CPTS Pathway to Infosec Career
Information and Communications Technologies "ICT" Graduate Marketability.

Melvin Lim - A Case Study

You set your eyes on an Information and Communications Technologies honours programme in a world class university and worked relentlessly towards that goal from the time you were at high school. You were the envy of friends when you gained admission into just such a university. Then with your characteristic single-minded purpose you put your nose to the grinding stone, worked long hours and placed your love-life on hold while pursuing your dream. And then came the big day when you graduated with honours; family and friends were there and the love of your life was back in your arms. Basking in the glory of the moment you plan for the future but first take a month off to “chill out”. Given your academic track record you believe that someone out there somewhere is just waiting to grab you into their organisation. Regrettably, the damning truth is that nobody out there anywhere owes you a living.

The subject of ICT graduate marketability has been bandied around since the time an ICT qualification was the flavour of the month. As recently as early 2006, a regional organisation(1) made a global survey of 33,000 employers in 23 countries and discovered that about 40% of employers worldwide had difficulty filling vacant positions relating to ICT. Basic degrees can no longer ensure a foot in the door because employers are increasingly raising the entry qualification; candidates with a basic degree augmented by specialized IT skills such as programming languages and vendor certification appear to command better prospects.

In Singapore , employment in the Services sector has been gradually increasing(2) since 1995 and as at 31 December 2005 it took the lion's share at 68.7% with the manufacturing sector straggling second at 20.5%. For the currently 100,000 IT professionals in the market these figures augur well for their continued employment but recent graduates may find it difficult to land jobs as employers are constantly seeking employees with ready experience (eg 1 to 2 years) and added skills.

In the year 2005 the School of Computing at the NUS saw the graduation of 562 students with a first degree and 93 with a higher degree(3) . If this total figure of 655 represents, say, 20% of the total input of ICT graduates into the job market from all sources, then a staggering figure of 3,275 graduates with ICT qualifications will seek employment annually. Indeed the prospects appear bleak for the fresh graduate as it can be quite competitive in terms of getting the job itself besides a meaningful remuneration package. However, there have been success stories and the path thereto is well illustrated by the following case study.

Melvin Lim (his real name) 26, is a Singaporean from a middle class family; his only sibling is his sister who is currently studying at Singapore Institute of Management.

Melvin graduated from Informatics Singapore with Diploma in Computer Studies – Major Computer Science in 1998. Thereafter he proceeded overseas and graduated from University of Wollongong, Australia with Bachelor of Computer Science – Major in Computer Science and Business Information System in 2004 and a year later he obtained a Masters of IT Management from the same University. Throughout his studies, expenses were borne by his father – self-employed in the construction business.

Melvin earnestly began the process of job hunting on completion of his advanced tertiary education. The full impact of post-graduate prospects for gainful employment and the vagaries of ICT related employment were just about to dawn upon Melvin. He tirelessly scanned the newspapers and browsed the Net in search of vacancies in the ICT sector. He went for many interviews but was unable to get a job because of the singular lack of experience and industrial professional certification.

An opportunity to speak to a Mile2 Country Manager saw the turning point in Melvin's quest for employment. Melvin came out of the discussion convinced that his employment prospects could be greatly enhanced by gaining industrial certification.

In March 2006, by way of professional education, Melvin completed Cisco Certified Network Associate course at Path School of Technology and Management in Singapore and completed Certified Penetration Testing Specialist (CPTS) organized by Mile2 Singapore Pte Ltd at the same School. Both courses were self-sponsored.

Armed with CCNA and CPTS credentials, Melvin passed the tests set by a prospective employer and landed a job as a security analyst with a salary paid according to market standard. None of his friends bothered with certification and today only a few of them who graduated with him are employed with a slightly below market rate salary.

Currently Melvin is employed by a big IT corporation as a member of a team tasked to monitor and manage the security system of customers; analyze and anticipate the various ways that hackers can penetrate into the system and do vulnerability assessment test on the system.

Not one to rest on his laurels, Melvin has in mind the CPTE, Computer Forensics and other IT Security related courses offered by Mile2. He has the following words of wisdom: “Equip yourself with industrial professional certifications. Be specific about which area of IT you want to specialize in and go for those courses related to the job nature. Be willing to invest as the returns you can achieve after the course are more than what you can imagine”.

Notes:

1 Manpower Staffing Services, NST 3 Apr 06
2 http://www.mom.gov.sg/Statistics/
3 Registrar's Office, NUS