Rocio Heredero Google Malaga cybersecurity specialist and does not have a university degree: "They bet more on skills than titles".

Malaga has become one of the essential poles in Spanish cybersecurity, and it owes it mainly to Google. The multinational del buscador bought in 2012 a company from Bernardo Quintero, VirusTotal, and since then the company has turned the capital of the Costa del Sol into one of its main headquarters in Spain.

So much so, that in February of this same year the company announced an investment of 500 million euros to accelerate digitalization in Spain, as well as the construction of a new headquarters and center of excellence in cybersecurity in the same Andalusian city.

Rocío Heredero, who already works in Malaga, under Quintero's own orders, as a Technical Solutions consultant in Cybersecurity, hopes to work in that headquarters within a year. The specialist details in an interview that 50% of her time is devoted to" understanding what needs " have the clients of the corporation.

"What their infrastructures are, how our product fits into their overall cybersecurity strategy, all prior to the sale of the product. Once purchased, we help you use it better, if you have a specific need or have to deal with a particular attack, commissioned me to see if we are able to provide a different point of view that allows them to have more information, or connect with something else that is outside of its infrastructure, which is often one of the challenges of cybersecurity," he says.

Rocio Heredero Google Malaga cybersecurity specialist

"The other 50%," he continues,"I'm an internal consultant, improving processes for the team, automating tasks, doing data analysis, trying to scale processes and make things easier."

Rocío Heredero is 26 years old, is one of Google's bets on Spanish cybersecurity talent, and has not yet finished any university degree.

How did you get it?

Heir attends from Malaga, where she has been living for just a year. "I came to Google because of a string of coincidences," he admits. "I've had an unconventional academic career." Google's consulting firm in Cybersecurity Technical Solutions began studying Aerospace Engineering in Madrid.

He forced himself to like the race, but it couldn't be. When he finished third in the race, he quit. "I didn't like it very much. I didn't leave her at first for stubborn. But I understood it wasn't my thing."

He decided to star in a change of academic direction and enrolled, still in Madrid, in the Degree in Statistics. "I did it on the recommendation of a teacher. He asked me to take a look at the program." However, starting a new career 3 years late worried Rocío, so she was encouraged to combine her studies with internships in companies.

Rocio Heredero Google Malaga cybersecurity specialist: This is how he arrived at NH Hoteles, when he finished his first course in Statistics. "I joined the Digital Marketing team. My team was in charge of paid search advertising." That's how he met his future boss. "The account manager we had at Google told me if she wanted to do an internship on her team."

Heir had been working just a few months but was about to enter a whole multinational technology as Google. He did so as an analyst on a six-month paid scholarship in 2017. "I started to see that everything I saw in the career I could then apply at work, which I know is not the case with most university students."

When this first stage was over, he went on to work full - time. In 2018 he was offered to stay full time and choose between two destinations: Ireland or Poland. She chose Poland because she was attracted by the challenge of going to a country where a language she did not know was spoken.
In Poland I was still working in the Google Ads division, ads. "What a better time this is than to leave, when I still don't have a family or anything to tie me up." He specialized in technical support. It was the way to get back into the world of engineering. But after some time had passed, Rocío decided to return to Malaga. Then he got a message.

"Would you like to come to Malaga?". It was Bernardo Quintero.

"I had heard of your story." Rocío Heredero recognizes that Bernardo Quintero is a legend in the company. "He knew the myths and everything around him, but he didn't know the subject very deeply. In the job interviews I learned everything well, and it was a good part of what encouraged me to come: having the opportunity to work with such a person."

However, Rocío didn't want to fool anyone. The first thing she said in several of these interviews is that she had no previous experience in computer security. "My strength has always been data, data analysis." "My friends told me I was sick in my head when I told them I was going to work in cybersecurity," he laughs.

Rocio Heredero Google Malaga cybersecurity specialist

Quintero's answer was clear. "He told me that I already knew what I had to know, that they would teach me the rest," Heir now tells.

In spite of everything, Rocío Heir speaks with humility. "I always say that everything has been a bit of luck because it has happened that I was in the right place, at the right time, and the opportunity has arisen." His friends don't quite understand how, without having finished any university training, he is already working on a whole technological giant like Google.

"I have not finished the Degree yet, I have the End of Degree Work and some other subject". "To this day I don't have a university degree. That's why many of my friends joke and that I'm very lucky and that I'm disgusting, " she continues laughing.

Rocío thinks he's not " much better than anyone at anything." "I've had an opportunity that not many people have, and I've fought tooth and nail to seize it. But all this raises many questions, many about the company. A lot of people keep asking me if working at Google is as cool as they paint it, if it's like in the movies."

According to her, it is. "It's even cooler. It is a unique company to work with. My father always tells me that the problem with starting my working life at Google is that this is like learning to drive with a Ferrari. That then anything else is gonna fall short. I don't see myself anywhere else today. I am a little worried tomorrow, if I decide to change companies, how I would fit in, " he confesses.

Rocio Heredero Google Malaga cybersecurity specialist: Rocío's can be an example of what she herself defines as Google's "philosophy." "His philosophy is to bet more on skills than titles. If you see any job offer from Google, you're always asked for either a specific degree or equivalent practical experience. It's kind of the reason I'm here today," he says.

"When it comes to interviewing you, your skills are valued, that you are able to develop your work. I don't think I've ever been asked what I've studied or what my grades have been. Yes I have been asked if I would be able to do or one thing or another." Rocío believes that this way of conceiving Human Resources and attracting talent should be lavished much more in Spain. "That's what's going to be done more and more," he says.

Based on her experience, Rocío Heredero believes that young people should not focus on studying or taking advantage of opportunities, but "on both". "There's the fever of titulitis and then the fear of not working while studying."

Rocio Heredero Google Malaga cybersecurity specialist

She does recognize that" the Spanish university "has made things"very complicated" for her. "The Spanish university is not ready right now. It has not helped me at all to work while I was studying and it has given me a lot of problems." However, she confirms that she would not change anything about how she has done it. "I encourage anyone who has the opportunity to start working, with whom he is falling now, not to say no to anything."

"If you can study at night and work in the morning, do it," he concludes. "Keep learning every day. I try to go to bed every day with something new learned."

At the moment, the experience is renting him. "I think it is a luxury to work in this sector, in this environment, in a city like Malaga... that's not usually the place." "When they tell you about working in a great tech company, you think about Silicon Valley, Zurich... But living here, by the sea, wearing short sleeves to the office... it's a treat."

Although she has no university education, Rocío has started a Degree as a University Expert in Reverse Engineering and Malware Intelligence at the University of Malaga offered by the company itself.

Rocio Heredero Google Malaga cybersecurity specialist: The pandemic hasn't made things easy either. Now he remembers everything with laughter. Rocío arrived in Malaga at the end of February 2020. "Me sliced a finger and premiered Urgencies in Malaga". The incident forced him to stay home for a week. What he could not imagine was that just a week later, when he was going to return to the office, he would not see his colleagues until months later.

The coronavirus pandemic broke out in March and companies quickly adopted teleworking. Google was no less, and globally recommended its professionals to stay at home. "I loved Malaga and I have no desire to go back to Madrid", smiles Rocío. "But it is true that this year has been durillo".

"It has been a year of entering a world you know nothing about, as complex as cybersecurity, without having the opportunity to be in the office meeting people personally." However, she insists on talking wonders, especially when at the time she spoke with Rocío did not contain her emotion at an idea: Google already allows workers to book tables to return to the office.

Now, in his Degree of University Expert, he has also been able to meet people. And it breaks down some myths about the cybersecurity industry. "I was surprised to see the diversity of profiles. I was hoping to find a bunch of computer engineers and be me the brat of the class, but no. There are colleagues who even come from studying Fine Arts."

Therefore, Heir also emphasizes the idea that cybersecurity is a constantly growing sector that offers opportunities to various sectors. "It affects us all," he recalls. "We are all connected and communication is practically all cyber: we need to be protected, whatever you do." "It is an ideal time to work on this "and the training that is required"is not exclusive to an engineer". "Anyone with concerns about the internet, about networks, can do it."

Rocío has immersed herself in an industry, that of cybersecurity, in a key year for the sector, 2020. "There have been a lot of changes when it comes to seeing how many of our products were used." Everyone has adopted teleworking. "I love seeing that it's possible to work from anywhere and make sure we do it protected."

"This year we have learned much more than in the last 10 years together. We're very prepared. More than the risk of working from one place, the concern is that everyone is comfortable and can work as they need."

# Rocio Heredero Google Malaga cybersecurity specialist #