Former salesman and music enthusiast Beau Zamora ’22 shot a video interview for Summit while still a student in the Cybersecurity training program. He’s been out of school for several months, and we wanted to catch up with him. Here’s what we learned:
Toward the end of Beau’s Cybersecurity training, he had a mock interview with Ostra, a start-up cybersecurity company based in Minnetonka, MN to help him prepare for the job hunt. “I had been researching another IT company, a Summit corporate partner, to pursue a position there,” Beau explains. “But I was really impressed with Ostra. Their values matched mine, and it felt like a good fit.”
Shortly after, Beau applied for a position there for which he didn’t believe he was qualified. But he wanted them to have his resumé, which highlighted his 20-week Summit certificate as well as his experience and knowledge in tech and electronics prior to coming to Summit. Ostra was impressed by Beau’s background and offered him a 4-month paid internship, after which he was hired full-time as a Cybersecurity Support Analyst.
“The Cybersecurity training at Summit taught me the core foundations needed for success,” Beau says. “Business English was definitely a critical course. It’s important to have business communication skills, especially in IT. We need to be able to communicate technical ideas in ways people can understand.”
Every day, Beau uses the skills acquired at Summit. In his role, he investigates phishing emails, adjusts security policies, manages network or firewall changes, installs security tools, manages malware security, and more. His company has increased his responsibility over the months so he can continue to expand his knowledge and skills in the field.
Though technical skills learned at Summit helps him thrive, it’s the soft skills that make the difference. “Instructor Howard Ray gave us the best advice: he said you need to be comfortable not knowing everything because IT is constantly evolving,” Beau says. “One day you might know something, and the next day that knowledge is obsolete. Networking and resourcefulness to find the tools you need are critical. You can’t be an expert in everything. You need to develop relationships so you can reach out. If you’re not the expert, someone else is. He taught us to learn how to collaborate. This advice has served me well so far.” Though Beau could have chosen a similar training program at high tuition rates, “Summit’s no-cost program is 100% worth it,” Beau says. “If I had to go back, I wouldn’t change anything. From now on, Cybersecurity will be the foundation of my career.”
