicate your skills to help solve the issue.

An interview is not likely going to afford the time to "get into" what
the issue is but raising the issue in any partial way is likely to
associate problems with your name instead of solutions with your name.

All the best. I hope you get the work you want.

Justin
-- 
Justin Perreault <justinperreault at dl-jp.com>

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