When I finished university, all I could think of was the feeling of freedom and the idea that I had no responsibilities, apart from catching up on three years of lost sleep, losing some university pizza weight and seeing all my friends from home again.
As much as I enjoyed this initial independent feeling, the idea of having to start a full-time career was always a little daunting. No more lie ins, no more living in jeans and, most importantly, finding something I enjoy and am excited to pull myself out of bed for every day at 7am.
I studied marketing at the university of Winchester, and I have always known that I want to work in an industry which is fast paced and growing. I also knew that I wanted to work in an environment where I get to talk to people and not be behind a computer all day. I studied for 3 years and achieved a first-class honours degree in Marketing and although I planned on going into the Marketing industry, I wanted more diversity and variety in my day to day job role than pureplay marketing.
PR was a great alternative as I could still take my confidence in social media, content creation and the communication skills I have learnt from my marketing degree, but apply them into a more talkative role! When I went to my first interview the glossy office in Reading was a big eye opener to what my future could hold and, when I found out more about what C8 does and who their clients are, it only made me want the position more.
Inspiring women in technology
When I looked more into the potential position at C8 on their website I noticed that it is a very female-focused organisation. All these women working for large tech and cyber security giants made me believe this business stands for all the right reasons of breaking the stereotype as generally they are male-dominated industries. Paula is an inspiring woman who has built the business from the ground up, she has organically nurtured clients like Panasonic, Carbon Black and BitSight, which is motivating for a female fresh out of university.
At the interview I met some of the people who worked at C8 and everyone seemed very down to earth. Although some of the services are difficult to understand at first, they explained them in terms I would understand so I could gather an idea of what C8 does on a day-to-day basis and what my responsibilities would be. The company culture sounded fun with monthly office lunches out and quarterly days out up in London with food and activities into the night!
Immediate experience working for global technology companies
Coming out of university everyone aspires to land jobs in high flying businesses that everyone’s heard of, but the reality is they are so competitive with thousands applying for 1 or 2 positions. By working at C8 I work with these globally renowned businesses, but externally! My CV will still look great for the future, but I also get five different business’s names under my belt rather than one. From this I can learn how different businesses have different levels of expectations. I’ve come to understand the different channels involved with different types of business, depending if they are product or service-based, or if they are regionally focused or global.
Although at first the idea of cybersecurity, AI and technology was daunting, I knew it would be worth it in the long run. All these industries are fast paced, growing in importance and making a difference in the way society operates today. In the future the skills I learn and the knowledge I gain around the topics of cybersecurity and technology will be invaluable as it shows I didn’t choose the easy option and have made a conscious effort to learn advanced technologies which are making a difference.