The North West Cyber Resilience Centre has worked with students from several local universities in the North West since 2020. The work these students have completed has helped to give them real-world experience and prepare them for their first job after graduation. This work is overseen by our Senior Cyber Security Consultant, MJ who talks to recent graduates to discuss working with the NWCRC and life after university.

Students are employed to gain on-the-job experience working within the cybersecurity sector

In 2021 on our third cohort of students, we provided over 1,000 hrs real-world experience to our students. To further enhance the knowledge of our students we started to work alongside Steven Cockcroft at Cyber Security Professionals to introduce a unique cyber security qualifications path for a select number of our students. These certifications help to bring our students to industry standards and demonstrate our commitment to delivering our security services to industry standards.

In 2021 we have also expanded our reach to all the North West Universities including Liverpool, Chester and Lancashire as part of our expansion from Greater Manchester to the whole of the North West. The adoption of remote working has made this transition possible and we already have students from UCLAN now working with us.

The effort that we have put into student skill development in cyber security is exceptionally unique and the outcome speaks for itself. Below we share the student journey of several recent graduates who were in our first and second cohort of students in 2020 and 2021.

Read the stories of students who graduated in 2020 - 2021.

Aleksandra Mokric was first employed in 2020 and graduated with an MSc in Advanced Computer Science from the University of Manchester. In January of 2021, Aleks found full-time employment with ARM in London working as a graduate product designer.

Aleksandra describes her time working with the Cyber Resilience Centre:

"I had the privilege of working at the Cyber Resilience Centre as a part-time Junior Cyber Security Consultant. My journey working at the Cyber Resilience Centre shaped my understanding of how crucial it is to bring awareness about the cyber threats out there and provide the best possible solutions. More importantly, it showed me how crucial teamwork is. The way we learn from one another is the true quintessence of what makes something come to life and in this case what makes working at the Cyber Resilience Centre a great place.”

“My journey with the Cyber Resilience Centre might have ended for now, but what I have learnt from working there I take with me now in my new career. I will forever be thankful for how much the Cyber Resilience Centre guided me towards my personal growth and I am happy to have worked there."

Amirali Rasaei was first employed in 2020 and graduated with a BSc in Computer Science with web development from the University of Salford. In July of 202, Amir found full-time employment with The Hut Group (THG) in Manchester working as an information security graduate.

Amir describes his time working with the Cyber Resilience Centre:

"I have always been interested in Cybersecurity and at CRC I got the opportunity to gain industry experience as a Junior. It has been an eye-opening journey because I got to work directly with SME leaders from all over Manchester and develop the confidence to help them with their company’s Cybersecurity Awareness Training. After working in CRC for close to a year, on top of gaining technical skills in passive reconnaissance and report writing, I have been able to develop my critical thinking, caring, professionalism and communication skills."

Marie Le Corre was first employed in November 2020 and graduated with an MSc in Advanced Computer Science from the University of Manchester. In September 2021, Marie found full-time employment with EY in France working as an information security graduate.

Saira Hassan was first employed in 2020 and graduated with a BSc in Computer Science development from the University of Manchester. In August of 2021, Saira found full-time employment with Immersive Labs working as a cloud security engineer. Saira progressed with her career at NCC Group as a Junior Security Consultant.