What's your job about?
McGrathNicol’s Cyber team assists organisations with digital forensic and electronic discovery (eDiscovery) investigations, governance, risk and compliance (GRC) audits and cyber security incident response. Projects in digital forensics have required me to go onsite to companies to forensically image multiple devices such as laptops, mobile phones, and computer PCs to assist in investigations relating to employee misconduct, company proceedings or in the event of an organisation going into receivership. In my role, I have a focus on eDiscovery, I help with digital forensics and the imaging of devices, and GRC, assists the GRC team to create relevant policies. The project I have the most fun with is digital forensics. I love the old laptops that our office brings in for investigations and the practical element that you don’t often see within a corporate office. This job definitely requires some prior knowledge, but I couldn’t imagine a better place to start off. McGrathNicol has already given me so many skills that are essential to graduates in their first job.
What's your background?
I grew up in Brisbane with little to no clue of what I wanted to do after I finished high school. I wanted to find a way to have a purposeful job and decided on pursuing a Bachelor of Justice, majoring in Criminology and Policing. During my undergraduate degree, I volunteered at Crime Stoppers. At the time I had no idea what I wanted to do after my degree was over. But in volunteering, I found a passion for Intelligence and Security. Whilst I completed my Honours degree with a thesis in terrorism and the media, I began studying short courses in cybersecurity, including Cybersecurity Management and Cyber Security Network Fundamentals.
This newfound area of passion spurred me to enrol at Charles Sturt University and pursue a Graduate Certificate in Cyber Security. Once this was completed, I decided to pursue my Masters in Cyber Security whilst working and applying for jobs. I had just been accepted into my Masters when I applied and interviewed with McGrathNicol. I received the call saying that I had been successful in my application in mid-February, began two of my Masters subjects a week later, and a week after that I started full-time work! I have now been with McGrathNicol for over 10 months and can’t imagine working anywhere else between the work environment and diversity in projects! McGrathNicol has created a wonderful first corporate environment that encourages learning and development.
Could someone with a different background do your job?
Yes! When I first started my undergraduate degree, there was no way that I thought I would end up in Cyber at McGrathNicol! However, there would need to be a level of knowledge surrounding information technology and security to understand the basics of the Cyber team focus areas. This job also requires people skills, as we regularly interact with clients, a level of attention to detail, and most importantly, the drive to work hard.
What's the coolest thing about your job?
The opportunities that different jobs bring. The Cyber team is constantly upskilling and ready to learn new areas of technology to accommodate what our clients need. Being able to understand what clients are after in their organisations helps us understand where we can diversify our services. Having the opportunity to continue studying is so important to me because it’s another avenue of keeping up with what is changing within technology and cyber security. I love having the opportunity to keep learning. I think that’s one of the most important things to remember, don’t get complacent – keep learning!
What are the limitations of your job?
Our Incident Response team often face the challenges of Friday afternoon breaches with our clients however, McGrathNicol appreciates the work-life balance. My largest limitation is what I don’t know, but the fact is that employees are more than happy to share their knowledge. Over the past 10 months, I have learnt so much because others are willing to share what they know. For others coming into the industry, I recommend building up an understanding of technology and security if they were looking to start a career in the area.
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