(HARLINGEN, Texas) – Some graduates of Texas State Technical College are excited to land jobs before graduation, transforming their training into immediate impact across today’s workforce.
For Starla Mendoza, a graduate of TSTC’s Cybersecurity program, she secured a job as a junior information security operations center analyst at Carr, Riggs & Ingram in Harlingen before starting her final semester at TSTC’s Harlingen campus.
Following completion of her associate degree last year, Mendoza encountered the first real-world scenario alongside her team within her first five months on the job.
“A compromised external email prompted one of our colleagues to click a malicious link they believed was sent by a client,” Mendoza said. “The link allowed a cyberattacker to hijack our teammate’s Microsoft session and modify multi-factor authentication settings. The issue was quickly identified, and our team worked together to take appropriate action. The client was notified, activity was monitored and access was restored with no further issues. It was a valuable learning experience I helped support.”
Mendoza credits her ability to perform key tasks to the training she received at TSTC.
“We use Kusto Query Language (KQL) to create tickets that flag possible security issues, such as unusual login locations, multiple failed login attempts or suspicious access to client data within Microsoft systems,” she said.
Daniel Johnson is the national accounting firm’s director of information and security, a member of TSTC’s Cybersecurity program industry advisory committee and a graduate of TSTC’s Harlingen campus.
Johnson said Mendoza has exceeded team expectations since being hired.
“Starla regularly handles real-world security alerts with professionalism, seeking business context and confirmation rather than making assumptions,” Johnson said.
Alex Alcoser was one of Mendoza’s instructors at TSTC.
“The goal is to help graduates step into competitive, high-paying roles and Starla’s success is proof they are prepared,” he said.
Mendoza said she attributes her success to the Cybersecurity program at TSTC.
“The instructors placed us in real-life scenarios that helped us understand what we could potentially expect in the workforce,” she said. “I also participated in the National Cyber League, a national virtual competition designed to help high school and college students sharpen their cybersecurity skills.”
According to onetonline.org, information security engineers in Texas earn a median salary of $108,170 a year. The website projected that there would be a 29% increase in the number of such jobs in the state from 2022 to 2032.
For more information, go to tstc.edu.