Reskilling for Cybersec, my CAPSLOCK experience

Background

Andy Favell, ex police operations and then made the transition to Cyber. Discussed how to transition into cyber and the skills he had learned through a particular programme. Andy has been re-tooling and re-transitioning, partly due to COVID.

Capslock and Andy’s Journey:

    • Capslock is an educational programme, who call themselves an intensive cyber boot camp.
    • Capslock is a new business who have only been alive for around 12 months.
    • When Andy had lots of time on his hands due to COVID, end of 2020 – beginning of 2021, he took some time to research for potential cyber security related courses. Andy was searching for a course to understand Cyber Security and all the aspects in order to embody best practice and engage in the sector with fellow professionals.
    • He found that none of the programmes quite fitted the bill, until he found Capslock.
    • After some due diligence, as it seemed “too good to be true”, Andy booked a call with one of the founders of the company. He was hooked straight away and sent off an online application.
    • After some pre-course basics, Andy took part in this programme in March 2021.
    • The programme is delivered virtually and covers many areas of Cyber Security.
    • Syllabus: Main Problem Areas:
      1. Understanding Business
      2. Security by Design
      3. Identity & Access Management
      4. Offensive Defensive Security
      5. BCM (Business Continuity Management)
    • They use Team Based Learning (TBL) where the “students” are put into groups of 5 and they stay within these groups for the duration, some individual learning is involved but then they share ideas amongst the group and collaborate.

Typical Day for Capslock Programme:

Case Study example:

Capslock – Programme had hidden depths

    • Diversity of tutor team (academia and industry backgrounds)
    • Inclusivity (full and part-time courses – part-time in the evenings, encouraging women and people from non-cyber backgrounds)
    • Team industry mentor (CISO and highly experienced cyber security leads)
    • Dedicated careers support (30 out of 53 who were on Andy’s course now work directly in cyber or cyber related roles after the programme)
    • Learning resources (broad learning materials and resources that cover the many areas of cyber security)
    • Breadth of curriculum

Capslock – Was it worth it?

    • 16 weeks
    • £8.5K
    • Improved knowledge
    • Improved understanding
    • Networking fundamentals
    • Better understanding in areas of Cyber Security
    • Achieved Andy’s goals in what he wanted to get out of the course and further apply to a cyber career afterwards
    • Graduation and certification/ award