UoM students explore job opportunities during Cyber Week

Employment and other opportunities in cybersecurity have been explored during Cyber Week at the University of Melbourne.

Representatives from 28 businesses met with over 100 tertiary and vocational students to discuss potential employment and internships.

The series of ‘speed networking for jobs’ events is the result of a strategic partnership between AustCyber, the Australian Cyber Security Growth Network and CSIRO-Data61’s student job platform, Ribit.

It forms part of Cyber Week 2018, which is AustCyber’s second annual showcase of the Australian cybersecurity industry.

AustCyber CEO Michelle Price said the networking series is pitched at students from diverse backgrounds and skill sets, interested in exploring the array of career options in cyber needed by Australian employers.

“Cybersecurity workforce development is one of AustCyber’s key drivers,” Price said.

“The cybersecurity sector is facing significant shortages, and we want to raise young people’s awareness and interest in a career in cybersecurity by exposing them to Australian employers and providing opportunities for engagement.

“Growing an industry requires a skilled workforce, and Cyber Week is the perfect opportunity to showcase the emerging talent in cybersecurity, as well as ensuring we focus on ensuring the supply side of skills matches the demand.”

Ribit Founder and Director Liz Jakubowski advocates strongly for young people to connect with businesses while studying, particularly organisations with an entrepreneurial culture.

“We’re looking to blitz the gap between industry and a talent pool which can be hard to access,” Jakubowski said.

“We take an agnostic approach to the companies we support — whether they’re start-ups, SMEs or established brands, they have roles which help students supercharge their future careers. At the same time they’re supporting their own growth needs.”

Businesses of all sizes were represented at the event, including Optus, Telstra, ANZ, Australia Post, Coder Academy, Blue IOT, AI Group, WithYouWithMe and Hivint.

Potential employment opportunities for interested students to explore in cybersecurity span beyond the technical domain, and include roles in governance, compliance risk and security consultancy.

Technical roles cover penetration testing, security assessments, source code review, red teaming, physical security and technical report writing. There are also entry-level graduate positions requiring project management, marketing and front-end developers.

“We want the whole array of job opportunities in cybersecurity to be firmly on the students’ radars when they’re planning their future careers,” Price said.

Image credit: ©agsandrew/Dollar Photo Club

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