NCI Blog

This is a guest blog post written by Dr Amanda Kracen, Associate Professor of Psychology at National College of Ireland. Unfortunately, cancer is still a leading cause of death in Ireland; the good news is that many people live with and beyond a cancer diagnosis. However, it may not surprise you that people are often affected by receiving a cancer diagnosis, coping with treatment, and learning to live as a “survivor.” People can feel scared and vulnerable. In addition to excellent medical care, it is now recognised that people with cancer benefit from excellent psychological treatment and social support.

There are many reasons why you should study marketing but for recent graduate, Kim Bracken, the element she loved most was the practical approach to learning new skills and executing exciting ideas.

Jimmy Ahmed (pictured far left) at the Finbarr Flood Scholarship Ceremony For many students who are making their CAO choices, one factor that helps rank college courses is the positive impact you could have on society as a graduate. Working in areas such as healthcare, sustainability, non-profit or education can be incredibly rewarding and it starts with the choices you make as you prepare to leave secondary school.

The work placement programme is proven to help NCI graduates stand out from the crowd during the recruitment process. Our Career Development and Employability Team run classes and events such as mock interviews, career planning workshops and networking sessions to prepare students to succeed when applying for roles with companies such as Accenture, EY, BDO, Ryanair, Arthur Cox, Lidl, Allianz, Zurich, Eir, State Street and many more.

Like many who are getting ready to leave secondary school, final year BA (Honours) in Human Resource Management student, Chloe Baxter, didn't know what she wanted to do next. None of the courses she seen jumped out to her so she decided to gain experience in industry first which gave her the opportunity to learn about the different functions of a business and lead to her interest in HRM.

There is a big deciding factor for students who wish to pursue degrees in accounting and finance which is exam exemptions from professional accountancy bodies. When researching her CAO options, Denisa Mihalute found that graduates of the BA (Honours) in Accounting and Finance at NCI could apply for generous exemptions from the examinations of professional accountancy bodies, such as Chartered Accountants Ireland, upon completion of the course.

After a successful year completing his work placement with PwC UK in Edinburgh, Andrew Conlon is preparing to return to National College of Ireland to begin his final year of undergraduate business studies. During his work placement, Andrew was presented with the opportunity to begin his Chartered Accountant exams, which he passed with flying colours, as well as work from various offices across the UK, meet lots of new people and make lifelong memories but now, he is ready to apply the practical experience he has gained during his placement to his studies.

In this blog post, Niamh Daly shares her journey studying the BSc (Honours) in Data Science at National College of Ireland. She recalls her interest in data analysis from a young age, how she learned NCI's course was a perfect fit for her as well as he experience completing her work placement with Dell Technologies. Finally, Niamh discusses her final year project which focuses on the impact of the weather on Formula One and won the overall prize at the Computing Project Showcase recently.

There’s a new opportunity at National College of Ireland for someone who is looking to kickstart or advance their career in accountancy. Our new MSc in Accounting, starting in September 2023, will allow students to fast track their accountancy career by gaining generous examination exemptions from the professional accountancy bodies. This is a conversion course meaning students with undergraduate degrees from disciplines such as computing and engineering, along with those holding related qualifications such as business, can start or continue their journey to becoming a professional accountant by completing this full-time programme.

As a teenager or young person starting your adult life, the choices you make, such as deciding whether to continue your studies to third-level and which college and course to choose, may be based on examples you see around you. For instance, you might think that you wouldn't be able to work at a desk job for 8 hours a day as you don't see examples of this in your life. As a result, you don't understand the rewarding challenges such a professional can face and the little wins that drive them to continuously learn and build new skills in their role, ultimately leading to personal growth and job satisfaction.