Cyber graduate lands dream job as ethical hacker
A first-class Cyber Security graduate is celebrating landing his dream job just days after finishing his degree.
Alex Matei, 22 from Birmingham, was inspired to study BSc (Hons) Cyber Security at Staffordshire University to become an ethical hacker and prevent ‘bad guys’ breaking into computer systems.
He explained: “I realised in college that you can actually do hacking for a living - in a good way when it is socially promoted of course! You break into things that you’re not really meant to but at the same time you’re not being punished for it, actually you’re rewarded.
“Why would you not want to study this? It’s like the bad brother of Computer Science!”
Alex chose Staffordshire University for its facilities, course modules and lecturing staff. With a practical focus, students have access to a dedicated, self-contained laboratory, with its own private internal network, containing some of the latest equipment and software.
Alex said: “The lecturers were friendly, knowledgeable and approachable. 100% I do believe the degree helped me get a job. That was the whole point of studying this - to learn something that’s useful.”
Alex accessed a range of support through the University’s Careers Hub and took part in a ‘job hunt bootcamp’ which provided tips for creating a LinkedIn profiles, CV, cover letters, and advice for job interviews. He also benefitted from of a mentoring programme which paired with him a Staffordshire University graduate working in industry.
“That support was really useful because you had people from industry and people from HR who are recruiting on a regular basis and know what they want from CVs and people like me. It helps students to put their foot in the door and get going. I also had weekly meetings with my mentor which kept me going and motivated.”
The same week that he received his degree results, Alex secured a graduate role as a Junior Consultant at Cyberis Ltd where he will work in penetration testing.
“I’ll be dealing with the company’s clients to ethically hack into their systems and find all the weak points, vulnerabilities or exploits that they have or may be susceptible to and provide fixes to them so the ‘bad guys’ can’t get to them.”
Alex added: “I still can’t come to terms with it! I’m still a bit amazed and surprised at how I managed to land the job. Essentially that’s what I wanted to do for a living to begin with and I thought it would be more difficult, but I put in the work and got the education and it paid off.”
Hear more from Alex on Staffordshire University's YouTube Channel.
Find out if you are eligible for an offer through Clearing by using our offer calculator, have a ‘live chat’ with Clearing experts at http://www.staffs.ac.uk/clearing/ or call our Clearing hotline on 0800 590 830.
Amy Platts
Media Communications Officer
t: 01782 292702
m: 07799 341911
e: amy.platts@staffs.ac.uk
Staffordshire University is the Connected University; connected to the needs of students, academic partners, business and society. Our main city campus in Stoke-on-Trent features excellent learning and teaching facilities and good transport links. We have specialist Centres of Excellence in Healthcare Education at Stafford and Shrewsbury.
We were recognised with a Gold award in the 2019 Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF) for delivering consistently outstanding teaching, learning and outcomes for students.
We were shortlisted for University of the Year at the THE Awards 2020 and were named ‘Midlands University of the Year’ at the Midlands Business Awards 2020.
Staffordshire University has signed up to the Civic University Agreement, pledging to play a leading role in improving the regional economy and enhancing quality of life in local communities. We were recognised in the top 15 for social inclusion in The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2021. We aim to be a leading university for digital technologies building on our proud computing heritage and in 2019 launched Staffordshire University London’s Digital Institute which is committed to preparing students for careers in new and emerging tech industries.
We are a Top 250 Young University (Times Higher Education Young University Rankings 2020) and are connected globally, with more than 11,000 people studying Staffordshire University degrees overseas.
