Seeking advise on evidence for mandatory and optional criteria

Stage 1
1

Hi everyone, hope you all are doing well. I am planning to submit my application (under promising) for the first time next month. It will be great and also helpful if you can give it a look and provide some feedback or suggestions.

About me: Cybersecurity operation analyst with 10 months of experience in the UK and over 5 years of Telecom experience outside of the UK. I have completed my master’s in cyber from the UK in 2022. Then participated in a bootcamp to gain some technical experience in 2023. During my bootcamp journey, I did some certification, volunteered in tech events (industry-related), and worked on my paper publication. I have four certs, including my bootcamp. Also preparing for 3 more certs: CompTIA Security+, ComTIA Cloud Essentials, and (ISC)² Certified in Cyber Security. Currently working in financial sector and started another bootcamp last week for cloud security. Given talks in a tech event and an academic conference where I published my paper. Apart from this, I’m also contributing the community by mentoring new entrants.

LOR1: Department head of my university.

LOR2: One of my lecturers who is also working in a renowned firm in a senior level.

LOR3: (I have two persons for this; please recommend who would be better.)

  1. One of my tech mentors, who is Head of Cyber Security Architecture, Consulting, and Engineering, a senior manager at a university.
  2. Head instructor and director of my bootcamp.

Mandatory evidence 1 –
• Category: You led the growth of a product-led digital technology company, product or team inside a digital technology company, as evidenced by reference letter(s) from leading industry expert(s) describing your work, or as evidenced by news clippings, lines of code from public repos or similar evidence.

• Evidence: My previous work in a telecommunications firm (within 5 years) as a lead of a transmission network planning team (IP), where I successfully made a contribution by delivering a project way before the deadline and revenue growth, which led to having another project. Backed up a letter from the company CEO.

Mandatory evidence 2 –
• Category: You command a high salary or other remuneration for your services, as evidenced by commercial or employment contracts with salary information including any bonus and equity options and history of earnings.

• Evidence: Median salary (considering my first job in cyber) comparing in Glassdoor and PayScale. Backing up with my contract letter.

OC2 Evidence 1 –
• Category: Talks or conference speaking that have had a significant viewership.

• Evidence: I have given a presentation at an academic conference and also at a tech event. Both was about security privacy but slightly changed at the tech event. The conference talk was about my paper. Photos of the events where I’m giving my talk and also a reference letter from the conference organiser (tech event).

OC2 Evidence 2 –
• Category: Evidence of mentorship must be for activity outside the applicant’s organisation or normal course of work duties and excludes mentorship of other commercial organisations as part of a commercial arrangement.

• Evidence: It’s a social mentorship programme. I am helping the next generation of learners with their learning and providing advice, support, and guidance to other students. I completed my bootcamp from the same programme and signed up for mentorship.

OC3 Evidence 1 –
• Category: Letter from an employer, wherever applicable.

• Evidence: Letter from my current employer (CISO)

OC4 Evidence 1 –
• Category - Evidence of at least one significant contribution to the field in the form of a paper published in a top-tier peer-reviewed journal.

• Evidence – I have a paper published last month in SpringerLink. It was also related to security and privacy; and published in a book series. I’m providing the book link and related details. Please noted that, the paper was related to my master’s thesis (survey data taken), but additional work has been done before publication.

OC4 Evidence 2 –
• Category - A letter of support from a research supervisor or other expert in your area of expertise affirming their potential world-class standard.

• Evidence – Letter from my thesis supervisor, who was also a co-author of my paper published.

Please let me know if these are sufficient to apply or not.

Thank you.

2

Hi @Zmmithila

You need to go through Tech Nation Visa Guide

You can select only two Optional out of 4 and not 4 criteria.

2 Likes
3

Hi @Zmmithila like Maya mentioned, you can only apply for 2 OCs.

The minimum number of evidence required per criteria is 2. However it’s recommended to submit as close to 10 in total.

Your OC3 mentioned above would be weak as only letters are not sufficient to prove any criteria.

For LORs, select people who would themselves be considered experts in digital technology from their work backgrounds.

Was the telecom company a product-led digital tech company?

Is the mentorship part of a structured program with selection?

Is the tech event a leading event with > 100 attendees?

1 Like
4

Hi Maya, thanks for the response. Is that okay if I choose two evidence under optional criteria 2 and 4? I meant the one I mentioned for OC2 and OC4 is okay to provide? Thanks.

5

Hi and thanks Pahuja.

In my case I don’t have 10 evidence in total. So, I’m planning to go for two from optional criteria 2 and 4 and 2 from mandatory.

Okay then I’ll remove it from OC3.

In terms of LORs, all of them are connected with cyber field and working in the digital technology as senior personnel, also they know me over a year. But I’m confuse is a letter from my mentor will be sufficient? As he knows my work, skills but we didn’t work directly in any organisation.

The telecom company was a service provider company. Worked for a telecom operator transmission planning design.

Yes the mentorship was part of a structured program last for 3 months with a small group of 5. As I did well in the bootcamp so they reached out to me to mentor new cohorts. Is that count as selection?

Yes, the tech event had over 100 attendees and the organiser is willing to provide the eventbrite attendance number. I have pictures of the event and the video is still due to upload in their YouTube channel due to editing.

Is that sufficient to apply or I need to change or wait for more evidence?

2 Likes
6

Better to use the LOR from the other person who has worked with you.

You need to strongly position your work as product-led as telecom itself is not a product-led digital company in itself. I have seen both success and rejection from this background. Please use a strong product-association in your evidences.

MC is one of the toughest criteria to meet and it’s recommended to have 3-4 evidences in it. Letter and salary proof are both weak evidences for MC and not sufficient to meet the criteria as per guidelines. Can you provide atleast 1 more? Alternatively you can move on from OC2 to MC if you have an additional OC2 evidence.

2 Likes
7

Thank you for the feedback. I’ll try to find out if there is something I can add. Might seek advice again in the future.