What's your job about?
I spread my responsibility over many key areas. I am in the Cyber team, which is divided into 4 key teams – Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC), Cyber Threat Management (CTM), Identity Access Management (IAM) and Security Architecture. I am currently working for the last 3 respective teams with business as usual (BAU) tasks or aiding in projects.
My current focus is within the Identity Access Management team, spearheading a project regarding Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). I am consolidating the mapping of the certificate requests and renewal process as there is currently a disjointed understanding of the current process among the team. My responsibilities include liaising with the relevant stakeholders of the process to understand their responsibilities and the general lifecycle to create a process all stakeholders can agree on.
While mapping the current process, we have found other methods or services which can be integrated to optimise our current process. Thus, I am also responsible for coordinating the installation
What's your background?
I grew up in Seven Hills and started my education at Seven Hills Public School. As a kid, I was always interested in video games – playing them for hours nonstop and constantly arguing with my brother to play on the single computer we had at home. Mind you he is 7 years older, and I never stood a chance. Forward along a couple of years to high school (Castle Hill High School), where subjects such as Information Process Technology and Software Design and Development furthered my passion and fascination for video games and similarly technology. I was interested in the hardware the games were played on, the way technology is used in everyday life, and the concept of coding. I was hooked.
By the time we had to choose our university courses, I knew it had to involve technology. After some consideration and advice, I discovered that cybersecurity was a rapidly growing field and something I should look at. My high school studies never discussed cyber security other than the basic malware or cyber dangers, so I picked a Bachelor of Cyber Security at Macquarie University to discover what Cyber Security holds. This further piqued my interest in what cyber security and information technology look like in a professional setting. So while applying for grad roles, and browsing GradAustralia’s graduate stories for TAL, one of the rotations was cyber! A perfect fit.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
The IT graduate program offers so many different opportunities that any person that is willing to learn can benefit significantly and grow towards their desired path. So yes, someone with a completely different background from myself has a great chance at excelling at my role and even more so at the grad program.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
The coolest thing about the program is not only the breadth of exposure you can achieve in a short time (rotated between 4 teams in just 8 months), but it is also the faith and trust that’s placed in you for that short period. I was placed in Identity Access Management for just 3 months, but in those 3 months, I was given the opportunity to support and even spearhead 4 different projects. Project work is nice to experience as it feels meaningful and, in some cases, able to see tangible progress in the sense of its integration with the company.
What are the limitations of your job?
The main limitation of the program is time. Sometimes when you are put into a team, you may enjoy it too much, to the point where you don’t want to leave. I am currently experiencing this, as I wish I had more time in the team to explore and learn more. But the opportunity to explore different career options so easily is not something presented often. Considering my next rotation is software development, I am still excited and happy to move on.
3 pieces of advice for yourself when you were a student...