From academia to cybersecurity specialist

Banda Ramadan, 2021 winner of the ACT Training Awards Vocational Student of the Year, is forging a new career in Cybersecurity after completing a Certificate IV in Cyber Security (22334VIC) at CIT.

"I am so pleased to receive this award. I love my new career and the CIT course really helped me with the skills I need for the cybersecurity industry," she said.

Banda taught computer science and software engineering courses at universities in Jordan and Saudi Arabia before choosing to specialise in Cybersecurity.

"I was very interested in changing my career to cybersecurity, especially as there is a global shortage of experts."

"Being in academia for all my working life and having no experience in the industry made it challenging for me to achieve my goal. Also, I had no work experience in Australia, and this made it harder for me to pursue jobs locally."

Banda has now achieved many of her goals by retraining, and has a role as a cyber defence specialist in a telecommunications company.

Her next goal is to build a solid career in cybersecurity, become an expert in the field, and use her skills to serve the local community.

Banda will represent the ACT at the National Training Awards in November.