Overview

Looking for a Cybersecurity Job or a true entry-level career hasn't been harder. Organizations and Job postings have a miscommunication between what an ideal candidate should have on paper vs. their aptitude to perform the job. While it's great to have the necessary certifications and basic fundamentals, it doesn't necessarily translate into the corporate workforce. Lets face-it, the job market out there for career-pivoters (like myself) & collegiate students / freshers are finding it harder and harder keep up with today's standards and demands of HR. So what do we do? How can we properly introduce a candidate into the workforce? Internships! Yes, internships has been around for awhile now, but properly enabling these programs into more organizations help cultivate both the growth of the candidate and the organization.

Over the summer of 2022, I was fortunate enough to be selected as a Cyber Security Intern at Western Union. Let me be clear, I was not the traditional Intern. I'm a career-pivoter. Sure, I met the basic qualifications; but even more-so I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get into my career field. It didn't matter about the job-title, I'll take a step back to move forward any day of the week.

This week long adventure really captured what it takes to work in a corporate environment, work amongst peers, and really expanded how a supportive company can extend your career growth.

How this blog is formatted

• I won't go through every single day; unless something really stuck out.

• There will be pictures. Yay!

• My actual job description and what I do day-to-day will be on a next page

Tl;dr - This internship was honestly one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me in my career. People transitioning into a new career field sleep on the power of internships and networking; and end up applying to thousands of jobs in the process. Some key takeaways from this experience is

• To always learn. Continuously learning / growing is a mantra; especially in the tech-field.

• Networking. Talk to people, learn who they are and what they do; and how they fit in the organization.

• Always provide value and be relevant.

• Be a sponge! You will not know everything in your field. You will be faced with tasks you have no idea what to do; its important to have some support-system within your team.

So lets dig in a few things I've experienced throughout this tenure!

First Day

First day in the office was nerve wracking. Up until now all of our internship cohort have been interacting via zoom. However, after the cordial ice breakers and team bonding - organized by the awesome project management / DEI team (Dani, Laetitia, Yolanda, and Quinn; THANKS!) - we were all caught up to speed!

The first day was more of an introduction, introducing us to the office, and obtaining a feel for both the interns and corporate culture. Throughout the week, there is always a scheduled shuttle ride to the office, lunch / break was also at the same time daily.

Second day

Was much of the same as the first.

Third day

This was a pretty intensive and learning day for me. I was fortunate enough to talk to CyberDefense team and the head of the team (Brian). Shadowing them from their day-to-day was such an amazing experience. Picking their brains, learning what it takes, learning the cyber-landscape is exactly what I was looking for. Speaking to Brian and his talented team ranging from his CTI all the way to his Insider Threat, really expanded my knowledge of the SOC environment. What I gathered from my day with the team

• You gotta have passion; technical skills will always be a learning curve for everyone.

• It's not about the tools, it's about how and or why things behave or act the way the are.

• Cyber is a mile wide and an inch deep. Be willing to adapt and change.

• Continuously learning. This is a field that is ever changing; being stagnant will make you irrelevant.

The Fourth and Fifth day

We covered topics of the future of where the business is headed and how should we approach these changes. We worked in groups to help achieve these objectives.

Mentors

I was re-introduced to my Hiring Manager ( Tara M. ) who has been so supportive and leading; I wouldn't have gotten this far without her. She consistently pushes my ability to think outside of the box, and how to organize these thoughts in a well constructed process that highlights business functionality. My Senior ( Addison E. ) is so knowledgeable and efficient; she helped guided and continues to guide me into the technical aspects of cyber.

Alex Y., continually provides constructive criticism and thought provoking suggestions. His innovation and metric usage is an important skill to have in such a large organization. The ability to generate metrics and translate them into flowable decks is essential in a providing information to the higher-ups. Lastly, Stephanie H. has been so awesome to work with. Going into a DLP project that is - completely over my head 😅 - she been so understanding!

Conclusion

This internship has provided many different and awesome opportunities for many of us. Being with such a talented and bright internship cohort really expanded my way of thinking. The camaraderie during this internship will definitely be apart of our own individual stories, and the connections we made will definitely be impactful throughout our careers journey!

Pictures!