Alex Matei, 22 from Birmingham, was inspired to study BSc (Hons) Cyber Security at Staffordshire University to become an ethical hacker and prevent ‘bad guys’ breaking into computer systems.
He explained: “I realised in college that you can actually do hacking for a living - in a good way when it is socially promoted of course! You break into things that you’re not really meant to but at the same time you’re not being punished for it, actually you’re rewarded.
“Why would you not want to study this? It’s like the bad brother of Computer Science!”
Alex chose Staffordshire University for its facilities, course modules and lecturing staff. With a practical focus, students have access to a dedicated, self-contained laboratory, with its own private internal network, containing some of the latest equipment and software.
Alex said: “The lecturers were friendly, knowledgeable and approachable. 100% I do believe the degree helped me get a job. That was the whole point of studying this - to learn something that’s useful.”
Alex accessed a range of support through the University’s Careers Hub and took part in a ‘job hunt bootcamp’ which provided tips for creating a LinkedIn profiles, CV, cover letters, and advice for job interviews. He also benefitted from of a mentoring programme which paired with him a Staffordshire University graduate working in industry.
“That support was really useful because you had people from industry and people from HR who are recruiting on a regular basis and know what they want from CVs and people like me. It helps students to put their foot in the door and get going. I also had weekly meetings with my mentor which kept me going and motivated.”
The same week that he received his degree results, Alex secured a graduate role as a Junior Consultant at Cyberis Ltd where he will work in penetration testing.
“I’ll be dealing with the company’s clients to ethically hack into their systems and find all the weak points, vulnerabilities or exploits that they have or may be susceptible to and provide fixes to them so the ‘bad guys’ can’t get to them.”
Alex added: “I still can’t come to terms with it! I’m still a bit amazed and surprised at how I managed to land the job. Essentially that’s what I wanted to do for a living to begin with and I thought it would be more difficult, but I put in the work and got the education and it paid off.”
Find out if you are eligible for an offer through Clearing by using our offer calculator, have a ‘live chat’ with Clearing experts at http://www.staffs.ac.uk/clearing/ or call our Clearing hotline on 0800 590 830.