Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
A career does not always move in a straight line. For Prerit Pathak, it started with software engineering at Dell Technologies in India, but his growing curiosity about cybersecurity eventually pushed him to explore a different path.
As reported by Business Insider, Pathak began learning about cybersecurity through self-study, university classes, and Capture the Flag challenges. While working at Dell, he also started researching security vulnerabilities, eventually discovering and reporting a vulnerability on a public website. His disclosures earned him appreciation letters and acknowledgments from universities and organisations.
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HE BUILT HIS CYBERSECURITY EXPERIENCE ALONGSIDE WORK
The Business Insider report further states that Pathak also set up a local chapter of the Open Worldwide Application Security Project, a cybersecurity nonprofit, while working at Dell. He invited speakers from around the world to discuss cybersecurity, helping him build connections within the field.
He later decided to pursue a master’s degree at Carnegie Mellon University to specialise in information security. He moved to the US in 2021 to begin graduate school and completed a security engineering internship at Google the following summer.
Although the internship went well, his team did not have an opening at his level. Pathak returned to university to complete his degree.
FROM REJECTION TO A FULL-TIME GOOGLE ROLE
Two months after earning his master’s degree in 2023, Pathak joined Google full-time as a security engineer in New York, Business Insider reported.
His graduate education and Google internship were important to the transition, but he also built experience outside formal education. He filed two patents, including one connected to work done during his Google internship.
Pathak also attended industry conferences, learned from mentors, and faced rejections from companies before eventually joining Google. As reported by Business Insider, he believes software engineers looking to move into cybersecurity can use their existing technical knowledge while learning how systems can be exploited.
Today, Pathak works on threat simulations that replicate adversary behaviour in enterprise environments. He also emphasises communication skills and understanding what cybersecurity careers actually involve as important parts of making the transition.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
