Ever wondered what working at GCHQ is like? Here’s Jenna to give us the lowdown on how it feels to be a new graduate joining the team!
“My first experience of working at GCHQ was through the Cyber Insights Summer School, which was an amazing opportunity! I learnt about the organisation, whilst gaining a solid basis in tech. I even met the people I now work with every day so by the time my interview came around for a full-time role, I was already familiar with GCHQ.
When I joined, I was offered lot of opportunities for personal development. There were courses, training on various platforms and a brilliant development pathway. My cohort of five graduate developers was also given a series of collaborative projects to work on, exposing us to new programming languages and technologies, as well as giving us the chance to get to know new people from all sorts of other departments.
Within the space of a few weeks, I felt like a really valued member of my team. And, I'm applying the knowledge I gained from the Cyber Insights Summer School on a daily basis. My line manager has been incredibly supportive and gives me work that's challenging, but in that allows me to learn new skills without feeling overwhelmed. I've also got a buddy in my team who has been a great go-to whenever I've ended up feeling unsure about anything!
Challenging problems present themselves all the time; given the innovative work we’re doing, they're often problems no one has seen before, so they're pretty exciting. We're all keen to talk them through, and there's a real 'get stuck in' atmosphere – which means there’s always someone who can help!
I get to work with technology that I didn't even know existed, and on the most amazing projects, but it’s the people I love most about my job. We pride ourselves on creating an open and inclusive atmosphere, which means that I love coming into work every day.”
Please note - the model shown is not an employee of MI5, MI6 or GCHQ and is for illustrative purposes only.
