• Name
    Malaika
  • Job Title and Employer
    Security Risk Analyst
  • Employer
    AQA
  • Provider
    QA
  • Levels
    Level 4 (Higher) Apprenticeship
  • Training Provider and Qualification
    QA Limited, Level 4 Cyber Security
  • Occupations
    Computing, technology and digital
  • Apprenticeship Start Date
    Jan 2022
  • Skills Gained
    Communication IT Time efficiency Independence
  • What are your interests outside of work?
    I'm interested in cooking, baking, going to the gym and I LOVE animals! 
GetMyFirstJob Ambassador

Hello, I Am Malaika

Tell us more about your experience

After finishing college, it made me realise that I wasn’t going to enjoy university. It's something I never really thought about nor did I ever see myself going. The life time of debt didn't seem appealing to me, and I also knew a lot of people who still struggled to get a job even after getting a degree. So I looked at other options like an apprenticeship and I honestly don’t regret it at all! I’m 21 with no debt and with a great amount of savings as well as gaining a qualification and knowing I have a job at the end of it, it’s the greatest feeling!

 

My advice would be to just do it and go for an apprenticeship! It’s the new way to success, yes its not easy, you have a lot more to juggle but the end result is so worth. Do your research to ensure its suited for yourself and its something you can handle, if so I would 100% recommend doing an apprenticeship. The highlight of my apprenticeship so far has to be the people I’ve met and the opportunities that I’ve been given. I love meeting new people and hearing about other careers paths people have chosen as well as making good friends. This is something that I’ve been able to do with the early careers colleagues at AQA. The opportunities that have come my way have been great, from helping to promote the company, to doing live Q&A’s, as well as being a Mental Health First Aider (MHFA), not to mention this amazing opportunity of becoming an apprenticeship ambassador.

 

My job role is to develop, promote, embed, and monitor a consistent and robust IT security, information security, business continuity and data protection management approach reflecting industry best practice to ensure the highest levels of confidentiality, availability and integrity of AQA systems and information. So essentially our customers are mainly the employees of AQA.

 

The support system given to me by my employer and my training provider have been so incredible. They have been very supportive, when I have apprenticeship work due I communicate with my manager and he ensures that I don’t have a heavy workload to allow me to complete me apprenticeship work. Or if I need a little bit more time on my essay, I will let my training provider know of the situation and the move the deadline by a few days. They are very cooperative, understanding and always available to answer any questions I may have.

 

When it came to applying for my role, The application process was very smooth sailing and transparent. A lot more relaxed than I have ever experienced. The GetMyFirstJob team made the journey from the start, they always made sure you were comfortable through every stage. They were always on top of there communication with you, any questions you may have they would reply within a few hours so I was always felt at ease.

 

My future plans for my career is to obviously pass my level 4 apprenticeship in cyber security as a cyber risk analyst which is an 18 month programme. After that I would want to complete my level 6 degree apprenticeship and gain that higher qualification. I envision myself completing this qualification at AQA and then hopefully to continue my career in AQA, as of right now I have no intention to work for another company, but we will see what the future holds!

Cyber Essentials
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