Industry and government mentors from more than 45 organisations nationally will support South Australia’s first cohort of cyber trainees in an innovative mentoring program.
The South Australia Cyber Security Innovation Node (part of the national AustCyber network) has partnered with Australian startup OK RDY to deliver the SA Cyber Edition mentoring program for participants of the newly created cyber security traineeship.
“The Marshall Liberal Government is dedicated to ensuring South Australia is skilled and ready to respond to industry needs, to help build a strong cyber security ecosystem here in South Australia,” Minister for Innovation and Skills David Pisoni said.
“Cyber security is a high demand industry, with many expected job openings in the coming years and the cyber security traineeship pathway under Skilling South Australia is an important part of meeting that demand. Congratulations to the SA Node for leading this innovative program and playing their part in developing skills in South Australia.”
Cyber professionals will connect via the OK RDY mobile platform throughout the program and participate in casual virtual mentoring, sharing their unique career pathway, industry trends and help trainees better understand and demystify the cyber ecosystem.
Along with the virtual mentorship matching, mentors, mentees and the broader community will have access to unique mini-mentoring content videos featuring industry leaders in a ‘cyber mini-mentoring’ series. Content will be shared publicly to help attract emerging cyber talent.
Industry role model and Salesforce CEO Pip Marlow said she was excited to support the cyber mentoring program.
“I have been fortunate to have a number of great mentors throughout my career who have really pushed me to step outside my comfort zone. I can pinpoint key moments in my career to the conversations I had with my mentors. At the time, they believed in me more than I believed in myself,” Ms Marlow said.
“This has led me to embracing reverse mentoring, to connect with those at early career stages with different skill sets and different perspectives, to help me stay connected to industry and social changes.”
Organisations which have extended their support to the program include Salesforce, Microsoft, CISCO, CyberCX, Telstra, AustCyber, the State Government and Dtex.
Rob Testi, Senior Manager of Cyber Security and Compliance of the People’s Choice Credit Union and a mentor in the program, said he recognises the joint responsibility across industry, government and academia in supporting the state’s growth of cyber skills.
“If we want SA to have a flourishing pool of cyber talent to address the growing cyber capability needs of our organisations, then we need to be part of the solution and help grow and develop that talent pool as well as open doors for work experience opportunities to be created,” he said.
The SA Cyber Edition Mentoring Program launches virtually on 3 June and runs until December 2020.
