What’s your job about?

The national Cyber team assists clients with analysis and protection of digital assets. If that sounds broad, that’s because it is! Our work spans from governance, risk and compliance to forensic analysis of devices for legal matters. My local team is most often involved in forensic investigations and incident response jobs, helping clients recover from data breaches and ransomware attacks.

As a junior in the team, my role involves conducting and facilitating much of the analysis work. This includes extracting data from devices, processing it across various software and applications, and analysing the results. I also assist in presenting findings in draft form. Being an enthusiastic learner is essential in my role. There’s always more to learn, and the ability to research and problem-solve independently is a valuable skill. That said, there’s almost always someone in the team with experience, and everyone is always happy to share knowledge and teach others.

I've been lucky to work on a wide range of projects. I expected a longer transition before getting involved in high-impact work, but early on, I had the opportunity to contribute to forensic investigations, incident response cases, and even travel to Sydney to help decrypt data after a ransomware breach.

How did you get to where you are now?

I studied a Bachelor of Science (Cyber Security) at Edith Cowan University (ECU). ECU offers an industry placement program that can substitute units in your final year. Since I had previously applied for McGrathNicol’s Summer Vacation Program, I reached out to them about a placement opportunity, and they were happy to take me on. This early start enabled me to get a head start and transition smoothly into the graduate program.

I have already been promoted to Senior Analyst, about a year and a half after starting as an Analyst. The promotion timeline was communicated transparently, and my team provided valuable support and guidance to help me develop the skills needed for this role.

What attracted you to McGrathNicol?

I first discovered McGrathNicol on GradConnection and saw they had Cyber roles, so I applied for both the Summer Vacation and Graduate Programs. Coincidentally, someone who would later become my colleague gave a really interesting guest lecture at my university, which encouraged me to reach out to McGrathNicol further.

When I applied, I was just looking for any cyber role to get my foot in the door. After starting, I quickly realised how lucky I was - I had landed in a role that aligned with my interests and is much more dynamic and engaging than many of the other positions I had seen presented.

The culture at McGrathNicol is great, it is one of hard work and quality but also of balance and reward. The team is big enough to feel like you’re a part of something important but small enough to be personal. It definitely feels like the firm cares about development of the graduates they induct, and makes an effort to retain its staff and see them progress.