Digital Trust and Cyber Security Industrial Placement Review

I spent my placement year as a Digital Trust & Cyber Security Consultant at PA Consulting, working on a cyber risk programme for a major national transportation organisation. Day to day, I helped run cyber risk assessments on the client's systems: reviewing documentation, assessing each system against the relevant security requirements, identifying gaps and risks, and drafting recommendations to address them. A typical day might include a morning stand-up with the team, working through assessment evidence, meeting system owners to clarify how a system works, and writing up findings. I worked closely with senior consultants and client stakeholders, and regularly helped prepare and deliver client workshops, where the main challenge was turning technical security findings into clear, practical recommendations for non-technical audiences. Alongside the assessment work, I built a risk assessment tool that made the process more consistent and efficient across multiple systems.

Yes, more than I expected. Early on I was shadowing senior consultants and learning the assessment methodology, but within a few months I was doing the gathering information myself as well as writing up the findings and recommendations. I was also trusted to present in client workshops, which meant speaking directly with client stakeholders and defending our recommendations. The biggest piece of ownership was the risk assessment tool, which designed and built Being given real client-facing work and seeing my output used made the year far more valuable than a shadowing-only placement would have been.

Yes, both. On the technical side, I learnt how to carry out structured cyber risk assessments: interpreting security requirements, assessing systems against them, and judging the likelihood and impact of risks. It gave me a much deeper understanding of how security works in large, complex organisations, especially in a critical national infrastructure setting like transport. Building the risk assessment tool also developed my practical skills in Excel/VBA, Python, data handling and taught me to design something other people would actually use rather than just something that works for me.
Many of the skills I developed most were professional ones. Before the placement I was comfortable with technical detail but less used to explaining it; presenting in client workshops taught me to translate security findings into clear, business-focused recommendations for non-technical stakeholders. I also improved my report writing, stakeholder management, and time management, since I was often balancing several system assessments at once with different deadlines. My previous experience as a validation engineer in a regulated environment gave me a good grounding in documentation and working to requirements, and the placement built on that by applying the same discipline to cyber security. Overall I came away far more confident working in a consulting environment and much clearer that cyber security is the career I want to pursue.

I received a lot of support throughout the year. At the start, I had an induction and spent my first few weeks shadowing senior consultants, which helped me understand both the assessment methodology and how to work with the client. The senior consultants on my project were always approachable and happy to answer questions, review my work, and give honest feedback on my findings and reports, which helped me improve quickly.
As I gained confidence, the support shifted from close supervision to guidance when I needed it, which gave me room to take ownership while knowing someone was there to check in with. I also had a line manager who I met with weekly to discuss my development, set objectives, and talk through any challenges. On top of that, PA offered internal training and learning resources and there was a supportive network of other placement students and graduates to learn from. Overall I felt well supported, and the balance between guidance and independence was a big reason I developed so much over the year.

The culture at PA was friendly, collaborative, and supportive. People were approachable regardless of seniority, and I always felt comfortable asking questions or sharing ideas. There was a strong focus on doing good work for clients, but also on learning and development, so I was encouraged to take on new challenges. The atmosphere was professional but relaxed, with social events and team activities that made it easy to settle in and feel part of the team.

I really enjoyed my placement. Working on real client projects in critical national infrastructure made the work feel meaningful, and being trusted with responsibility early on kept it challenging and rewarding. Highlights included building the risk assessment tool and presenting in client workshops. It confirmed that cyber security consulting is the career I want, and I'd recommend PA to any student looking for a placement.

Yes