• Question: What is your favourite aspect of your job currently and is that something that will impact your next career choice?

    Asked by anon-258146 to Lucy on 2 Jul 2020.
    • Photo: Lucy Craddock

      Lucy Craddock answered on 2 Jul 2020:

      My favourite part of my job is working with people of many different backgrounds. My department is filled with aerodynamicists, simulation engineers, materials experts, software developers, communication engineers, procurement specialists, etc. When working with artificial intelligence, the solution always hinges on the data used. This means that no AI system could be built successfully without understanding of the domain. Understanding how to best work and help my coworkers is fundamental and the most enjoyable part of my job.

      I also really enjoy having flexible hours (meaning I can start and end the work day as I need), and I find this really helpful for my work patterns.

      I can’t really speak on what my next career step will look like – especially in this climate – but I’m really excited to see what the future holds, and who I will be working with and learning from next.

Comments

  • Photo: Polina

    Polina commented on :

    I enjoy working in Cyber Security as it’s not only about working with technologies but also working with people and processes. I easily get bored but in my field you always need to learn about new technologies and attacks that are happening in the world so that keeps me engaged and motivated. I also enjoy ability to work from home and do flexible hours.

    • stevethomas commented on :

      @Polina, I’ve worked in cyber security for a long time (since long before it was called that, in fact!) and I got into it “by accident”, as I’ve seen many people do over the years. People often think it’s just about deep technical stuff like firewall rules, computer forensics and cryptography – and they do matter, but you’re dead right about it being working with people too. People’s behaviour is crucial to security, whether that’s about user interfaces or awareness. @Daisy S – I’m near the end of my career, but I’d say that the favourite part of the job I used to have, in geophysics, was about modelling the real world from streams of data, to come up with something tangible as an interpretation of what we’d observed. That analytical bent transferred quite nicely into coding, and then into cyber security – it was all about understanding how things work. The people side of it I’ve learned later, and now, being able to manage an audience at a big speaking event, for example, is huge fun – but it used to terrify me! For me the lesson is to try the things you’re a bit scared of, but prepare and practise as well as you’re able to. Genuinely the things I’m most proud of having done are the ones that initially terrified me. It’s amazing what you *can* achieve if you’re just prepared to give it a go 🙂