Learner Testimonial — Laura, Cyber Security

Our former learner, Laura Kaung, is a British Army Veteran who now works in Cyber Security. Here is her story.

“It’s been a bit of a mental journey! I joined the army at 16, straight out of school; I had one GCSE – in Art, of all things! I did one year at the Army Foundation College (AFC) in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, then went to learn my trade in Wiltshire. My final stop was to my regiment in preparation to be deployed once I reached 18.

At 18 I did a tour of Iraq and around 21 I was deployed to Afghanistan. I was a driver at the start and then moved on to telecommunications specialist. I was one of the very few females in my entire unit. I really loved it – it was my life and all I really knew was the Army.

I met my husband in the army too. When our first son was four months old, the army gave me a warning order that I was to be deployed again. My husband was already away then; he would return and then two weeks later I would have deployed. In my mind this was just not an option; he was a first-time dad and he’d only met his son once.

At the time, there weren’t many female soldiers in my unit, so I believe they didn’t really know how to handle maternity very well, especially when the mother and father were both serving.

I soon became pregnant with our second son, and sadly had to make the decision to leave. I just had to. My husband was doing back-to-back tours and progressing quicker than I could. It just made sense for the welfare of our children.

Adjusting to being a civilian was tough, plus coping with post-natal depression, trying to find a new career and dealing with my husband being on tour! I tried quite a few different pathways…I started my own business as a Cleaner—it was a total flop; then, I became a carer for the elderly, but trying to fit the schedule around the kids was impossible—my husband was away, I had no family close by...I was so alone.

After a while, someone suggested I try Personal Training and Fitness—which, it turns out, I held a successful career in for many years—but something still just didn’t work or feel right…

I have constantly struggled with feeling like a failure after the military. I couldn’t adjust to being a civilian. I was always a very well-performing soldier, but still felt a bit lost…so decided to join the Army Reserves! But, strangely, it didn’t quite hit me as I’d hoped…

An old friend got in touch after seeing a desperate Facebook plea. 'Have you ever thought about Information Security? What are you still doing in the fitness industry?' He said there was a gap for women in Cyber and if I was up for it he would mentor me.

I thought it was cool, but I also feared it would be another failure. I started out looking at courses with TechVets; they provide free courses for veterans. I did a couple courses with them, a good stepping stone to get the ball rolling. I also read Jessica Barker's book, Confident Cyber Security, and got into the podcast Darknet Diaries.

Then, randomly, I found Firebrand Skills Bootcamps in association with Bridewell. They were free, with guaranteed interviews and support to help you get a job after, so I applied!

I was on the course from February 2022 to June 2023, cohort 36. Throughout the whole course, I thought, OMG, I can't believe this is happening! My Success Coach, Dean Ibbetson, was brilliant. The ball was rolling and it’s been ever since.

Mid-course it turned out that Bridewell would only employ two people from the cohort. I was a freelance Personal Trainer at the time and doing a few classes for Everlast, barely making any money, and I thought there are awesome people on this course who will surely get those jobs. As far as I was concerned, if I didn’t get a job at the end, I was screwed!

So I started looking for companies I’d want to work for. I had different interactions with Bridewell, but I wasn’t feeling it. I decided to get cheeky, sliding into companies’ DMs on LinkedIn; my mentor helped me find Jungle IT. A few weeks later I had an interview, then I was hired!

I passed all my certifications during the Bootcamp: CertNexus, SC-900 (Microsoft Security, Compliance and Identity Fundamentals), BCS CISMP—which I had to resit because I put too much pressure on myself to pass it first time.

Getting into Cyber Security was the best decision I’ve ever made. I started as a Governance Compliance and Cyber Security Manager and loved it. Every day I wore lots of hats. I did two roles, one internal and one consultancy. For internal I specialised in the first line of defence, I’d do training and awareness, reviews, write policies, ensuring everyone is doing what they should be; I’d deal with governance, compliance, incident response, planning, data loss prevention, risk management...For consultancy I did cyber gap analysis, roadmaps, things like that—the Cyber Security landscape is massive, once you go into the rabbit hole there are so many roles!

I also recently won an award! Cyber Student of the Year awarded by Real Cyber Awards—I was also the runner-up in The One to Watch category. I was up against three other people for Cyber Student of the Year and the winner of the other category had been in Cyber for 10 years!! I was nominated for these; the judges came from all different areas of Cyber.

I wouldn’t be where I am now without my Mentor, TechVets, and, of course, the Bootcamp.

You can have a completely human-facing job with people all the time, training, awareness, or go super-nerd and not see anyone. Initially, I thought I needed to know everything but it’s not the case. Gary Fildes, my tutor—what he doesn’t know isn’t worth knowing—even he says nobody is an expert because the threat landscape changes constantly. I’ve also stayed friends with Dean and Natalia [Ivanova], Firebrand Success Coaches.

I’m still doing part-time soldiering too, I actively support veterans, I’m a keynote speaker, I do panel talks and did the Cyber Savvy Workshop at Leeds Digital Festival…I focus on people and processes. I think a lot of people getting into this industry expect things to come to them, but you’ve really got to put the work in, you can’t rely solely on Firebrand, you’ve got to put yourself out there!

What I say to people now, veterans, friends or anyone who wants to get into Cyber Security – first do a couple of free courses and see what makes you tick—Networking, Compliance, People, etc.—then make a decision on your path and go for it!

 

So, would you recommend Skills Bootcamps?

Absolutely. 1, it’s a funded course. 2, it’s intense, but like most soldiers learn in an intense way – we’re trained to learn quickly, because we have to. This matches our learning style well. 3, Firebrand are a reputable company—when people see you’ve trained with Firebrand, your qualifications are taken more seriously!

Everything I’ve been through since leaving the Army…all the Jobs, all the false starts, depression, having kids, trying to get through the world as a woman, was a build-up to this moment. I’m happy and I’m finally thriving—I officially LOVE what I do!

 

Thank you for your feedback, Laura!