Please tell us about your role and main responsibilities

I joined NCS under their five-year graduate program, Nucleus, to become a cybersecurity consultant. I am training to become a specialist in using security products such as Tenable, Trend Micro and McAfee, to implement cybersecurity solutions.

My current role is in the endpoint and network security team. I am a DAY 1 engineer which means I go down to sites and I am involved in the design, implementation, configuration, testing and handover phases. My team’s role is to deploy security products on our clients’ networks and servers to ensure that their system is safe from cybersecurity threats.

How long did you take to secure the job after graduation?

It took me three to four weeks to secure a job. I began my search at the beginning of February 2022 and received the job offer at the end of February 2022.

What are some challenges you faced when looking for a job and how did you overcome them?

I was looking for a position in the IT sector. I applied to at least 20 companies but only three or four companies got back to me. For many of the roles I have applied to, I had to take a technical test before even getting a chance to be shortlisted for an interview. Some of the technical tests were too challenging for me as I only have basic experience and knowledge. More on how I overcame the challenges below.

How did you land yourself this position?

I did my research on NTU’s CareerAxis, participated in career fairs and searched online to find out which companies were hiring and what were the available job opportunities. As I possessed only basic IT knowledge back then, I focused on graduate programmes that provide the necessary training for me to become a competent cybersecurity professional.

Most crucially, I received help from my career coach at NTU Career & Attachment Office (CAO). Despite not having many work experiences, my career coach gave me advice on how I could showcase relevant experiences from my school project work, internship and part time jobs on my resume. I also polished up my interview skills.

Please share your tips and advice with fellow students who will be looking for jobs or internships soon

1. Start early. It will give you huge advantage.
2. I encourage you to attend the industry workshops and seminars organised by CAO. You will gain valuable insights of the industry you are interested in and have a deeper understanding of the different roles. From there, you can then select a role based on your strengths and preferences. If there is a particular role you are interested in, find out about the requirements, and do a related course to arm yourself with the necessary skills.
3. Do not be deterred by your GPA or be intimidated by the requirements of the job you are interested in. Don’t miss the opportunity and just submit your application! Make sure to customise and craft a good resume (more about this below) to seize an interview opportunity.
4. Crafting a good resume is a must to score an interview opportunity. The skills, achievements, or certifications you have achieved in NTU can be used to make your resume stand out. CAO’s resume workshop will teach you how to sharpen your resume step by step.
5. Make time to attend CAO’s interview workshop. It will prepare you to be ready for the hard-earned interview you scored. My career coach shared common interview questions and answers and highlighted what employers look for in a candidate. Understanding the concerns of an employer has helped build my confidence to ace the interviews.
6. It is important to show your potential employer that you have a good attitude and is committed to the job. I did a mobile application development course on Udemy and published an app. Even though app development and cybersecurity seems unrelated, my hiring manager was very impressed by the initiative I took in self-learning to develop the app.