MA in Governance, Compliance and Data Protection in Financial Services, 2018
Post graduate programmes at LYIT have been designed to meet the demands of today’s job market. Courses in governance & compliance, Leadership and business systems, among many others, are provided to equip people with the skills they need to seize job opportunities locally and elsewhere.
One such graduate is Emma Lundberg from Ramelton, Co Donegal. Emma completed the one year Master of Arts (MA) in Governance, Compliance and Data Protection in Financial Services in 2019.
Emma was keen to change her career after 10 years as a people manager in a telco company. Having gained a Business and Marketing degree from LYIT 13 years previous, she knew that she needed to upskill if she wanted a change.
As a result of upskilling, Emma has been promoted to the role of Compliance Analyst for the same company in their Dublin office.
Emma’s Masters helped her gain practical and transferable skills in IT, risk and audit, privacy GDPR, fintech and financial regulation to move up the ladder. The Masters programme focus on privacy and information security was a key driver for Emma in choosing the MA.
“Any course with an element of Data Protection would have wide ranging benefits given the reach of new GDPR legislation. The course content was also varied enough to give me an insight into other areas of business that I hadn’t previously had exposure to, like the areas of FinTech, financial services, IT as well as risk and audit.”
With one day of classes per week supplemented with online learning, Emma was able to study at LYIT while keeping up with her full-time job and family life. She found that staff at the college worked to make the experience as manageable as possible for mature learners.
“Studying with a full time job and a family is never easy, however the year flies in so quickly you don’t really have a chance to think about it. The lecturers were great in that they made sure that deadlines for coursework submissions never fell too closely together.”
“LYIT were also really easy to deal with when it came to fee payments, many students availed of the option to spread fee payments over several months instead of having to pay in one go.”
Emma also had the support of her employers as she upskilled. “They were clear that from my personal development perspective I was interested in moving roles.”
The company offered flexibility to Emma so she could switch focus between work and study. The hard work paid off, as Emma’s MA helped her secure several interviews for compliance roles.
“Ultimately, I was lucky enough to stay with the same company as a new role became available in their information security department. I would say that the course content covered really prepared me for the compliance role.”
“As someone who had very little technical experience before completing this MA, and even less regulatory experience, the skills I have acquired have meant that I have been able to work successfully in an information security role. I would also say that the skills learned on this course are very transferable, while the course has a strong fintech element, as many of our local employers are fintech organisations, I have been able to remain working in the telco industry and the course content has been just as relevant for me.”
For Emma, this MA is only the start. In the absence of experience, she was able to show her employers that she has a good understanding of the current regulatory environment, industry standards and frameworks.
Now, she has set her sights on progressing even further in the field. “I think my decision to upskill has already opened the door to new opportunities, this is just the start! I am already planning to complete some certifications and I’d love to retrain further in the area of cyber security. All in good time!”