Cyber Security Analyst Review

I work within a cyber security team in a digital forensics capactiy. Given the nature of the role no two days are usually the same but in a general sense my work day would involved some general BAU mixed with carrying out investigations and generating reports on any activites found as well as helping with ongoing projects on an ad hoc basis.

My general knowledge of cyber security has gotten significantly better through day to day exposure, especially when compared to how little time I've been in the role, that alongside the degree programme has given me knowledge of programming languages like Python and is currently covering the AWS platform as an example of cloud computing. Additionally I've had access to a lot of external training and have been encouraged to explore training and certification as I feel would serve me and my career goals, currently in the this capacity I'm working towards AZ-500 for Azure security and CySA+ from CompTIA both of which I feel I'm working towards a lot faster than if I wasn't on the GA programme

From my experience it's been great, my team are super supportive and were great at making me feel comfortable given different point I am at in my career compared to them, everyone is more than happy to share information and experience/demo things which is great and the people I work with given a lot of constructive feedback so I can keep improving, all in all my team is a great place to be and a great reflection of what the company is striving for.

From a work perspective things are great and I have dedicated time to deal with 'work' work and with university work, the only issue that I have is with the university where it does feel like there's a lack of timely communication about what is going on and what the schedule is leaving the impression that this hasn't been organised and at times as though us being GA students is an afterthought.

I receive a lot of support from work, from both my line manager and my mentor as well as service lead, ultimately from a work perspective it feels that everyone is wanting the best for me and offers whatever they can to help my achieve what I want from the programme and my career.

The university's approach is very much that GA's should drive their own learning and while some lecturers are great and providing actual teaching and then providing guidance and support other unfortunately take a much more back seat approach essentially providing us with the learning materials and just leaving us to complete it which is not what I would consider to be good enough

Ultimately teh first year content I've covered already doesn't give all that much in terms of transferable skills however the caveat is that this is due to it being foundational information that supports us in the long run and that has ultimately helped to build my confidence and I can see where in future years of the degree programme there are skills I can more directly transfer and benefit from

In short yes, there are activities and drives to get involved in mainly from a volunteering and/or charity side of things which I have somewhat gotten involved in, unfortunately from a social and networking side I understand there used to be a lot more from speaking to colleagues that have been there for longer but these have been lost to COVID for the time being at least.

Yes

In terms of the level of support and opportunities LBG offers I can't not recommend them as they are significantly better than any employer I've previously worked for, from a management perspective it really does feel like they want staff to achieve and they want to find opportunities for you to achieve in whatever way that looks for you as an individual rather than as some cookie cutter type guidance

Really my guidance would come down to just make the most of it, go in and try your best, if you're applying to a GA role it's more about showing who you are than what you already know, they don't expect you to be an SME so don't be affraid that you'll seem too 'green', show off the skills you have but don't be disheartened if you get asked a technical question at interview that you aren't sure of. The other thing is if you are applying, LBG is a pretty huge company and from experience that means parts of the application and on boarding process is quite slow (at some points in the application the gaps were big enough that I thought I didn't make the cut only to then be told a week later that I was moving on to the next stage) so don't worry it will work out it just takes a bit of time.