Building a digital and data career: My placement year experience

When I joined PA as a digital trust and cyber security industrial placement student, it was my first professional role. I was both excited and nervous as I didn’t know what to expect. But what I did know was there was going to be so many opportunities to learn and grow. When I started, my ambition was to make a positive impression, learn from experienced professionals, and find a way of working that I enjoyed and helped me reach my potential to set me up for a strong career.

Why cyber security?

When I was a kid, I used to spend hours playing computer games, much to my dad’s dismay. Then I started downloading new games and software, experimenting with how to remove malicious software to get the best out of the games. I learnt a lot of this through experimentation and watching YouTube tutorials.

I decided to turn this hobby into a career, so I went to study cyber security at Staffordshire University London. The degree helped me get stuck into lots of hands-on projects, lab work, and theory. But it also made me wonder how all this technology could be applied in the real-world. That’s why I decided to do a placement year – to gain real experience of cyber security in practice and to give me an employability boost after graduation.

Choosing a placement year at PA

What stood out to me about PA was the variety of industries we operate in, from financial services to transport, from public services to defence, and more. That really appealed to me because I wanted to gain experience in cyber security across a variety of sectors, showing me the breadth of cyber challenges faced across industries and helping me decide what sector I might want to grow my career in. Plus, the sheer number and variety of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) at PA working in different areas of cyber security such as cloud, operational modelling, security architecture, and privacy was really appealing because it meant I’d be learning from and working with the best.

The application process helped reaffirm my decision to apply to PA. In my interviews I met many of the colleagues I now work directly alongside. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed the interviews – it was refreshing to see how friendly they were, as I had assumed it would be a really intimidating experience. I got to share my interests, aspirations, and future plans with the panel. This helped me feel at ease and answer the questions with confidence.

My first days on the job

Before I started my role, I assumed placement students wouldn’t get much attention or support because everyone would be too busy. But my experience was quite the opposite. From day one, there was a clear structure and plan in place to help us all get involved, from introduction sessions with different departments, to meetings with senior leaders. Everyone was generous with their time, giving me the opportunity to connect with a wide range of cyber security professionals across the business.

Making real-world impact

I got stuck into client projects in my first week. One of the key highlights was experiencing what it was like to coordinate and conduct a workshop with key client stakeholders from start to finish in my first project for a UK healthcare provider.

The client came to us to improve their information connectivity across their branches. Our solution focused on creating a unified system that enabled all branches to easily share and access live information, reducing duplication, and improving the customer experience.

This project gave me a valuable insight into client stakeholder management. It was also my first taste of what it’s like to work with a team to achieve a shared goal.

My next project was for a public sector client. I was keen to work on security operation centres and cloud computing, so I jumped at this opportunity when it arose. Throughout the project I rotated through different roles in the security operations team – from threat hunting, monitoring system behaviour to detect threats and analyse anomalies in network traffic, to vulnerability management, scanning assets for vulnerabilities and working on methods of remediation for any vulnerabilities found.

I also worked with the incidence response team, monitoring security alerts and investigating end user incidents such as suspicious connections. It was great exploring so many different aspects of security operations to help me figure out what I enjoyed and where my strengths lied.

Life at PA

Alongside client work, there's so much to get involved at PA. Whether you’re into sports, arts and crafts, or wellbeing – I even attended a belly dancing class at the office.

Getting involved in socials and networking events with the team and my fellow placement students helped me build a stronger connection with my colleagues and facilitated conversations that led to exciting project opportunities.

Support, growth, and development

On my first day of placement year, I met my buddy and my line manager, both of whom were a huge source of support for me. I particularly loved having a buddy that had similar experiences prior to joining PA – they were always had a familiar face to reach out to with any questions – silly or otherwise.

My line manager gave me useful advice on progression and navigating life as early career professional. They helped connect me to the right people to explore development opportunities I was interested in and were also always someone I could reach out to if I needed wellbeing support.

Beyond my immediate team and projects, I also got an insight into the different industries and capabilities across the business, rotating through different teams to get exposure to different parts of the cyber work PA does.

My team regularly gave me the freedom to choose what part of cyber security I wanted to explore which I really valued.

I also gained my Amazon Web Services Cloud Practitioner certification during my placement year, which was incredibly valuable for growing my employability and professional skills that I could use in my future career and drive meaningful digital transformations.

Taking the next step in my career

My placement year ticked all the boxes for me. I gained valuable experience of life as a cyber security professional, built on my technical skillset, whilst also developing soft skills needed to excel in a corporate environment that I had often overlooked during my academic studies.

Since finishing my placement year, I went back to university with a newfound confidence, helping me achieve a first in my cyber security undergraduate degree. Since graduating, I’ve returned to PA on the digital trust and cyber security graduate scheme and I can’t wait to see where my career goes next.