The Pentest People Academy

Pentest People are proud to launch their new pentest training academy. Since starting five years ago, we have always been keen to nurture the talents of pentesters in the early stages of their careers. Often, these people have just graduated from undergraduate or postgraduate courses and are wanting to take on their first job. We have an established twelve month training program for such people but are now planning to take take our training one stage further to offer a fantastic opportunity to more people fro ma wider range of technology backgrounds.

Pentest People has just been named as one of the Sunday Times Top 100 fastest growing companies within the UK. This means that we are keen to take on more people in the first stages of their careers who have a passion for cyber security and penetration testing in particular. However, we understand that if we are to take on more trainee consultants, it is vital that we get their career development right. We are always striving to improve what we do so that our clients get not only a technically accurate assessment but also that they get the friendly and helpful consultancy, support and advice that they have come to expect from Pentest People.

Our new academy, that will be taking on our first cohort of eager recruits in September, is our solution to highly effective recruitment and training. We have appointed Michael Keddie, an experienced teacher-turned-pentester, as Academy Team Leader to develop a sector-leading training program. He is working with our team of experienced trainers to take the best of what we already do and adding in an even more exciting range of learning experiences. 

Our plan is to lead each new trainee consultant a course that offers both structured learning experiences and personalised and differentiated opportunities that are tailored to each individual. We will have four key units that each trainee will work through:

• An Introduction to Pentest People, where trainees will learn about the company, its ethos and its departments, as well as the more technical aspects of the methodology of pentesting, from liaising with clients through to testing and report writing. This will be delivered through a variety of structured and well supported training sessions where the trainees will get to work with each other, with experienced consultants and on their own.

• Developing a Breadth of Testing Skills, where trainees will learn to conduct a range of tests. This will be conducted under the expert tutelage of highly skilled consultants who will guide the trainees as they become more confident in their skills and are moving towards greater independence.

• Becoming a Skilled Consultant will enable the trainee to develop both the depth and breadth of experiences of testing. This unit is special because it is at this point that a new cohort of trainees will be starting and the new trainees will be given the benefit of the knowledge of the experienced trainees in a buddy system that will enable the first cohort to embed their knowledge through teaching others. 

• Becoming a Specialised Consultant is the final unit of the training program that gives the trainees the opportunity to specialise in one particular field of pentesting where they will deepen their knowledge and understanding of the tools, methodology and vulnerabilities found in their chosen field. A coach will support them through this as they learn both the practical skills and theoretical understanding required to become an outstanding consultant, which will be shown in the production of a final project report.

Pentest People has a positive, friendly and supportive culture, as shown in its commitment to Investors In People. We want more people to join us at this special organisation. We’re looking for people from diverse backgrounds and experiences to contribute to the next exciting phase of its success story. We believe that our new academy will go a long way towards attracting both the aspirational and the inspirational talent we want. 

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