Benedict Shegog | Contributing Writer
Around this time of year a lot of accusations of careerism get thrown around; the Students’ Union is seen by some to be just a step on the LinkedIn ladder, or a few lines worth of CV content. Every now and again things come to a head between believers and nonbelievers when jokes about a lack of available information in the Arts Block are rebuffed in essay length Facebook comments by those faithful to the SU cause.
Whether or not people care about the work of the SU, or even who is representing the student body, a sabbatical position is undeniably going to work in a graduate’s favour in a majority of interviews, particularly in the current arid job market.
The list of previous SU officers includes, but isn’t limited to: a handful of senators, several RTÉ presenters, a bank director, and Joe Duffy. There is clearly a lot to play for. The University Times decided to reach out to a few of the more recent officers to see how they look back on their time in office, and find out what they’re up to now, and whether they’re making use of the skills they picked up during their year of representing 17,000 students.
Tom Lowe is an Economics graduate who was Communications Officer 2010-11. His focus at The University Times was bringing the newspaper online and leveraging social media. He is currently employed in New York, at a content marketing company.
“I’m working for a technology startup called NewsCred in New York, helping clients get set up with our software. Content marketing is basically all about turning brands into publishers and helping them earn an audience so I’ve really used the skills I learned as Comms Officer and at Trinity News throughout my career so far. Before that I worked for a year at startup in Dublin called NewsWhip. They’re selling their software, which monitors the way news spreads on social media, around the world from an office on South William Street.
“Over the past few years the SU and UT have become much more online savvy and that’s having a positive impact on transparency and the inclusion of people who wouldn’t normally interact with the SU or student issues – discussion of and solutions to their issues are now only a click away.”
Christopher O’Connor, who was elected as 2011’s Ents Officer now splits his time between working for P. O’Connor & Son Solicitors in Co. Mayo, and making use of his event management know-how as the Founder and Director of MMX Ltd Event Management. During his time in office his notable achievements were acquiring sponsorship worth €30,000 from companies like Vodafone, Bank of Ireland and Bavaria, and revamping RAG week to raise over €16,000 in 5 days.
“I am currently sitting my second set of FE1 Law Society Entrance exams en route to a training contract with Arthur Cox Solicitors. I am also director of an event management company that runs unique and innovative events in the Dublin area, most recently Resolution MMXIV. I’m hoping to keep a hand in event management as I pursue a career in law.”
Jen Fox was a Senior Sophister Genetics student before she became the 2010-11 Education Officer. She has decided against the world of Genetics and has instead continued to work in the field of Education. Like many Trinity graduates, Jen has emigrated and is now based in London.
“After my year as Education Officer, I decided to stay in the world of Education and began work with an Irish charity that helps link secondary schools in deprived areas to big businesses in order to inspire and generate skills for careers in life after school. I now live in London and work with the charity Teach First that aims to eliminate educational inequality, making sure that no student’s education is limited by their socio-economic background. Day-to-day I work as a Science teacher in a low-income area school in Croydon. I’m also the Honour Roll coordinator in charge of supporting as many students who aspire to attend University. When I’m not in the classroom I am working with a Norwegian social enterprise that aims to encourage more students into a career in science.
“I look back on my year as Education Officer very fondly. The position exposed me to a new career path and gave me the opportunity to be thrown knee deep into big projects with high impact. I’d love to go back and do it all over again – it was such an incredible year for new experiences. The year is so much more than just personal development and I enjoyed working on individual coursework just as much as high-fiving Obama when he spoke outside Trinity in College Green. I can only hope that I helped improve the academic journey of individual students I met during my year.”
Admittedly most of the recent ex-SU officers have jobs straight out of college -which isn’t exactly guaranteed for everyone- but a look at the last five or so years of sabbats reveals a range of familiar stories. Some of them have made use of their degrees, and others have moved away from their areas of study. A few have stayed in Dublin, some work in different areas of Ireland, and a good percentage have moved away to the UK, the US, or further afield. Essentially, even with a gleaming CV in their pocket, SU officers are faced with the same choices and challenges as every graduate.
