This essay was written by Renat Gimadiev, SOC Solutions Expert in Kaspersky’s Expert Security Solutions department. It highlights the critical role of structured onboarding and mentorship in modern SOCs, showing how intentional programs can accelerate analyst readiness, improve retention and reduce burnout.
It draws from real-world challenges to outline actionable strategies that help new hires become productive, including:
Structured onboarding plans (e.g., 30/60/90-day models with balanced theory and practice)
Defined mentorship roles and responsibilities (mentor, buddy, supervisor, mentee)
Practical knowledge transfer techniques, including shadowing, guided practice and feedback loops
Key performance indicators (e.g., time to independence, QA error rate and mentor satisfaction)
By using these approaches, organizations can steadily build up new hires into confident analysts who can strengthen a SOC’s detection, response and resilience.
