Cyber Security Apprentice Review

I am a cyber security apprentice and I work in the Information Security department. My daily tasks involve (or will involve) helping out with our culture and awareness campaign, producing / helping review documentation, auditing suppliers to ensure they have an appropriate level of infosec measures in place, releasing mail that has been caught up in the spam filters.

My knowledge of cyber security was very low when I started so I have learnt many new things. We have covered topics such as networking, malware analysis, open source intelligence and cryptography. We have completed some BCS exams as part of the apprenticeship so we have those as well as an increase in knowledge and understanding.

I like the team I work with and the work is mostly relevant to what I am studying with the training provider. In general I am enjoying learning about cyber security and enjoy what I do in work. There are some areas for improvement in terms of the organisation and structure of our learning programme but I will cover that in question 5.

When we started, people we met within the company seemed very excited and interested that we are the first cyber security apprentices which made me feel valued. It has taken a while to get much involvement within tasks / projects which almost negates the original point. I get the impression that there will be a lot for us to do when we have qualified but as apprentices there isn't much "real" work.

I think this is a point where there is need for improvement. We have a number (about 10-12) of classroom based learning sessions on different topics, some of which are followed up with exams. There is some pre-reading to be done before the classroom sessions and then we have a "portfolio" which is more like a separate piece of work rather than a portfolio of work that we have done in the workplace. The structure of the apprenticeship on the training providers side was not very well communicated and there were teething problems at the beginning. Within the company we have informal support from colleagues but there is not much structure to what we do at work.

We have a skills coach from the training provider who meets with us approximately every 6 weeks. There seems to be poor communications within QA in general so a lot of the questions we ask our skills coach, he doesn't know the answer to. We produce work as part of the pre-reading for the courses and it is very rarely reviewed so we don't receive feedback on whether we have properly understood things. He is approachable and friendly so I feel comfortable asking him about issues we have but generally the review meetings are not particularly helpful.

The support from my employer is quite informal on a day-to-day basis. There is no particular structure connecting the work I do and the things we are learning about on the apprenticeship. The team I work within is very helpful so there is plenty of support if I have questions about things relating to my work or studies but I do not have an official mentor.

The salary is good for an apprenticeship.

We have been able to attend conferences and conventions relating to our work which have been very interesting and useful events. Our company has networks such as the Young Professionals Network / LGBT / Women's network / BAME network (among others) and these offer opportunities to help volunteer and work on particular skills through committee / organising work. The site also has a sports and social facility where there are some sports classes as well as other extra curricular activities.

Yes

I think EDF Energy is a good company to work for. It is a large company so there are lots of opportunities to learn and grow. It is part of a very interesting industry so from a technical perspective there are lots of things to learn about. The company promotes diversity and inclusion which makes it a positive environment to work in.

I think it's good to be aware that things can move quite slowly here. The onboarding process can take a while and as a new starter, depending on which area you are working in, it can seem like it takes a while to get involved in tasks / projects. There are lots of opportunities to get involved with the networks and other things that are not directly related to work. These can be great opportunities to meet other apprentices / new starters and can also be beneficial for your personal development.