NCI Blog

Returning to education is a big commitment. Not only are you investing many hours of your time towards gaining a third-level qualification, but the financial commitment can be a major worry for many students. While it’s important to think about the long-term outlook in terms of your career prospects and earning a higher salary after graduation, paying your course fees may seem like a major obstacle in the short-term.

There are many reasons why someone would choose to do a Higher Certificate (Level 6) after Leaving Certificate, rather than go directly onto an Honours Degree (Level 8) course.

Your college years will be filled with so many enriching experiences. You will make friends for life, join a mix of clubs and societies, attend educational and social events, and it will all lead up to the day you graduate with your classmates.

NCI Careers Advisor, Jennifer Kwan, shares her tips for researching career options and how these skills can boost your employability as part of our Career Tips Blog Series. One of the primary reasons that many of us attend third-level education is to equip ourselves with the knowledge and skills to acquire a better job than we would have gotten straight from school. If you’re anything like me, you listened to a select group of adults on what they thought would fit you best and you went with it. How many of you dived into researching career options before you started your degree? I certainly did not, mostly because I didn’t know how to, nor did I understand why it would be helpful.

When you finish secondary school, you do your Leaving Cert, get into college and jump into your career...right?! NCI postgraduate student, Kate Morris, shares her story with us to demonstrate that education is not always about going from point A to point B. There may be some hurdles in the way and you may have to follow your gut by taking what feels like a step backwards, while always keeping in mind that everyone's path will be different.

Who loves a discount more than students? Attending college is a time when you may be working part-time along with trying to focus on your studies so your time is tight but so too are your finances.

NCI Careers Advisor, Jennifer Kwan, spoke to marketing student Gladys and Psychology graduate Leanne about their entrepreneurial experiences as part of our Career Tips Blog Series.

NCI Careers Advisor, Jennifer Kwan, spoke to recent graduate Caroline Reynolds about her experience changing careers as part of our Career Tips Blog Series. The pandemic has changed the way we work and the way we think about our jobs and our careers, but are we adapting our attitudes in the long run in the right way? Career changers have been leaders in anchoring their career decisions on learning and are finding more opportunities open to them because of it. They have recognised that their values and motivations have changed over the years and that becoming more flexible, self-reliant, and above all, better at learning, will prepare them for success.

Jennifer Kwan, Careers Advisor at NCI, shares practical tips and advice for every step of the job interview process that can be applied to both in-person and virtual interviews.

With an extensive career as an educator and researcher, Professor Jimmy Hill, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Vice President of National College of Ireland, shares his thoughts on what it takes to become a successful business owner along with details of a new NCI programme, which will help you gain the knowledge and skills you need to begin your entrepreneurship journey.