Dara is a Cybersecurity graduate from University of Chester. She secured an industrial placement as an IT Project Manager Intern at P&G in Newcastle, through Bright Network. 
First, please tell us a little bit about yourself.
“My interest in Cybersecurity kickstarted after having the opportunity to do an industrial placement in a security team – my eyes were opened to all the different opportunities out there.
I went to university because I wanted a challenge and to find my passion which is definitely now in the realm of artificial intelligence and security. My motivation is to help people and to learn throughout my career.”
What motivated you to apply for the role?
“I respected the company and found the placement structure really interesting. The amount of effort they put into the placement programme really shows because they push their interns to do their best throughout the year.”
What was the application process like?
“The application process was pretty straight forward. After completing the online assessments, there were multiple rounds of interviews, but the interviewers made me feel really comfortable and pushed me think outside the box for my answers.”
What are you most proud of about your journey?
“I'm most proud of building confidence when it comes to networking and finding out what my interests are for my future career path. The challenging part was moving to a new city but it was exciting and rewarding.”
What have you learnt from going through the process?
“The process taught me to be resilient and showed me how to accept rejection. Getting a placement year is challenging but one yes can change the course of your future career.”
What are your tips for people looking to follow in your footsteps?
“My advice would be to apply early for industrial placements and to keep practicing your interview skills as they come with patience and practice.”
Tell us about the future. What's next?
“What's next for me is finishing my placement year and going back to university for my final year.
Having found the areas of work that I've enjoyed over this placement year I will ask for a dissertation topic related to AI and security.”
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