A trainee’s diary – Part 1/3

Since its launch, Teal’s trainee program has already paved the way for many young talents to enter the world of IT security. One of these talents is Nils, who has been part of the program since March this year. The 12-month traineeship not only offers intensive training in IT security topics, but also secures trainees a long-term position at Teal through a permanent employment contract. In the midst of the era of home office and remote work, Nils, along with two other colleagues, started our traineeship.

In an internal interview with Lisa from Marketing, Nils gives us insights into his experiences, challenges and the culture at Teal.

Interview with Nils – Trainee at Teal

Lisa
First, briefly tell us what you did before Teal, what education you have, and how you came to apply to an IT security company.

Nils
Yes, of course. I studied industrial engineering, specializing in mechanical engineering. I completed my dual studies at an automotive supplier that produced aluminum, stainless steel and sheet metal parts for mainly the major German automotive companies. Then I worked there in engineering. However, I then decided to focus more intensively on the economic part and switched to ERP consulting at another company. So I went one level more abstract, to put it that way, and then worked for companies like my previous employer. I was there for about three and a half years.

The change to Teal came relatively unexpectedly, as I already knew Teal through a colleague and he had told me about the team and the subject area of IT security. At the time, I was working in consulting, but I had never had any real contact with IT security. What he had told me and what I had then read more intensively on Teal’s website, however, sounded very interesting and I had decided to have an initial interview with colleagues from Teal. During the interview, I was given a first look at the team and we then got to talking about the trainee program. After the interview, I actually applied for this program and after another round of interviews – as a kind of “career changer with IT experience” – I was offered the opportunity to start the traineeship alongside two other new colleagues. So off we went 😉.

Lisa
Did the insights you got based on the interviews for the trainee program turn out the way you thought they would in the first few months?

Nils
Yes, that was a realistic idea that Andreas, my mentor, had given me in the preliminary talks. The environment, the training courses and the tasks that I was told about in the preliminary talks were the same as they are now in my day-to-day work. For me, of course, it was a change at first, since I had previously either worked in an SME myself or then worked for them afterwards. Now the customers for whom we are creating a secure environment are of course a bigger house number and mostly enterprise companies. It’s a new but exciting and interesting experience. And yes, with everything else that comes up outside of the customer work, I feel super comfortable with both my colleagues and the expertise and goals that have been worked towards internally. The strategy that Teal follows prepares me as a trainee for the different IT Sec tasks.

Lisa
You’re already talking about activities with customers. How many points of contact do you already have with our customers on a day-to-day basis?

Nils
Yes, I am currently working with a small team on a customer project. That started relatively quickly at the beginning of May. I didn’t hesitate for long and got involved.

Lisa
Early May, yet very soon after your start.

Nils
Yes, exactly. At the moment, a lot of the work is still of an organizational nature. I’m talking to a lot of different people from the company about my open questions, and right now in our customer project there’s a lot of need for clarification in order to work out the necessary expertise. The current project organization topic is preparing me very well for this.

Lisa
Can you give me a brief insight into what the main focus is with this client, i.e. what is being implemented in their business?

Nils
Sure, this is a tiering project. Tiering classifies critical and non-critical systems within a customer domain based on organisational structure or hierarchy with the aim of separation. I’ve also been doing a bit of support for this over the last few weeks.

Lisa
Since you are currently already gaining hands-on experience, do you also face challenges from time to time? And have some of the topics you’ve learned about already crossed your path at the customer?

Nils
Basically, everyone in the company who you approach helps us trainees. I always know that I can turn to someone from the relevant department if I have any questions. I haven’t had to face any real challenges in that sense yet, because everything you need is explained and shown to you well. I already had some experience in advising customers, but not in the area of IT security. Accordingly, it’s also cool to see that you already feel quite confident in conversations there and can also move through the topics that we had simulated in the self-studies or in the Microsoft trainings and it can also be applied directly at the customer. So it’s nothing new when topics come up at the customer’s site, because we’ve discussed internally beforehand what to expect in the customer’s environment and how we’re going to proceed strategically.
One of the key issues is Active Directory, and that’s exactly what this project is all about for us. I had also previously learned internally how we would proceed efficiently and securely at the customer’s site.

Lisa
What about training courses or workshops, apart from the Microsoft Workshop I already mentioned?

Nils
Currently, we have a two-hour soft skills training once a month. Many of the topics we discuss there are already familiar to me, as I already took part in some soft skills training during my studies. For example, we discuss topics such as self-organization and which ones are applied in the different types of companies. We also do analyses for ourselves, for example on working independently or prioritizing tasks, which we then discuss together with our coach. It is always interesting to see other perspectives and options. This helps us to implement a structure in our ways of working and our projects, and we receive helpful tips that we can always keep in mind.
In the training, we are three current trainees together, so Teal internally without other participants. This way, you learn a lot in a small group and can exchange your own strengths and weaknesses as well as ideas.

Lisa
In addition to the soft skills training, you also have your mentor Andreas (IT security consultant and trainee mentor at Teal) who accompanies you through the traineeship. Can you tell me a bit more about that? How do you organize feedback meetings, for example?

Nils

Exactly, Andreas is still our main contact person as a mentor during the trainee program. We also have regular one-on-one meetings for feedback, in addition to big quarterly meetings at the team event, where we all see each other live and in color… which I also think is cool, by the way, because it’s always a bit more comprehensive and takes place with all the current trainees. Even if you don’t always have so much to talk about in a one-on-one meeting because you’ve been integrated into a project for a while, you can always find a topic that you want to talk about or that’s on your mind. For a few weeks now, we’ve also had a short 15-minute meeting in the morning in which we trainees update each other on the current day’s work. This also gives us an insight into what’s going on in the other trainees’ projects.

These are currently the mentoring meetings that take place on a regular basis. I have to say that I’m very satisfied with them and feel very well looked after.

Lisa
Glad to hear that. How do you see the cooperation with colleagues who have been with Teal longer and have more IT Sec experience than you?

Nils
Totally attentive and always supportive. As I said, I was taken to customer meetings early on and was able to contribute. That’s how you learn how to deal with customers and their business processes. I find this very important in order to be able to lead these meetings on my own in the future.
The atmosphere in the team is very open, warm, fun and, of course, professional. The team events are also great for working together productively and seeing each other in real life from time to time. For me personally, it’s important to feel good, and I do.

Lisa
Are you happy with our all home office, except for team events?

Nils
I like the pure home office work and am also used to it from my previous employer. It’s great to work from home and then meet once a quarter at a team event and enjoy some “unproductive” time with colleagues in the workspace or during a team activity afterwards 😊.

Lisa
Yes our team events are great =). So last question for today – I promise. Do you have an idea or have you already talked about the direction you want to take after the traineeship?

Nils
During the trainee program, I have already become acquainted with various topics and will get to know more in the future. For me personally, I found the topic of BloodHound Enterprise very exciting and I probably want to go in the consulting direction in this area and also contribute to further product development. However, I have not seen everything yet and I am curious about the other IT security areas and products that I will get to know.

Conclusion

So Nils’ journey at Teal remains exciting. His current experience underscores the importance of programs like Teal’s Traineeship that not only provide IT security expertise, but also foster a culture of collaboration and shared growth. We look forward to continuing to support talent like Nils and providing them with a platform to advance in the IT security industry to provide a secure environment for our customers.