The final year students from the departments of Science and Land Science in SETU were all told at their careers day which took place in the SETU Arena on Friday 31 March that the opportunities in the sector for talented and energetic graduates are plentiful.
The event kicked off with an inspiring speech from SETU president, Prof Veronica Campbell, who told the students in attendance about her own career path and had some excellent advice about how careers are not always linear in their direction, but with persistence and hard work, you can achieve great things.
After this talk, the Una McDermott award for contribution to science was awarded to Tony Pettit, former director of Kildalton College and also former Teagasc head of education, in recognition of his enormous contribution to agricultural education in Ireland over his 38 year career. In his comments, head of the School of Science in SETU, Prof Peter McLoughlin, said that Tony had shaped and focused agricultural education both in the Teagasc system and beyond through his positive interactions with other 3rd level institutes and universities.
Students then broke off for discipline specific talks, before they came back together for the final part of the day, the networking session. Companies from across the region met with the SETU final year students to discuss opportunities that exist in their organisations. Feedback from students and companies were extremely positive.
After 2 years running the event online, everyone agreed that it was fantastic to be back in the room, making introductions and meeting new people – people who might well play a key role in shaping the careers of the final year students of 2023.