Who doesn't remember their final year in college and the intense focus on exams, projects and getting all those reports in on time?  Not much time for thinking about the future in terms of life and all things career.   Enter the visitors:  On a wintry mid-week night in November, a number of our recent past graduates, now in gainful employment, kindly visited us on campus to meet our current final year students. 

Our final year students enrolled in our 3 main undergraduate programmes, TU851, TU852 and TU762, attended, keen to speak with our visitors and ask them questions about all things career.  Who wouldn't like to meet their future selves from a career perspective?  That is the idea of the annual careers night organised by School staff.   Our visitors, through their employment and enduring good cheer and friendliness, represent living proof to those still in college, that a bright future is a realistic prospect  in the years after graduating from TU Dublin.  As the visitors arrived in the evening - probably travelling straight from work - so did our own students and organising staff.  Plenty of familiar faces all round and delight to see each other again from years past and the present.  To top off the arrivals, an abundant supply of pizza - the ultimate ice breaker - soon arrived.  After introductions, catching up and nourishment, the session got under way in one of the larger new class rooms in TU Dublin's Central Quad, Grangegorman campus in the heart of Dublin city.

Our visitors (names and company of origin - see below) were seated in small circles around the room and were joined by clusters of present students to start the conversations.  The organising staff (for once) keeping a discrete distance left the students to it and the questions and answers flowed.  How much do you earn (popular question...)?  How did you get your first interview?  How is the commute?  And so on.  At 10 minute intervals, the groups rotated between speakers speed dating style.  We hope that insights were gained into private sector industry, public laboratories and the world of postgraduate research.  We feel that the format worked well and at least in a small way helped dispel some of the uncertainty and unknowns as students approach the end of their  college days.  With bodies and minds nourished the evening ended.  

Staff wish to thank all the students, graduates and colleagues involved and we suspect and look forward to seeing our students and alumni again at future events. 

 

Visitors/Past students:

 

Veerapat Pitakpoolsin (TU852)                         Forensic Science Ireland

Angela Jose (TU851)                                              Forensic Science Ireland

Emily Walsh (TU851)                                             State Lab

Maria Lela (TU851)                                                 EPA

Ryan Medcalf (TU762, then TU852)                Amgen

Loren Thomas (TU852)                                         Pfizer

Daryl Fox (TU851)                                                    Forensic Science Ireland

Stephen O’Shea (TU851)                                     Eurofins