Cybersecurity Internship - What Qualities Make It a Successful Program?

[AndreaMoore]

Do you have a successful internship program at your company? Did you participate in an internship program at the beginning of your career? 

What attributes of an internship program would you consider successful? What did you like best/least about your internship (if you had one)? 

If you were to build a new internship program at your organization, what would you include? 

Please share your experience, thoughts and ideas. Let's help each other out and set up the next generation of cybersecurity professionals for success!

[EIAKPKP452]

I am a huge fan of internships! My organization has been very successful in identifying talent while helping students build and shape their careers.

What makes a good internship program?

• It must be paid and at a competitive entry-level rate.
• Tasks should be appropriate for experience, but varied enough to provide the employer with a clear understanding of strengths and weaknesses while exposing them to as much of the organization as possible.
• There should be a learning plan focused on how technology impacts organizational outcomes and mentoring.
• There should be a viable path to full-time employment or professional support in landing a a role outside of the organization in the form of introductions and references. 

I started as an intern on a help desk in 1999 because my mom offered to pay my rent for two months if I promised to stop working in restaurants and commit to finding an internship. That paid internship started my career and I welcome the opportunity to make those opportunities available for others.

Adam Mann

[Josias]

Hi, please I'm actually looking for cybersecurity internship.

[leekimjd]

While I work for a non-profit, I do talk to colleagues in industry who have shared their experiences with me. (My non-profit is a member-based organization and we work with our members from around the world.)

The best internship programs are ones that are willing to take on individuals without any experience but who show promise in terms of learning the skills and knowledge required to develop into a great cybersecurity professional.

By the same token, there are sometimes a shortage of cybersecurity professionals in certain fields and we've had to look internally in our organizations to recruit them. To that end, this is yet another pathway into the cybersecurity field (by working in an adjacent function).

For example, we've had CISOs train informaticists and delegate to them certain cybersecurity tasks. (Due to budgets and also resource constraints, sometimes it's necessary for an individual to multitask and/or take on multiple roles.)

Lee Kim

2024 ISC2 board of directors candidate

www.linkedin.com/in/leekim