“Cyber Security Will Continue to Gain Importance”
Tobias Jobke from the Federal Office for Information Security tries to make people more aware of cyber security in his job. However, it is not always easy to make the topic understandable for laypeople. He has five tips for young professionals.
Worksite: What do you actually do as an employee in the Strategic Communications and Press Division at the Federal Office for Information Security?
Tobias Jobke: Our department at BSI has four areas of activity: press, social media, strategic and internal communication. My main focus is on social media management. I primarily take care of the BSI’s social media strategy, which means I decide which platforms we are represented on and which topics we place there. However, I also create posts myself, for example videos with office management, posts from events involving the BSI or posts in collaboration with our specialist departments. The aim is to position the BSI as the federal cyber security authority, to familiarize people with information security and to raise awareness of our tasks and services.
What experience or talents should you have for the job?
Ideally, the ability toeasily present complex things in a way that people who have not studied computer science or cyber security can understand. This requires mediation skills – between the experts who want to present their topica correctly and in as much detail as possible, and the target groups that you want to communicate toand who may not be as familiar with the subject matter. It is also helpful to know journalistic basics – such as news factors or the two-source principle. Creativity and visual thinking skills also help to prepare content for social networks or an internal employee magazine, for example.
What appeals to you about your job?
Information security is already immensely important today and will continue to grow in importance in the future. I enjoy working to familiarize and inspire people in Germany about thetopic – sometimes in an informative way, sometimes in a humorous way. There are days that are very news-driven, for example when it comes to communicating about a cyber security incident. This requires speed, but also precision and accuracy of information. Other days leave time for strategic issues or for further developing processes at the BSI, for example for social media communication. It is therefore a very varied job in which you act as an interface with the office management and many departments and their employees.
The aim is to strike a balance between technical precision and appealing text and image design.
- Tobias Jobke
What are the biggest challenges in your job?
People with internationally recognized expertise in the field of information security work at the BSI. It is not always easy to present the results of their work in such a way that even non-experts can gain insight, but it is also a lot of fun. It’s all about striking a balance between technical precision and appealing text and images. In the management team, you are the contact person for both the office management and the specialist departments. You must prioritize between many concerns and tasks and sometimes mediate between different interests.
What has been your biggest flop on the job so far, and what have you learnt from it?
I initially thought that the topic of information security was unpopular, that you had to fight hard to get attention for it on social networks and that there was hardly any community for it. The opposite is the case: there is a very open-minded and grateful community for the topic – such as the many IT specialists and security officers from companies on LinkedIn. What Ilearned: Analyze the ‘market’ in detail before making strategic considerations and building on the results. Don’t be put off if you encounter rejection.
Tobias‘ tips for the next generation
Turn your hobby into a career: Your job takes up a large part of your life. This makes it all the more important that the job is fun (even in 20 or 30 years‘ time). Keep this in mind when choosing jobs.
Gain experience: Do as many internships as possible – in media organizations, companies and public authorities. Find out what you like – which media you are interested in, which topics, forms of presentation and formats.
Occupy niches: Think about whether you want to and can focus on a specialized area. This will make you a specialist in your field and make you indispensable.
Use your contacts: Create a profile in a career network (e.g. LinkedIn) and network with other students, colleagues from internships, part-time jobs, friends and acquaintances. This way you can find out what other people are doing and where job opportunities are available.
Stay curious: Our world is extremely complex and dynamic. Educate yourself and follow what’s happening on the (media) market. #LifelongLearning
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