Cyber Security Analyst Review

At the moment on a day to day basis I work in excel to map out the flows of data between different systems to identify single points of failure. I have also been assigning security rating to customer journeys. These are the different types if interactions a customer can have with Barclays and the security rating identifies the amount of risk associated with each interaction.

I have massively developed my skills when working with software such as excel. My knowledge on security in general has also increased a large amount. My job has also helped me to look at the bigger picture of any situation. This can be applied to all walks of life and is a key life skill. My time management has also improved massively which has helped me outside of work and I actually do more activities now than I did before I had a job.

The actual work that I do on a day to day basis is not particularly challenging at all and doesn't require a large amount of knowledge and is rather boring. The primary reason for this is that my team is a new team and we are having to do the leg work to build a basic foundation such as an asset inventory. However the concepts that we are working towards and the end goal is what spurs the team on and keeps me going.

QA had a lack of contact initially but the on boarding process was fairly straightforward. One thing I did find a bit tedious was that I was asked for my CV numerous times after already providing it. There were no issues for myself however some other apprentices did struggle with it for other reasons. The first week of training that we had was really interesting and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The next issue is that my first training session was at the start of March and my second isn't until August. I had put in the request to potentially shorten the course to 12 months as the content seemed fairly straightforward however was told that it probably wasn't possible. However there being that long between each week block at the college seems pretty contradictory. Considering there is more than enough to do all the training in one year and just appears to be poor scheduling/organisation. Part of the initial process is to write an essay that answers numerous question set by QA. The majority of these questions seem really unnecessary such as "Acknowledge other peoples accomplishments and strengths". This may only seems unnecessary to Barclays employees because principles like this are already heavily enforced in Barclays. The support is actually really good and we each have a skills coach who we can email with any questions we have. As well as during the training week we could ask any question we had. The task delegation is really good however I think it could be more frequent initially. We were given months to complete a few basic questions which meant it was difficult to gauge how long the answers should be.

My employer is really really good and we have amazing support. We have a career coach assigned to us who is always there for anything even if it seems like a stupid question and she is only en email or short walk away. The team I work with/in is also really supportive and will always review any work I do if I ask. They sit next me and are really easy to talk to. Barclays attitude towards supporting apprentices is unrivaled and you could not ask for more.

So far any support I have required has been given to me in a short time period so I could not ask for more. The accessibility is good and only required me to send an email and when I am in the QA building everyone is friendly and you can just ask for any support you need. The general attitude is also really good and just feels like a friend who you can ask questions whenever. As I mentioned above really enjoyed the week course which was Open Source Intelligence as it was really interesting and well presented.

The training provided by QA is very applicable to my job role as I work in Cyber Security. I can only comment on the one course I have done so far and it made me much more aware of cyber risks which has enabled me to highlight certain risks when in meeting etc. I definitely know more about what customer security have to deal with after completing the open source intelligence course.

There are loads of activities here at Radbroke. The onsite gym organises different health and fitness events all the time and every day of the week we have different companies coming in to sell local produce. There is too many social clubs to name so whatever you are interested in you can be sure there is a club for it. There is a walking route around our site so at lunches we often go on walks. There is also an onsite Starbucks if you want to buy coffee or there are instant boiling water taps so you can make brews anytime. We also have lots of local companies come and sell their produce on site.

Yes

The working environment is really friendly and everyone is there to support you with anything. There are even dedicated services to help with your home life if you have any difficulty and they are always there to talk about anything that could be troubling you. The working hours are amazing because they are flexible which allows you to fit your life in around work.

Go for it and you wont regret it. Even if it is just a stepping stone they offer amazing help. If you plan on staying over five years then make use of the sharesave and sharpurcahse plan to make some extra money. Speak to as many people as possible as networking is crucial.