NCI Blog

We are delighted to introduce the two international students from National College of Ireland who have been selected as international Student Ambassadors under the Enterprise Ireland 'Education in Ireland' programme. Sujay Viswanathapalli and Kun Qian from China will be sharing their experiences of studying and living in Ireland, and you can follow their stories on the Education in Ireland blog or Facebook page.

Today's Irish Independent carried a lovely piece about our College Open Days in Dublin "This year’s Open Days at National College of Ireland promise to be not only educational, but a whole heap of fun.

National College of Ireland is, once again, ranked best for jobs in the Sunday Times annual league tables, The Good University Guide. The college’s award-winning Careers Development and Employability Service is second-to-none, with CV advice being a much utilised facility. Caroline Kennedy, Careers Officer with National College of Ireland (pictured centre, above, with the rest of the Careers Team) has the following advice for creating a CV: “Your CV is your personal sales brochure and should be tailored to the requirements of the position you are applying for. It is one of the most important documents you will write in your professional life and has only one purpose – to get you an interview.”

Committing to part-time study is a big decision – but consider how much you might achieve and how your life might change for the better. If you are considering part-time study or coming back as a mature student, you might be inspired by these stories of students who came back to college later in life.

NCI President Dr. Phillip Matthews spoke at this recent event on the power of empathy to inspire and support performance.

Do you want to start a career in Accounting and Finance? NCI can help! Stephen Harford says that accountancy found him, rather than the other way about – and he’s very happy that it did. The 21-year-old student from Balbriggan, North County Dublin, is in his final year of the BA in Business at National College of Ireland, and recently accepted a position with EY (formerly Ernst & Young) Ireland.

Vice Dean of NCI's School of Computing, Paul Stynes, offers up his tops tips for college students. 1. Attend your lectures You will probably be tired of people saying this but it’s worth repeating: college life is very different to school. The emphasis is on independent learning – which means that your lecturers won’t be on your back in the same way that your parents or teachers might have been. This makes it very tempting to miss the odd lecture but I can’t emphasise enough that for most students, attendance is fundamental to academic success. I will often cover areas that aren’t in the textbooks and go into topics in much greater depth. I will also give advice on assignments, on studying and on exams which will help you to successfully get a degree. I’ve definitely noted a correlation between the students who fail and the students who don’t turn up for their lectures.

An obvious and often underrated means of learning is directly through experience.

NCI Lecturer in Computing, Dr Eugene O’Loughlin, has some advice for his younger self as he starts his college journey.

Student Competition #MYNCI Celebrate the start of the new semester by sharing your impressions of postgraduate and undergraduate life at NCI - it's important to know what it's like studying in Ireland! We want people in full-time courses, part-times courses, evening courses, study abroad programs, CIPD courses and all other NCI degrees or initiatives to share *your* NCI - whether that's the new people you've met, your favourite lunch spot, the views from your commute, your student apartment or the places you like to hang out.