Went to Regina Mundi Secondary School in Douglas, Cork. Followed this with a 3 year Arts course in UCC, where I studied French, Geography, Economics and Computer Science in first year. I then decided to major in Economics and minor in Computer Science for the final 2 years. Continued College with an Higher Diploma in Business Economics (1 year long post graduate course) in UCC. Finished with a Masters in Business Economics also in UCC.
I recently completed a Certificate in Investment Funds from the Institute of Bankers which is a 6 month course designed for those working in the funds industry
What subjects did you take in school and how have these influenced your career path?
For my leaving certificate, apart from the compulsory subjects, I chose History, Geography, French and Biology. In hindsight, I may have kept on business studies for the leaving cert. This was a subject I dropped after 4th year as I had more of an interest in the other subjects.
I think doing Arts in college was the key to my decision making as it gave me a broad view of many subjects, of which Economics was the one that interested me the most.
What aspects of your education have proven most important for your job?
The subjects that I studied as part of my post graduate courses were of the most benefit to me today. As part of my masters particularly, we took part in workshops to apply our understanding of economics to everyday financial news. Also, we studied the use of some derivatives which I found very useful when I started in the company. The analysis we carried out as part of our projects is also directly applicable to problem solving as part of my role today.
Have you undertaken, or do you plan to undertake any further training as part of your job?
I recently completed a Certificate in Investment Funds from the Institute of Bankers in Ireland which is a 6 month course designed for those working in the funds industry.
As part of the training within the company, I have also taken part in various courses including, derivatives, futures, forwards, swaps and cash reconciliations.
