My CDT Experience. Dr Ela Lee

I passed by PhD viva in March 2020 and currently work as a research scientist at Cambridge Quantum in the quantum crypto team. My role is to explore classical alternatives to quantum schemes so that we can investigate quantum advantage, if/when it exists. There are several aspects of my time in the CDT which have already shown their value in my new role.

Firstly, unlike a traditional PhD, the CDT gave us no specific topic to study but instead encouraged us to look at anything related to cyber security. I found the lack of concrete direction challenging at times, and was rarely in my comfort zone. However, the experience of diving into new areas, trying to figure out what the current problems are and what useful things I might be able to say has prepared me for the uncertainties of research. As I am no expert in quantum physics, in my current role I continue to stay outside my comfort zone, diving into new areas and figuring out what useful things might be said. In some ways, it feels like not much has changed!

Secondly, the CDT exposed me to multiple research areas. I frequently find myself to be the expert in the room on a topic simply because, over the course of several years, I witnessed other CDT students presenting on that topic. Whilst I wouldn’t go so far as to call myself an actual expert, learning the takeaways of what the challenges in that topic are and how it has evolved over the last few years has led to some fruitful conversations. Similarly, having the funding to travel meant I was able to attend a variety of workshops and conferences, which greatly expanded my knowledge of cryptography as a whole. In fact, I won my role despite the fact that the job posting asked for someone who had spent some time as a postdoc, which I have not. I believe that the combination of following the research of my CDT peers and attending workshops led by world-renowned experts is what led to my being hired.

Thirdly, learning about cyber security in general from the technical aspects to the relevance of policy has given me an appreciation for cryptography in context, which has been invaluable for industry research. In fact, in my first meeting with our head of cyber security, he seemed pleasantly surprised when I explained that my education had been designed to provide me with expertise in cyber security beyond the bubble of what I specialised in for my thesis. I now use this knowledge to bridge the gap between what happens in the theory team and how this will be implemented by the engineering team.

Finally, being forced to present. I must admit that I hated it at the beginning, particularly when I felt I didn’t yet have anything meaningful to say. However, the combination of presentation training, my supervisor Professor Keith Martin encouraging me to give talks for different lengths of time, attending conferences and getting a sense of what makes a good talk, and having opportunities to present to different types of audience has taught me to communicate technical concepts well to a variety of audiences.

I would like to finish by sharing some thoughts around my experience job hunting. I had the misfortune of finishing my PhD in March 2020 as lockdown started. There is a trend for job September 2021 postings to put a lot of emphasis on years of experience, equating this with expertise. Companies’ HR departments then filter out anyone who doesn’t have this, meaning that candidates such as myself have no opportunity to demonstrate their expertise to the person who wrote the job description.  This was amplified by the number of candidates with years of industry experience also finding themselves job hunting as a result of the pandemic. I was told that my “internships don’t count as experience”, or that “normally we only hire PhDs after they’ve worked for at least a year”. Despite hearing these messages repeatedly whilst job hunting, in my current role I started contributing immediately and have been told that I didn’t come across as someone fresh out of a PhD, which I put down to my broader CDT experience.

I believe that the CDT prepares students very well for industry and am very grateful to the CDT for having provided me this training. However, industry hiring practices need to shift to be prepared for CDT graduates. Whilst my experience of the job market was undoubtedly influenced by the pandemic, I worry that assumptions over the journey taken to gain expertise in cyber security will continue to filter us out. We need to continue to show industry, by example and engagement, how well the CDT equips its graduates.