Students at Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) discussed both the challenges and opportunities facing graduates during the college‘s second live agri-careers webinar.
The event saw previous graduates from DkIT’s batchelor of science in agriculture speak about their transition from higher education to the workplace.
The current students heard about planning their careers and how to find a work-life balance.
DkIT alumni
Among the recent graduates from DkIT to address the students was Cavan man Anton O’Reilly, who is currently an assistant farm manager in Saudi Arabia:
‘I really felt the qualification I got from DkIT enabled me to get employment as I travelled, but it was the great network of friends and connections I made during my time at college that gave me more confidence to take risks as I moved from Ireland to Australia to New Zealand and to where I currently am in Saudia Arabia,” he explained.
Sales manager with Kepak Group, Andrew Agnew told the undergraduate students about working for the company in South Korea, Nigeria, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, and Canada.
“Work hard and always be efficient with your time. Be clear where you want to be in 5 to 10 years, if your employer doesn’t know your personal growth plans, they can’t help you achieve them,” the Louth man remarked.
The event was organised by DkIT lecturer and agriculture programme director, Dr. Siobhan Jordan.
“We wanted to showcase the breadth of opportunities available to our agriculture students and there was no better way to do this than provide an opportunity to speak to some of our highly successful graduates.
“It was fantastic to see how students engaged with their alumni peers and had open discussions about challenges faced by graduates today,” she observed.
“The event helped many of our students recognise new and emerging careers within agriculture and gave them important motivation as they near the end of their academic career,” Dr. Jordan concluded.
The webinar was deemed such a success that DkIT’s Department of Agriculture, Food and Animal Health has decided to make it a mainstay in its annual academic calendar.