Then and now: Assistant Professor of NCI's School of Business, Desmond Gibney with NCI graduate Eamon Breen in 2005 and 2025.
We welcome the return of alumni to NCI, either to contribute their wisdom to the next generation of students, or to further their own professional and academic development through lifelong learning.
In this blog, NCI graduate Eamon Breen details his experiences in the world of accounting since graduating in 2005, and the insights he wishes to share with the class of 2025.
NCI graduate Eamon Breen recently returned to talk to final year students on the Accounting & Finance and Business degrees, as part of a series of guest speakers for the Contemporary Issues in Finance & Accounting module, at the invitation of his lecturer Assistant Professor Desmond Gibney.
For his talk, Eamon chose the topic “Life & Finance."
While it certainly wasn’t Eamon’s first time returning to NCI since his graduation with a First Class Honours degree in 2005, he noted that he was part of the first cohort to study in the IFSC campus, following NCI’s move from Ranelagh in 2002. Eamon is a chartered accountant and Finance Manager & Country Management Team Member with JYSK Ireland & UK.
During an interactive session with the students, Eamon answered many questions about his own career and accountancy in general.
Interested in learning more about Accounting and Finance at NCI? You can visit the course page for more information.
Tell Us About Your Career Progression?
I spent five years working in audit in a Big 4 firm, EY. I stayed on after my training contract was up, and was promoted to assistant manager. I met my wife on my first day in EY, but didn’t know that she’d be my wife! Each year, I spent months on the audit of a major tech company. After EY, I worked for different companies, all household names, including in the service, retail and sports sectors. In each role, I developed different skills, such as month-end closure, how a large multinational business works, helping non-finance people to understand finance.
Why Did You Leave Your Last Job?
I can divide my 20 years in accounting so far into four distinct phases. There was the Training phase, including my time in NCI, qualifying as a chartered accountant with EY, and further qualifications after that. This was followed by the Early Development and Progress, in my first roles after leaving EY. Then there was the Progression in International Business phase, which included my start with JYSK. And finally, the Leadership phase, as I’ve progressed with JYSK.
So, I realise this is a rather long-winded answer to that question, but I had a role I enjoyed in a great business, and also I had an upcoming project, rowing across the Atlantic with my brother, as part of a race called the World’s Toughest Row, to raise funds for a charity supporting families affected by sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), This project had a start date but no end date! You can’t say with certainty how long it will take you to sail across the Atlantic! Previous crossings had taken anywhere between five weeks and four months. Andrew and I crossed the Atlantic in precisely six weeks. So the timing of my leaving suited me and my then-employer.
What Is The Common Perception Of Accountancy As A Career?
Accounting isn’t just about the numbers. As you progress in your career, you move away from just the numbers. It’s definitely more than just posting journal entries. My job with JYSK is as a finance business partner. That means finance is at the core, while impacting the wider business. I look at all the things we do and see if there’s a better way to use our time. If so, how much will that cost and how much will we save? If you’re looking at purchasing a new system, for example, can you depreciate that cost over say ten years?
At a recent teambuilding event, everyone else was having fun, but I wanted to win! The most important thing in a team is Trust and working towards a common goal. So the Mentoring role is very important to me. I always have an open-door policy. In a multinational company like JYSK, that means a real handshake and not a virtual handshake! Like many similar businesses, we use shared services, based in different countries. So it is important to know the person and the team in those locations; we recently brought a team to Dublin and otherwise we’d never have met in-person. And I need to understand what they need from me to do their role, and they need to understand how their processes can impact on our business.
What is one key idea that the NCI Class of 2025 should look at?
Data storytelling! We can gather data on anything we like, but what does it mean? So my advice is to create a story out of it. Then it starts to create a narrative, in words and sometimes in pictures! So we know what to do if we ever want to change it!
At the conclusion of the talk, Niall Majury, a student on the Accounting & Finance degree, spoke on behalf of the class and thanked Eamon for giving his time to talk to the class, and commented that “It was a pleasure to get to listen and engage with Eamon."
To learn more about all that NCI offers and to meet our lecturers and student ambassadors, don't forget to register for the next CAO Open Day that is taking place on May 10th, 2025.
