By Abby Rathburn | Staff Writer
It takes mere seconds for hackers to access what took years to build.
Alumni of the Cybersecurity Club shared their tips and tricks for entering a workforce with such high stakes on Friday evening in Cashion 314.
The panel consisted of alumni working in cybersecurity, consulting and software engineering, representing Textron, Cisco ASIG, L3Harris, Dell and Crowdstrike.
Long Island, N.Y., senior Peter Whitcomb, president of the Cybersecurity Club, said the board chose to host the event because having a lot of great minds in one room at once is beneficial for members looking into multiple fields of study.
“Having a mentor is really important to give you knowledge and the skill sets that are needed because if they see you going through something that they have gone through, they can very well help you and give you tips and advice,” Whitcomb said.
Bellevue, Wash., junior Noah Mathew serves as the event planner for the club, working to create a balance between networking workshops and events, as well as social meetings. According to Mathew, the planning that went into this event addresses a deeper concern with the cybersecurity field.
“Cybersecurity is one of those things where there is a huge barrier to entry with lingo terminology, especially if you are someone who’s not really super familiar with computers,” Matthew said. “It can feel like something you can never get into.”
The barrier to entry doesn’t stop there — this imitation often keeps students from exploring cybersecurity in the first place, a challenge that the club works to tackle.
“A lot of times students either don’t know about it, or they’re kind of scared to jump into that, but a lot of these are beginner-friendly and I think we want to advertise that you’ll figure it out,” Whitcomb said.
By hosting these professional development events, the board hopes to attract anyone interested in ECS, MIS, cybersecurity or business, broadening their reach to anyone looking to explore career opportunities and learn more about what the club has to offer, including competitions.
“Our competitive teams are great resume boosters, as well,” Whitcomb said. “I know in all of my interviews, I’ve talked about that, and pretty much every employer loves that.”
In March, a small competitive team within the cybersecurity club will travel to Tulsa, Okla., to compete in a regional competition where members hack and protect against hackers, gaining hands-on experience within the cybersecurity field. Patrick Harris, an alumnus of the club, echoed that this type of competition helps in the interview process.
“CCDC or a home lab or getting involved in research, all of those things are going to help you build your specific niche and be able to give information that others don’t have,” Harris said.
In order to ensure the continuity of these events, the Cybersecurity Club keeps an email list of all alumni, so that they’re able to keep in close contact with those who might want to return.
“And that’s a lot of what I feel like this alumni event is, is just us inviting a lot of our old friends back, hoping they make friends with the new members,” Mathew said.
