HCC student lands lucrative job with Noble Energy
May 6, 2019
HCC information technology student Michael Mahnke is living proof that hard work pays off. He recently landed a full-time cybersecurity analyst job at Noble Drilling in Houston six months after pursuing his studies at HCC.
The trajectory of Mahnke’s academic pursuits did not follow the norm. When he began his studies at Houston Community College – Southwest in fall 2018, he had already earned a bachelor’s degree in organizational leadership in 2013 from the University of Houston.
“I wanted to pursue a career in cybersecurity and HCC has a quality program that will get me there,” said Mahnke, 28, who has been attending evening classes since fall 2018 at HCC-Southwest for an Associate of Applied Science degree in cybersecurity.
While attending UH, he worked at Best Buy, where he rose from the ranks of part-time sales staff to Apple expert before his promotion to a full-time position with the store’s Geek Squad. In March 2019, he landed a $75,000-a-year job at Noble Drilling – a departure from his $17-an-hour gig at Best Buy.
“The pay is awesome; however it comes with challenges,” he said. “I’m glad HCC has prepared me well to succeed in this job.” He credits his HCC professors, particularly computer science professor Michelle Cantone, for providing him the academic framework and all the needed tools.
“I appreciate Professor Cantone’s hands-on approach to learning that even helped me in my interview with Noble,” Mahnke said. “She taught us to learn the concepts and not just read-and-regurgitate.”
Mahnke has been busier than ever since joining Noble on March 13. The former pole vaulter who tried out for the U.S. Olympics while at UH said he’s up to the challenge of the new job.
At Noble, he is on a six-person team that identifies and addresses cybersecurity threats to the company. “I monitor and identify threats,” he said. “I fix what I can but as for the more severe threats, that’s when I hand them off to other teammates. I learn from the new experience so that I can better handle events in the future.”
Mahnke said his co-workers at Noble are helping him to adjust to his new job. “From my classes I understood the basic concepts of my role as a cybersecurity analyst but I still have much to learn,” he said. “With my old job my brain did not get a workout, and that’s not the case anymore.”
Samir Saber, chair of HCC Computer Systems Networking, said the sky’s the limit for Mahnke’s burgeoning career.
“He’s one of those students who is pretty well rounded in Linux and programming,” Saber said. “He’s a sharp kid. He worked in the Geek Squad and he’s one of those go-getters. He went online on LinkedIn, got people to look at his profile and he landed the job at Noble Drilling. This young man is going places.”