Josh Kirk
Meet Josh Kirk, a Security Analyst at Greencore who attended The Cutler’s Ambassadors programme in September 2015 until Summer 2018 delivered by The Work-wise Foundation.
Meet Josh Kirk, a Security Analyst at Greencore who attended The Cutler’s Ambassadors programme in September 2015 until Summer 2018 delivered by The Work-wise Foundation.
Why did Josh attend The Cutler’s Ambassadors programme?
He applied for and was successful in gaining a place on The Cutlers’ Ambassadors Engineering programme, delivered by The Work-wise Foundation, starting in 2015 and graduating in 2018. Josh said: “I applied because I wanted to find out about the world of engineering and improve my chances of gaining employment.”
Josh’s Education to Employment Journey
From leaving school with his GCSE’s Josh went onwards to an engineering apprenticeship. Upon discovering the apprenticeship was not what he wanted to focus his career on, Josh unfortunately left to attend a college course in IT Cyber Security and Networking in an academy course sponsored by a local IT Reseller. Upon completing my 2 year course in IT Cyber Security and Networking, he was offered an apprenticeship with the academy sponsor to join the company as an junior IT Technician. With his aspiration to work within Cyber Security, Josh ended up joining the pre sales team as a junior Security specialist eventually becoming the companies Security specialist. During my time as a security specialist, he was completing his level 4 degree in Cyber Security where he completed multiple well known Security certifications. Upon finishing and completing his level 4 apprenticeship, Josh left the IT Reseller to join Greencore as a full time Security Analyst.
What does Josh like the most about his job?
Josh likes how he has the opportunity to work with a wide variety of products and perform incident investigations regarding security software and investigating why and how a cyber security alert has been created.
How has Josh’s experience with The Work-wise Foundation impacted his career?
Josh’s experience working with The Work-wise Foundation through The Cutlers’ Ambassador programme proved massively beneficial when it came to understanding and gaining experience of the world of work. He could understand the behaviours and mindsets of the roles that he is in all because of understanding and learning that within school and the programme. It also helped Josh gain interview experience so when it came to interviews within the industry he wanted to work in, “I was prepared and I had confidence to speak about what I love and not doubt myself.” Josh’s first job role came directly through meeting an employer on the programme who then offered him an apprenticeship before leaving school.
What are his future aspirations?
His future aspirations is the ability to work in a Cyber Security SOC (Security Operations Center) where he can perform incident investigations all the time.
Josh’s advice to young people
“Don’t be afraid to say no to something, take a leap! Your work life is what you make it and it’s yours and yours alone, don’t let anyone tell you different. Also ask questions! Everything I have learnt is because I didn’t know it and asked someone to show me or explain it to me, not everything can be learnt off google but it can be learnt off colleagues or friends.”
A message from The Work-wise Foundation CEO
“Josh threw himself completely into the Cutlers Ambassador programme, always contributing to sessions and gaining as much knowledge and experience as he could. He was never afraid to push himself and give new things a go. He was a real Ambassador for his school and the programme and was rewarded by achieving Gold Ambassador status at the end. I am not surprised that Josh has been successful in his career to date and we wish him well for the future” – John Barber, CEO, The Work-wise Foundation.
