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Reluctance to help out beginners

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(@mike-robbo)
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xxx

 
Posted : 26/04/2011 9:35 pm
Fab4
 Fab4
(@fab4)
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surely the point of a placement is for the employer to make me exceptional.

I think you would do well to revise that attitude. A placement is two-way, where each party helps the other to achieve their objectives of the same.

 
Posted : 26/04/2011 10:06 pm
(@mike-robbo)
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xxx

 
Posted : 26/04/2011 10:23 pm
hcso1510
(@hcso1510)
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Please don't take offense to what I am saying as it is not directed specifically towards you. It is not the employers job to turn an acorn into a mighty oak or to try and turn a sows ear into a silk purse.

In a way this is Biology 101. It's a Symbiotic relationship. They grow and you grow. Always remember that a little humility goes a long way.

 
Posted : 26/04/2011 11:15 pm
Fab4
 Fab4
(@fab4)
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Well yes but where do I get those skills from?

A few quick thoughts (there are plenty of others that occur);

Your Uni must have a forensic toolset on their lab machines, e.g. EnCase, XRY, etc. and offer training (and perhaps even certification) in the same.

Do they set you assignments to test your skill with set tools?

You could access online test images. http//www.forensicfocus.com/index.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=5407

You could buy cheap used HDDs from eBay to examine. During my Masters I purchased some 'job lot' HDDs to discuss how ID theft could be easily undertaken if HDDs are released into the wild. Uni were comfortable with privacy concerns as I argued that the owner had released their own data.

Have you completed any assignments at Uni that has created some understanding/expertise in a particular aspect of DF?

Does your Uni have any collaborations with external practitioners that you could leverage in order to offer your time free of charge?

There will be plenty of other ideas in the 'Getting Started' area and I'm sure that one of David Sullivan's insightful articles would have addressed this issue previously.

My point was if you contacted me and expressed that rather unbalanced view that it was solely my responsibility as a placement provider to "make" you exceptional, I'd ask you to make immediate use of the big hole in the wall. I'd expect you to express what value you would add to my operation for the £15K (ish) basic salary plus overheads I was going to invest in you during the course of a 12 month placement.

 
Posted : 26/04/2011 11:22 pm
(@mike-robbo)
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xxxxx

 
Posted : 26/04/2011 11:34 pm
jaclaz
(@jaclaz)
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We have used EnCase a bit in the lab and we have had tutorials but the EnCase images we were given did not work and the lecturers were clueless as to why this was the case.

This is IMHO VERY serious. 😯

I was planning on using old hard drives off ebay to practice with but since we got the lab refurbished we are no longer allowed in there unsupervised ? and I'm not sure the lecturers would take time out to sit there while I faff about.

Still more serious. What are the "lecturers" supposed to be doing (once excluded being actually experts and capable of fixing an Encase related problem and assisting students)? roll

Why don't you check the Open Source section of this very forum?
There are quite a bit of very good apps that you can have for free and that you can use to get practice in dealing with the "test HD's" got from e-bay or whatever.

It won't help you specifically with Encase, but after all Encase is just a tool and NOT the "only" one. wink

jaclaz

 
Posted : 27/04/2011 12:08 am
(@mike-robbo)
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xxxx

 
Posted : 27/04/2011 12:18 am
(@patrick4n6)
Posts: 650
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telling us that there aren't enough jobs available in the field for even half the people in the room, about 30 people

This is why I'm worried about all the students who got sold on Computer Forensics as the flavour of the month degree, and are about to flood the market with degrees and no experience and wonder why there are no jobs.

If I was an employer, I'd likely have little time for the 30+ applicants I'd have for every job with zero practical experience either. Of course, I have always taken the 20 seconds to respond to enquiries and tell people I have nothing for them.

 
Posted : 27/04/2011 12:25 am
(@mike-robbo)
Posts: 22
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xxxx

 
Posted : 27/04/2011 12:33 am
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