Transitioning from Studying into the Cyber Security Industry

Moderator: Aaron Robertson
Panelists: Rami Tawil, Jo Zhou, Babanpreet Kaur, Luke Williams
Format: 45 mins
Track: Career Village
Location: The Studio
Time: Saturday 1:30pm

Panel Discussion
It can be difficult for many students to transition from University into their first full time job in the security industry. With the pressure of exams and assignments, the last thing anyone wants to do is stress about whether or not they will land their dream job at the end of it.

Our diverse panel is made up of recent graduates, and students who are still studying, but have all managed to find full time employment in the Cyber Security industry. Be sure to join us we discuss commonly asked questions, interesting experiences, and any questions the audience has left towards the end!

Speaker Bios:
​​Moderator: Aaron Robertson
Aaron is a blue-teamer, who has spent the last two and a half years working on improving various security capabilities on the Reece Tech team, now with a focus on application security. He spent two years running the Deakin Information Security Club as President, and graduated with a Bachelor of Cyber Security in 2018.

Panelist: Rami Tawil
Rami has dedicated the past 1.5 years to increasing the state of cyber security at the WA Office of Digital Government. He has a borderline obsession with IAM and cloud computing. Rami completed his Master of Cyber Security from Edith Cowan University in 2018.

Panelist: Jo Zhou
Jo is an Offensive Security Consultant in her 2nd year of breaking and advising on how to fix security. When not testing web applications, she's (somehow) in your server room. Her proudest moments include finishing off an entire parma at Universal, coming 2nd in last year's SECTF at DEFCon, and every time one of her house plants grow a new leaf.

Panelist: Babanpreet Kaur 
I came to Australia nearly four years ago as an international student to pursue Masters in Cybersecurity and Networking in Deakin University. During my studies, I got an internship with Deakin University’s FreeLancing Hub. After completing my studies, I started my career as a Security Consultant with Pure Security. I have worked in managed security services and application security teams.

Panelist: Luke Williams
Luke has made a large change pivoting from a non-technical background into the IT security world. He has completed his bachelor of Cyber Security at Deakin this year as a cloud student and has recently transitioned to a full-time position as a graduate security analyst and is focussed on learning more in the security architect space.