Marketing

Having attained my ordinary degree in LYIT in 2012, I was instantly attracted to the honours course and to furthering my education. The smaller class sizes, one-to-one learning and close-knit class structure provided me with fundamentals of the world of business. I would highly recommend this programme as the business knowledge, interpersonal skills and confidence gained in LYIT has prepared me for my own professional journey. In terms of employment, I obtained the position of ‘Sales Co-ordinator’ within a multi-national organisation, Marine Harvest, in just a few short weeks of graduating where I stayed until October 2014. This role allowed me to gain relevant business experience and also represent the company and myself in both the domestic and international markets. Furthermore, the honours programme has given me the chance to acquire a graduate visa to the United States, whereby I spent 3 years applying the business knowledge I gained in LYIT.

I definitely enjoyed my time studying at ATU Donegal. My course was Business specialising in Marketing and the content covered was current and helped me prepare for my career after college. I enjoyed the practical aspects of my course, and all the lecturers were always helpful. There was a great social aspect involved with my course as well, getting to work with a wide range of people, most of whom I will continue to keep in contact with long into the future.

Like a lot of students at a young age I was unsure what I wanted to do in college. The Business (Common Entry) course allowed me to get a taster of management, marketing and accounting for two years before having to make the decision of choosing a specialism. Two years in I knew the marketing aspect of the course was for me. I enjoyed the creativity side of having to think in different ways to promote businesses. I even then came back a few years later to do the add-on Level 8 honours degree, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

I enjoyed many of the modules the course had to offer however the Strategic Market Planning module was my favourite. We had case studies on a range of companies which we would later have to present on how we would market them to consumers. These case studies showed me how I had the ability to adapt the knowledge gained throughout the years depending on the requirements of the business or its products. It really showcased how being a marketer is being a ‘mixer of ingredients’ and how important it is to know when to go all in or pull back on marketing strategies.

After graduating, I took up the opportunity of creating social media content for a small local business selling products I didn’t have an in-depth knowledge of, something I know I wouldn’t have had the confidence to agree to if I didn’t have the experience ATU Donegal gave me.