zlacker

Correlations don't have to "work" as they don't imply causality. Orange Tsai is indeed quite talented at both competitions and research (but it would prove as little as my own anecdotes).

If I'm biased, it might be because I defined the "cybersecurity industry" too broadly, not too narrowly: One can acquire certain skills from competing in CTFs/competitions, e.g. hard skills related to reverse engineering and vulnerability research... but I believe in most cases further skills are additionally needed to succeed in the industry, e.g. software engineering, and softer skills such as communication, planning and negotiation (useful for other jobs as well).

Overly optimizing skills to win CTFs while neglecting other matters can be harmful, like badly assigned character points in an RPG. :-)