Tell me a bit about yourself and your career/education background?
Over the past twelve years, my career background has been highly successful in customer service, training, safety, and management, including three years in short-haul working for Ryanair and five years in long haul Aviation working for Qantas, the world leader in aviation safety, before the pandemic. In this role, my number one priority was the welfare and safety of multiple individuals whilst maintaining a high quality of exceptional service in complex high-pressure situations. Due to Covid 19 decimating the aviation industry, I decided to go back to college and learn new skills. I studied at Blackpool College and gained a Level 3 in ICT Systems and Principles for IT Professionals. I achieved 8 Distinctions and 2 Passes in areas such as Software Development, Web Design, HTML/CSS, Networking and Cyber Security fundamentals.
What made you want to pursue the Cyber Security industry?
One of my teachers at college used to be a Social Engineer and taught the fundamentals of Cyber Security. She is why I want to join the Cyber Security industry; her passion really spoke to me, and since then, I have known that this was the industry for me.
What’s your dream job, and how do you plan on getting there?
My dream job would be a Cyber Forensic Analyst. I would love to join the cyber security industry through an entry-level position or a cyber security level 4 apprenticeship.
What made you want to enrol on the Bootcamp?
I enrolled on the 14-week intense Skills Bootcamp, hoping it would help me achieve three main things. Firstly: a strong understanding of coding and the basic clean code principles; second, a broader understanding of the cyber security field; finally, to gain more confidence, which was very important to me as I don’t come from an IT background.
What’s been your favourite part of the Bootcamp so far?
I truly enjoyed the intense and varied Bootcamp. It was extremely challenging at times; however, it was one hundred per cent worth it; the knowledge I gained is invaluable. I achieved what I set out to learn and much more. For example, I never thought I would learn about business, persona, and game design. As a result, I can show a Flappy Bird game I designed, alongside a mobile app created in a group, and now have the skills to research an employer thoroughly. My favourite part was the two weeks of Cyber Technologist teaching by Bob Higgie, where we had to brute-force attack a webpage he had made. Trying to guess the username and password were highly challenging but fun.