Battleship's New Mentoring Platform Takes on the Cybersecurity Skills Gap

Mentors are now a click away for current and aspiring cybersecurity professionals.

Battleship seeks to disrupt cybersecurity professional development by clarifying career paths and breaking down barriers to entry and advancement through virtual, structured, mentoring programs.

"We are facing an acute skills crisis in the global cybersecurity workforce, which has been exacerbated by COVID-19," says Awat Ilkani, Battleship's CEO.

"Cybersecurity is a quickly evolving, young field, and comprehensive career development and planning resources are lacking. Existing professionals are burnt out and struggling to plan next career steps, leading to high attrition rates, while aspiring professionals face systemic issues like unclear entry points and gatekeeping, leaving them unable to enter the field," he continued.

Battleship believes that managed mentoring will provide the career development and planning support that is currently missing and ultimately, help bridge the cybersecurity skills gap.

Founded in Raleigh, NC in 2019, Battleship offers a software-as-a-service (SaaS), subscription model to connect protégés with mentors. Much of the process includes vetting and onboarding potential mentors, who must have at least 5-years of cybersecurity experience, and combining predictive technology with hand-matching to find a great protégé/mentor fit.

Decades of research show that mentoring:

• lowers stress,
• reduces burn out,
• leads to higher career satisfaction,
• and results in more job offers, raises and promotions.

In the Battleship program, mentors additionally help current and aspiring professionals:

• navigate cybersecurity career paths and skill requirements,
• build soft skills,
• plan technical upskilling,
• and offer advice and support in a psychologically safe environment.

Mentors themselves gain critical coaching and leadership skills through volunteering. Battleship plans on providing leadership training specific to the mentor community, including leadership development certifications.

1:1 Mentoring launched in November 2020 for early to mid-career professionals and executives to work on personalized professional development goals.

Today Battleship announces the launch of Group Mentoring for students, new graduates, and mid-career changers who want to break into cybersecurity.

For more information go to https://battleshipsecurity.com.

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Battleship Security

Battleship is developing a managed mentoring platform to tackle the cybersecurity skills gap by helping current and aspiring cybersecurity professionals advance their careers through structured mentoring relationships with dedicated, highly skilled volunteer mentors. For more information about Battleship, please visit us at https://battleshipsecurity.com.