Working with the cyber student community to develop the talent pathway

By Niomie Haynes, commercial manager at the North West Cyber Resilience Centre , October 2024

Our focus at the North West Cyber Resilience Centre (NWCRC)is to support small to medium businesses to become more cyber resilient, through our affordable training sessions as well as funded programmes.

However, we also have another really important remit which is to work closely with the student cyber security community and play a part in developing the talent pathway.

A recent survey by the Government found that the number of cyber security graduates has actually increased by 34%, which is hugely positive news. However on a more negative note it found that core cyber job postings had decreased by 32%between 2022 and 2023.

The research also found that 44% of businesses have a skills gap where employees responsible for cyber security lack the confidence to carryout the basic tasks laid out in the government-endorsed Cyber Essentials scheme, and are not using external cyber security providers for these tasks. On top of this, we also have an important part to play in encouraging women to consider a career in cyber security. Recent figures from ISC2research found that only 23% of cyber security teams were women globally.

The cyber student community

This October we’re hosting three Student Chapter events across the North West - including one in Manchester on October 9, at Edge Hill University on October 24 and at the University of Central Lancashire on October30.

Our Student Chapter Events are held every year at different locations across the North West. The primary goal of these events is to create a sense of community and knowledge-sharing for students and expose them to the diverse career opportunities within the cyber security industry.

We bring together different speakers who talk about their career paths, showcasing the huge variety of different roles within the cybersecurity industry. Our speakers range from ethical hackers, cyber security within law enforcement and security analysts, for example. Their insights and experiences serve to inspire and guide aspiring students, providing them with an idea of the variety of pathways within cyber security.

Our event commercial sponsorships enable us to provide a welcoming environment, along with pizza and drinks. During the dedicated networking section at the end of each event, attendees have the chance to interact with industry professionals, ask questions and make connections that could help shape their future careers.

Our Student Chapter Events are designed to be engaging, informative and inclusive. We encourage students from all academic back grounds and levels of experience to attend.

Student placements

As part of our commitment to developing the talent pathway, we also have a number of paid student placements every year. This is usually a group of six to eight cyber students from different universities who will run our cyber security training sessions for small businesses.

This is a great opportunity for students to gain real lifework experience, use their technical skills as well as gaining professional work experience. Many students have never had an office-based job before, so this experience is vital for them to move into a full-time professional role at the end of their course. It’s also important that these are paid work placements.

We provide them with full training, mentoring and support, and over the year get to know them really well. Our current full time cybersecurity consultant Jacob Alcock actually started as a student placement and was then offered a part-time job while he finished his studies. He then moved into a full time position when he graduated, and spends a lot of time working closely with the students in a mentoring position.

It’s really important that we employ a wide range of students from different backgrounds to ensure we have diversity that reflects the communities we work in. We also spend time ensuring that we reach out to female cyber security students and ensure that we extend our support and mentorship to them and encourage them to take part.

Through these placements, we not only contribute to the development of future cyber security professionals but also create a supportive and nurturing environment where students can thrive and reach their full potential.