Published on 12, July, 2020
Hello. This is my first time posting on this site so hope it goes well.
So, for context, I've been living most of my life with ASD and I managed to slog along and graduate from uni in Cyber Security. Before I went to uni, my family moved to the Forest of Dean, in a house in the middle of nowhere (the type of place that makes it hard to travel without a car) and ever since graduating, I've had to move back here to find post-graduate work.
I've applied for almost 100 post graduate jobs, and despite getting very close after a couple of interviews, I'm still not employed. The reason is usually due to a candidate being more qualified, due to the fact that I had a hard time doing an internship during university, and have no practical experience in the working world. I also tried applying for some part time work based on things I did part time during uni (bar / hotel work), etc and again, no dice. I don't know why it's waay harder to find work that I've already done, but there you go.
So I decided to take out universal credit; I know I sound like a scrounger, but at this point, I don't really care. I have been applying for jobs pretty much every day (including basic admin work) and no luck, though my work coach says that I have been putting the effort in and then some. I need to have some leisure, in order to not get cabin fever in this house and everything is so expensive these days. I've even had to fork out some money on hotels, due to trains constantly being cancelled (the railway line that takes me to where I live is prone to landslides).
To avoid any stigma surrounding this, any advice would be appreciated. Thanks for reading.
You have cyber security skills!
But no experience yet. So find a cycber security project of your own and do it!
When I was a contractor I decided to get ISDN a precursor to Broadband.
Getting it to work required me to acquire and program a cisco router, but my god it went down well with employers!
They really like people who CAN do.
A few years ago I found myself scrunched up inside the fuselage of a Gloster Meteor jet aircraft, working on the starter system, and I paused to ask myslef how did I get here? I'm not formally trained in aircraft AT ALL.
I'd walked into a hangar 3 years previously and asked for a menial job, because frankly my own aircraft was giving me trouble, and I wanted to learn a bit. As soon as they observed that I CAN DO, I was never short of teh work again, (Until by 2016 I'd had enough, it was not giving me what I needed, I did not make any friends, and the money and conditions were pretty rubbish.
Although the general public have not realised it yet, there is a huge requirement for a personal internet gateway machine, like wireshark but a bit simpler to implement, that can be connected to the etehrnet part of your router on one side and will support an access point on the other side and which will record your internet sessions, (and for advanced users allow the blocking of certain conversations, that your O/S or other malware might be initiating). Not so much a firewall, but a resource that will allow the users to KNOW what conversations and with whom their computers are having them.
I suspect for example that every time I open a picture on this machine it first sends a copy somewhere, as my internet seems to spike and I have to wait an inordinate amount of time tfor teh fiel to open compared to any previous machine I have had. I'd very much like to be able to confirm if this is true and, more importantly, sever that link if there is one..
Just an idea of course, but there must be something you can achieve and stick on your C.V.
But until that happens then don't feel bad about getting unversal credit.
Whatever you don't take will be used to support the war in the east, or the ongoing replacement of our indigenous population..
Both of which, most people seem to think is a really good idea, for some reason...
Haha, thanks for the advice. I do agree that my practical experience is somewhat lacking; that's why I'm applying for more menial jobs to start off with (admin, data entry, etc).
FWIW, I have taken part in a couple of Capture the Flag (CTF) exercises at uni, hosted by BAE Systems (who I'm not a fan of due to thier war profiteering, but hey-ho, still good experience). My team actually won first place in one of these sessions. It was probably the only good thing that my uni course actually did (it was such a dead course, COVID seriously ruined everything).
Is CTF anything like paintball?
I do recommend paintball for those days when shooting people is an attractive proposition...
I'm not a fan of real warfare, it's all bit too permanent, (a dead enemy can't hear you laughing at them) but paintball can be FUN.
Hope you got that on your C.V.
You should be able to perform a data security AUDIT with what you know. Maybe you could advertse that aprticualr service with local businesses and charge them for a single visit.
If your audit reveals issues, then of course there is fllow on business for you to either do yourself on a cost per basis or refer them elsewhere for.
But if you do try something like that DO NOT go "official" straight away, no matter who advises you otherwise.
You have a tax code which effectively indicates how much you can earn in a year without being liable for tax, and until you are about to breach it you effectvely have a "hobby" and not a business. IF however you hit the floor running, then of course you'll need to do all that stuff, BUT if you do all that registration stuff first, and your business does not take off, life can get very complicated, very slowly at first, then all at once..
This is of course somewhat contentious advice, and might seem like I'm advising you to break the rules but as far as I can determine, if you are keeping track of your money,and have no intent to avoid paying tax IF you hobby turns into a businessi, t's a "It's better to ask forgiveness than ask permission" sort of thing.
I had three small sole trader things that never made me any real money before I finally found myself with a real viable business that was worth registering etc. Then I started a "limited company" and did things properly because it was worth it.