Cracking a career in cybersecurity?

Exposure:

I left school wanting to be an English teacher, mostly because of the fantastic teachers who taught me. Careers in IT weren’t showcased very much, so I simply didn’t know what opportunities were available. It was only at university that a career in computing was piqued and I began to realise the vast opportunities available to me, especially in cybersecurity.

I’ve now been working in this industry for over six years and have seen just how varied, challenging and worthwhile it is. It’s a discipline that impacts all areas of our lives and offers wonderful career opportunities for everyone, no matter your skillset. From my experience at school, I think it’s so important for children to meet real people like them who are working in careers they may never have considered.  It’s for that reason that I do a lot of talks in schools to showcase careers in cybersecurity.

Stay open to new opportunities:

I started my career developing applications and testing their performance against strict security requirements. This meant ensuring that the code I wrote met high security coding standards to prevent security vulnerabilities, such as bugs and memory leaks, and protect the application integrity.  Since then, I’ve deliberately taken on a wide variety of roles which have involved encryption, mobile apps, workflows and more interestingly, developing an application accessible for people with a range of disabilities. The latter really opened my eyes to issues I hadn’t considered before and was an incredible opportunity to understand more about the impact of my work on end users.

My current role as an identity and access management architect, involves ensuring that applications are secure and usable, while protecting users’ personal identifiable information and fulfilling the customer’s vision. It comprises designing solutions to meet customer goals in an environment that’s constantly changing.

Work for the greater good:

Working in cybersecurity, you can see the tangible benefits of what you’re doing and the value it delivers to the client and even society. Within Capgemini, often the work involves protecting critical national infrastructure, which has a real impact on everyone’s life in the UK. You are doing something really worthwhile and valuable to the nation. You regularly find yourself working on diverse projects with diverse people who bring different skills and expertise to the team.

When I joined the company, I was immediately struck by how excited people were to hear my views and the possibilities of working together. People were willing to learn from me, and everyone was keen to share expertise and learn from each other.

Something for everyone

The opportunities in cybersecurity are so varied, and the roles are expanding dramatically.

That is only likely to continue in the coming years as technology increasingly touches every aspect of our lives. Cybersecurity needs people with every type of expertise to tackle the challenges ahead. Within Capgemini, we have a range of roles from Security Business Analyst to network specialists and everything in-between (Cloud security consultant, Threat Analyst, Risk Manager, Security Policy Consultant, Security Architect…the list goes on). You don’t have to be a technology expert to work in cybersecurity, it’s a dynamic industry with something for everyone.

Collaboration is key

Working with so many different people means cybersecurity is a real team environment. When your role involves identifying security issues and vulnerabilities, working out how to mitigate them, without impacting the performance of an application, you need to be willing to collaborate. You have to be able to listen and understand different points of view, so that together you can determine how to meet requirements while fulfilling business needs. That involves a lot of talking! Many people think that a role in cybersecurity involves sitting in a dark room looking at a screen all day. But my role is nothing like that. Much of my time is spent collaborating with many different people.

Love your career

At Capgemini, I love the fact that I can just be me, without any apologies. This means I can bring my whole self to work, without the need to hide what makes me different like my passions, background and culture.  I have met so many amazing people with different skills and expertise that empowers me in different ways. If you would like to meet them too, I would encourage you to join our team.

Find a role for you in cybersecurity at Capgemini. Take a look at the opportunities available.

Author

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Shana Dacres