Katy Buller works for PwC’s tech team in northern England, finding it just as exciting as the London office.
My name’s Katy, I’m from Northumberland and work as a Cyber Security and Social Media governance specialist at PwC. I was fascinated with technology from a very young age, and my interest has continued to grow.
Since joining the graduate scheme three years ago, I don’t think two days have been the same. As a caffeine addict, my day starts with an iced coffee before logging onto my laptop and sorting through emails. After that I’m usually on site with clients, conducting interviews and meetings to understand how their business works, and what controls they have in place to secure their organisation. With my role covering the north of England, I could be anywhere from Newcastle to Manchester and everything in between each week.
It doesn’t matter where you are, opportunities in tech are endless. I’ve worked for many different clients on a range of projects similar to those in London. I believe that your career can be anything you want it to be, as long as you have the drive, motivation and passion to do so.
For the past two years I’ve been studying part time for my Master’s in Information Security. This is sponsored by PwC and is something the company is a strong advocate of. By developing my skills, I can advise more clients and feel confident in the solutions I am proposing.
It’s the ever evolving environment. The threat landscape for information security changes all the time, with new threats and vulnerabilities being exposed daily. Also, it can be challenging to get people to understand that security is not just an IT problem, but affects all areas of a business, no matter what industry they’re in.
I would probably be travelling the world. Travelling is a big passion of mine, and I want to see as much of the world as I possibly can.
Certainly! Many of my colleagues have seconded to Europe, Dubai and Canada, to name a few. Next year, I’m hoping to complete a secondment in America. PwC have offices all around the world, and since most of our clients are international, it makes sense for them to encourage global mobility.
I think there’s still the common misconception that the career consists of sitting in a dark room all day and coding – which is not the case at all. Technology is embedded into everything, we live and breathe it every day. I think people often forget the impact it has on our lives. This ranges from enabling us to produce pharmaceutical drugs more efficiently, the interconnected devices we have in our homes and the applications on our mobile devices that enable us to pre-order a morning coffee. Technology has changed our lives, and it isn’t just about writing code, but supporting and improving how we all live and interact with each other.