1.     Describe five businesses or non-profits that have been created in my field.

The first cybersecurity business I want to mention is Sera-Brynn, who are a cybersecurity and general security consultant company based out of our own Chesapeake, Virginia and who also operate in Arizona. Next is Non-Profit Cyber, which as the name suggests, is actually a “coalition of implementation-focused cybersecurity nonprofits” that seek to work together to support businesses and each other and combat cyber threats. Another business I found is a big name in general IT security, McAfee. While I’m not a huge fan of their product(s) thanks to performance impact, they do help to combat certain online risks, and feature a relatively secure VPN option for people looking to securely browse the internet. Next is Red Canary, which provides “cloud-based cybersecurity solutions” via tools. Their tools can detect and solve security issues within seconds and offer real time monitoring of cloud-based platforms. The final business I’m going to mention is a business names the SANS Institute which enables upcoming, and present cybersecurity professionals to polish their skills both practically and brush up on their knowledge as well via courses, and “training roadmaps”.

2.     What is your overall perspective on the entrepreneurship experience? 

I think the entrepreneurship experience was fun, albeit a little difficult since I’m not used to it. It involves a lot of skills and resources I’m not very used to utilizing, but I suppose building those skills up, and flexing them every now and then will be good going forward. I don’t plan on getting into or starting a business by myself, but the skills I learned via entrepreneurship can still be used in my professional career.

3.     How did the entrepreneurship prepare or not prepare you to be a competitive candidate for vacant positions?

I think overall, it did help prepare me for a vacant position because it gave me a business owner’s perspective on what they’re looking for, and what they have to deal with. This way, I can sell myself to a business owner, or an HR recruiter based on what I’ve learned and give myself a better opportunity.

4.     What suggestions do you have to improve the experience? 

Going forward, I think for this class a change to the group project would be needed, at least in part. I think the hands-off aspect in the way that we’re graded on our individual contribution is a good idea and I like it, but I think one part needs to be based on group effort. Some groups like mine, all sort of just agree on what to do, then go off and all do our own thing. I think this is fine, and it gave me personally the freedom to work at my own pace, but it doesn’t really teach us to work together as a team, at least for my group. We agreed on the basics and discussed meeting on Zoom but we never really got around to do it. Honestly, this is all I could think of to improve the class. I love the flexibility of the project though!

5.     What’s next for you?

Ideally, I’m going to pass all my classes this semester, and next semester, and finally graduate in May. From there, I’ll either go on a few trips to visit some online friends who’ve kept me sane over the years to celebrate finally getting my Bachelor’s degree, or immediately start work on earning some certifications and finding either an IT or career cybersecurity job so I can kiss my hellish dead-end retail job goodbye! I literally had to put off getting my Bachelor’s for 5 years because of family events, generally not having the time because of work, and personal issues, so being so close to the finish line now feels great.