Cyber Insights Summer School Intern Review

Immensely, I felt like the internship was an amazing opportunity to widen my knowledge of the industry, learn more about areas and sectors I’m interested in as well as gain increasingly relevant experience in the world of cyber. It was very enjoyable work taught in a meaningful and effective way and I really felt engaged by the trainers. It was a virtual experience due to covid but the internship ran very smoothly regardless of this setback.

I felt very valued in a number of different ways from being encouraged to express myself how I wanted and repeated offerings of support for everything from disabilities to emotional problems, to feeing like I had direct help available through the trainers who were very happy to assist in any way that they could help. My fellow interns were all also extremely pleasant and overall it was such a good experience that I would fully recommend.

There was strong and effective pastoral care provided separately from the internship in order to make sure you were coping with regards to the online virtual environment and also the workload associated with the internship which I definitely appreciated because I knew if I struggled I had someone to go to. The trainers themselves were always happy to help with anything that they could and I felt like they gave me lots and lots of meaningful guidance over the course of the internship.

Quite busy, many of the days were made up of lectures and intermittent tasks to test the things we’d been taught. This was effective in teaching and meant you had to pay attention strongly and consistently to then apply this knowledge to the tasks. Other days were more project orientated and we had the opportunity to do independent projects which we err given time for so that also kept us busy on days with less direct content.

There was no actual work that they do on a day to day basis, it was definitely much more of a learning style internship aiming to get us interested in the world of cyber. Within this though I felt like I was very responsible for my own learning and handing in both supervised projects and independent projects in on time and felt like I was given a lot of autonomy in making decisions about those projects.

Very much. I learnt a lot about coding which is obviously a very important skill with increasing relevance in this modern day and age. In top of this, the internship really honed my logical and analytical skills by really putting them to the test in the tasks and activities we did. All of the content I learnt felt like I would directly use it in at least some point of my life - especially in terms of my own personal online security.

Obviously, this was a virtual environment so it was a much harder environment to work in and stay productive in than an in person internship. Having said this, it was still an extremely fun and engaging environment to work in so I really enjoyed this despite the inline setting. We had channels to socialise and discuss both fun things and technical things so I found it very fun. The trainers and people in charge were very fun and carefree as well so it was a good environment.

Very well organised. It was meticulously set out with a really strong structure. The trainers were very very experienced and knew what they were doing at all times. There was perfect times for breaks and lunches so we weren't rushed or sitting around for ages. Also the content was set out in a really good way to build up on prior knowledge. The admin work associated was quite tedious to do initially but understandable given the nature of the work.

I felt like they iinvested in me so heavily. It was good pay and I was learning so much from them with the only requirements from me being effort, honesty and being willing to try new things. I felt like they gave me so many new opportunities both in the internship itself and they also gave me the tools to explore opportunities in the wider world by giving me skills I can utilise elsewhere. Overall it felt like they cared about me as a person and gave me a whole new skillset I could utilise in a variety of ways.

Very! Aside from the security aspects and probably less competitive pay than the private sector, you get access to amazing tools, amazing resources and you're doing amazing work that actually helps people on a day to day basis and I think that I'd definitely be happy doing that in the long term. The organisation has a very clearly defined and transparent interviewing process that they make clear to you so it is easy to pursue this further if you want to!

Yes it was a fun environment to learn within and we had chill nights on weekends or after work and so on. It was very easy to get to know the people despite not having met them. Having said this not being able to talk in-depth about backgrounds due to personal security made it that bit harder to get to know people and to properly talk to people well. Overall though, it was very enjoyable and a good scene.

Well, it was at home :)

Home again :)

Yes, there was an independent stretch project you could do, subject interest presentations you could give or attend and general work and play channels for socialising or games or asking for help etc.