Volunteer spotlight: Aimee Shepherd
Hi, my name is Aimee Shepherd! I joined The Cyber Helpline in October 2021 as a Helpline Supervisor. I graduated from Bournemouth University in 2021 with a First Class Honours in Cyber Security Management and I am currently studying an MSc in Cybercrime at Portsmouth University. My day job is working for Siemens PLC currently situated in their Cybersecurity Department for the UK&IE in a graduate role.
My experience working with The Cyber Helpline has been nothing but positive. I first heard about the helpline on an OWASP Dorset Webinar where a guest speaker mentioned some available roles. I checked out the available roles and what the helpline does to help everyone and their journey and applied to volunteer with them. From there, I had constant communication with the Helpline Manager who was so willing to help with any questions I had about the role.
From November onwards, I got stuck into my role as a Helpline Supervisor. I started by picking up some helpdesk cases to improve my knowledge of the mechanical workings of the helpdesk to ensure I could help responders and our service users in the best way possible. This was a great learning experience for me as I was able to experience first-hand what helping victims of cybercrime was all about. Coming from a mainly academic background, it was very insightful for me to understand and link my theoretical knowledge to the ‘real-world’.
“I was able to experience first-hand what helping victims of cybercrime was all about.”
Since then, I have taken more of a step back from taking cases as often (although I still pick up cases to help my team) and I supervise the team with any technical queries from cases, any admin issues etc. I enjoy being a supervisor of a team at the helpline as I get such a well-rounded experience of the running of the team and, I get broad coverage of all the cases the helpline deals with. On top of my supervisor role, I have also been involved in supplier due diligence at the helpline which links perfectly with my day job role. I enjoy being able to bring the expertise and knowledge I learn in my job to my volunteering role and helping to mature the internal process with the other volunteers.
To me, volunteering at The Cyber Helpline allows me to give back to the community and help individuals in their time of need. My personality is very caring and willing to help anybody in any area of life so, being able to do this in a subject I am so passionate about means a lot to me. Further, the volunteering allows me to link my current master’s degree to real-life situations which will push my studies to the next level. The Cyber Helpline is such a community of individuals who are willing to help you learn and achieve anything you desire and for that I am grateful. It allows you to network and understand people from every walk of life and understand other people's views on the cyber security world.
“Volunteering allows me to link my current master’s degree to real-life situations and will push my studies to the next level.”
To summarise, volunteering at The Cyber Helpline has allowed me to improve my confidence in leadership and management and further strengthen my technical cybersecurity knowledge. I have already gained invaluable experience through volunteering for the last eight months.
If you are interested in volunteering with us you can find out more here.