March 16, 2023

Our First Job in Tech as Humanities Students: What Language Studies Have to do With Navigating the World of Cybersecurity?

by Ugnė Stankevičiūtė & Vakarė Gedžiūtė

Customer Success Managers

The following is not a complete sentence: I am studying linguistics in a New Media Language program. This is a complete sentence: I study the way people communicate on and about the internet and why they do it this way and not that way. Vakarė and I are students in this program and it just so happens that we work in the same team! Our studies are relevant to what we do on a daily basis as Customer Success Managers as we get to apply the skills ranging from creative writing to theories posed by Marshall McLuhan.

Vakarė: applying time-management and copywriting 

In my job, which requires a lot of attention and perseverance, the most important thing I learned is time management. No one ever said that being a working student is easy, but with a very strong desire, everything is possible. I am studying New Media Language at Kaunas University of Technology and quite often I notice that during lectures I can apply the information brought from work. For example, my academic writing has become a lot more organized compared to the beginning of my studies since I’ve learned to focus on clarity and deliver a coherent message. And, of course, vice versa — my studies augment the quality of my work. Since this is the field of linguistics, we are taught how to create texts of various genres, public announcements like press releases, as well academic work in the social media realm and, for example, how to write academically correct letters. This is where the compatibility of work and studies shines through! It allows me to diversify my skills and know that I’m truly applying the knowledge at my job as it is easier for me to notice what my customer is struggling with even if they have difficulty expressing themselves through e-mails and chats. 

Ugnė: a lot more to do with tech than you first thought

It might not be apparent at first, how studying language relates to being a Customer Success Manager at Cybercare, but the Internet has become so embedded in our lives that there is no way it wouldn’t affect how we speak. That said, cybersecurity becomes one of the most important aspects of the discussion and that’s exactly the bridge that connects my studies and the work I do. Even the way people communicate in the digital realm helps to notice potential risks and thinking patterns like feeling invisible due to anonymity. However, this view is quite outdated and can be harmful if no further efforts are made to navigate cyberspace. As such, this becomes a convincing point to be communicated to our customers. Having read plenty of academic articles and researching myself, I found out how people perceive and navigate the digital realm. Here, the research subjects from case studies come to life as customers to me. Interestingly, most internet users understand the internet as a space and this notion proves itself again and again while I am resolving the issues our customers face. Examples may seem miniscule but they matter for effective problem solving: where you “go to”, how you “navigate to the right” to locate the relevant setting, how you may “carry out” a test. 

Now take all of this and combine it with technical knowledge: onboarding process, browsing the knowledge base, learning through finding the source of the issue, troubleshooting it with customers. We get to enjoy a nice smoothie of skills and rewards. Most language students minimize their knowledge: “I study English” for example. This is not a complete sentence. Our attention to the way people speak and deep knowledge of essential structures for communication is a crucial part of becoming great at customer support. Especially in the world of cybersecurity, which sometimes seems so complicated to navigate. Welcome on board!