Open up your graduate career options – by keeping an open mind

When you’re considering your graduate career options and assessing your strengths, don’t make assumptions about yourself. There may be employers out there desperately searching for the abilities you don’t even know you have. Bear in mind the story of Paul Laverack, a professional actor and self-taught cyber security hobbyist, who was the first winner to be announced in the 2010 Cyber Security Challenge.

Shortly before Christmas, Paul was named as the UK winner of the US Department of Defense DC3 Digital Forensics Challenge, one of the competitions that forms the Cyber Security Challenge. In order to win Paul had to complete a range of different puzzles, such as identifying items of software stored on dummy computer hard drives and decrypting complex files. The Cyber Security Challenge has been designed by leading security, education and government organisations to find individuals with the talent to defend computer networks against cyber attack.

Business and IT consulting firm Detica is sponsoring Paul’s prize – a placement on its Cyber Security Academy, which seeks to develop the skills required of the next generation of cyber security professionals. Paul will also go through to the final of the Cyber Security Challenge, to take place in March. David Garfield, chief technology officer at Detica, said, ‘Paul’s success is a clear demonstration of the hidden cyber security talent across the UK.’

So what skills and aptitudes enabled Paul, who has never been employed in the cyber security industry, to win this part of the competition? Paul said it was ‘pure intellectual curiosity’ that made him enter – and his logical, tenacious approach enabled him to keep going.

‘If something didn’t work, I did my research and tried something else until it did,’ Paul said. ‘I became interested in computers many years ago because I kept getting viruses on my own machine and wanted to understand how to deal with them. I’ve been building my knowledge ever since. I never imagined it would lead me to the final of the Cyber Security Challenge and a place on Detica’s prestigious Academy.’

Graduate job-hunters, take note – maybe you, too, have the skills to succeed at something you haven’t even considered as a potential career option. So how do you find out? Assess your strengths using the TARGETjobs Careers Report. Take a look through the wealth of information about different careers on targetjobs.co.uk. Keep an open mind. And don’t assume you need a technology degree for a career in IT.

• Find out more about the Cyber Security Challenge
• Opportunities ahead for graduates in cyber security
• IT job sector is now top for employer demand
• All degrees are welcome for graduate IT jobs
• Use the TARGETjobs Careers Report to assess your personal potential
• Graduate careers advice and information on sectors from accountancy to teaching

Posted by Alison_TARGETjobs on 20 January 2011

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