"My beginning in the cybersecurity journey was from Networking Academy courses where I was able to acquire a very good base and prepare myself to take my certifications and position myself in the job market."
Vanessa grew up in São Paulo, Brazil, and graduated from the Faculdade do Litoral Sul Paulista in Information Systems in 2012.
After graduating, she worked in technical support in the private sector and then in the Brazilian Army while completing postgraduate studies in Computer Networks at UNINOVE - Universidade Nove de Julho. Having learned about networks, she found the knowledge wasn't required for her job.
With her interest in networks and a keen understanding of the challenges of cybersecurity, she resigned from the army with the plan to move to Canada to study.
But then the pandemic struck.
"This desire to work with cybersecurity arose when I left the army, and then I started to dedicate myself more to it. I found out about the first wave of the Cisco Brazil CyberEducation Program in 2020. I registered in the Marathon through UTFPR Federal Technological University of Paraná NetAcademy and ended up being selected for the professional phase, where I had the opportunity to study the CyberOps Associate course."
At the same time, Vanessa also participated in the Women Rock-IT Brazil Program, where she managed to complete all three CCNA modules.
"In the meantime, my father fell ill in August 2020. He had to be hospitalized in October and died on November 30th. During this phase, I accompanied him every day at the hospital and tried to reconcile this hospital routine with my studies, which was not very easy."
Becoming a cybersecurity analyst
Vanessa completed the CyberOps Associate course in December 2020, and even with all the difficulties faced, she was among the best students in the program with a final grade above 92% in the final evaluation.
In 2021, Vanessa participated again in the program's selection process, finalizing the Network Security course and completing both CCNA and CyberOps Associate certifications that same year.
"I started looking for a job, getting opportunities from CyberEducation Program partner companies, and landed a job as a Support Analyst in November 2021."
Vanessa is now a Level 2 Cybersecurity Analyst with the same company.
"I recommend the Networking Academy courses as they have great content and the instructors have a lot of knowledge."
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