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Seán McArdle

MBS in Entrepreneurship & Marketing, 2012

"DKIT was a great vibe, great place to enjoy and probably one of the best years I have had.”

Seán McArdle [29] chose Dundalk Institute of Technology (DkIT) for his Masters during the recession and

“it is probably one of the best years I have had.”

 His undergraduate degree was in DCU and Seán said,

“I had a lot of theory but I wanted ‘practical’ and having spoken to the Course Director, I really got a sense that in DkIT we would be working with companies, we would be working with local companies, with SMEs and with start-ups.”

“For me, in my career, that was something I needed and something I wanted because you actually get tangible experience, you get tangible examples to use in whatever direction you go.”

 His time on campus,

“I found it brilliant, we had our Masters room, we were a very small unit, we were all in it together.”

 “I actually think I learnt more here than I did on my undergraduate mainly because of the companies but also because of the people, different backgrounds, not only from Dundalk different counties as well. It was a great vibe, great place to enjoy and probably one of the best years I have had.”

 The industry placements which form part of many courses in DkIT will, he believes, stand to our graduates of the future as well as the companies they go to.

“We are in a direction now where young people, and I suppose the graduates and people in the college, are growing up with technology.”

“It is growing with them so I think companies now are really realising if we need to predict the new trends, we need to get involved with what they are doing at the moment.”

 “I think that has been a key focus with companies partnering with universities and of course IOTs because in order to understand the mindset of the consumer, you have to hire consumers.”

 He says the companies are looking at more than just experience when choosing who to hire.

 “They have really moved from experience - of course education is important and past experience is important -but you have to look at the wider gap here, we have to look at the trends. We have never moved this fast before, sometimes companies like Facebook are behind we are moving that fast. We have to bring that sense of community back and start from the beginning.”

He welcomed the opportunity to address a packed Whittaker Theatre and shared his career journey with them.

 It included repeating his Leaving Certificate and changing jobs a number of times and he found out what he did and didn’t like.

 “It is okay not to know what you want to do.”

 He said he wanted to give the students,

“a little bit of hope on what their career could be, that they should be in control of it and just some small tips that I have picked up along the way to get to where I am today.”

Sean is originally from Dundalk, Co. Louth and attended De La Salle secondary School and is now a Recruiter at Facebook.


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MBS in Entrepreneurship & Marketing

"DKIT was a great vibe, great place to enjoy and probably one of the best years I have had.”