Students Encouraged to Pursue Cybersecurity Careers

Director of the Cyber Incident Response Team (CIRT) Division, Retired Lieutenant Colonel (Lt. Col.) Godphey Sterling, is encouraging more students to explore careers in cybersecurity.

Speaking with JIS News recently, he said the field offers several career paths, including security operations centre analysis, cyberthreat intelligence research, and incident response.

“[I] often tell them to ensure that their portfolio is given as much attention as their GPA (Grade Point Average), because if you can show that over your four or three years you’ve been doing certificates, you’ve been doing projects that demonstrate cybersecurity competence, you get a better reception when you turn up at an interview than if all you have is a 4.0 GPA and a blank portfolio,” he said.

The Director stressed that internships are also important in helping students gain practical experience.

He also encouraged establishments to offer more internship opportunities and give young people hands-on experience in responding to cybersecurity incidents and addressing vulnerabilities.

As part of the five-year Strengthening Cybersecurity in Jamaica project, the Government is seeking to expand the pool of specialised cybersecurity professionals.

The initiative commenced in September 2025 and is scheduled to conclude in March 2031.

It includes plans to review school curricula to introduce cybersecurity education at the primary level and augment existing digital literacy and information technology curricula at the high-school level.

The project is jointly funded by the Government of Jamaica and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and is being implemented by the Office of the Prime Minister.