Cyber Security
A glimpse into my journey, from student to cyber security graduate
T
his article will shed some light on my personal journey into the workforce. Here I share my experiences, things I felt helped me, and initial observations.
By Jacinda Erkelens
How I felt about cyber security when I started my degree When I received an offer I felt relieved. Although cyber security was included in my course structure, I didn’t perceive it as a career I would pursue. In fact, I avoided the idea of being involved in cyber security. The main reason for this was my father. Before anyone gets ahead of themselves, my father never discouraged or attempted to sabotage any potential career path. He was very supportive of me throughout my studies. However, he has had a career in information technology (IT) since the early 1980s and from my understanding, was relatively well known. As advanatgous as this could be for me, career wise ,I never wanted to live under my father’s shadow.
26 | Australian Cyber Security Magazine
Non-traditional methods of study Competitions & hackathons: I find competitions and hackathons rewarding challenges, which encourage out of the box thinking. The Sydney Cyber 9/12 Student Challenge is a huge reason I have pursued a career in cyber security. This competition was initially brought to my attention via an email sent by my university. After a few weeks, one of my friends asked if I wanted to compete with her. Together we recruited a team (three security studies students and one IR/politics major student). We also required a coach who was an academic or an individual with experience in cyber and/or IT. Too intimidated to ask any of the lectures at university, I inserted my father’s information under the “coach” section. This competition was a brand new experience for all of us. We were fortunate my father was able to give up time out of his busy schedule to assist the team, including coming into university before the competition and being with us on the final day of the competition. The ‘kick-off’ evening before the event gave us an opportunity to meet
