Meet Jason
Jason was a Police Officer for 17 years, reaching the rank of Acting Inspector, covering the Neighbourhood Policing Team. His time on the force saw him work in public order policing, including during the London riots and the 2012 Olympics.
Jason’s story
In 2022, Jason was considering leaving the Police. While listening to an episode of the Blue Light Leavers podcast, he heard from someone who had been through WithYouWithMe’s programme and found a successful second career.
Inspired by the episode, Jason signed up and completed his psychometric and aptitude testing. Based on his results, he initially entered the Cloud Pathway but soon moved on to complete the Cyber pathway.
“The training took me several months and it was great to be learning new things. The ‘explain, teach, test’ method used in the programmes worked really well for me,” says Jason.
While completing the Cyber Pathway, Jason signed up to attend a Job Accelerator event WithYouWithMe was hosting alongside Leonardo, a leader in aerospace, defence and security. He liked the sound of the jobs on offer, and after a short interview process, was selected as a squad member set to be deployed into Leonardo.
Lifestyle change and a new challenge
Jason left policing at the beginning of 2023 and now works for Leonardo as a Senior Cyber Security Consultant.
“It’s a completely different lifestyle compared with the Police, challenging me in different ways and I get to work on some very interesting projects,” he adds.
Jason hopes to continue working for Leonardo, expanding his cyber security knowledge and eventually moving into a management role.
“Cyber is massively evolving. I’m looking forward to continuing this journey and seeing what the future holds. For the moment, I’m trying to learn as much as possible.”
When asked what advice he would give his past self, Jason advocated for embracing the difficult decision to leave the Police, saying “start the journey as soon as you think you need a change. Get in there early and just learn and push yourself. Never be afraid to step out of your comfort zone.”