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TY Work Experience 2019 2020 Reflections (2)

Solas

Danion Wang was one of five TY students who completed a weeks work experience with Solas in February. Below he reflects on the week and talks about what he learned and how he has benefited from it. Thank you to Caroline, Aoife and Emer for planning, organising and facilitating the placement. It sounds like the students had a great week!

From the 10th to the 14th of February, I took part in a work experience program at a company called Solas. This company specialized in educational funding and was located at The Point. Throughout the week, I got to learn about the company and educational funding. 

Unlike my previous work experience, this program only featured students from Larkin. There were 5 students in total including me. This was Solas’ first time doing a work experience program which I believe is the reason why there weren’t many students. I was very comfortable at this work experience because I already knew everyone. 

On the first day of work experience, we got a small tour around the building. We learned which floors specialized in which fields of work. We also got a talk that day from the communications team about careers and social media. 

I learned a lot throughout this work experience program. During this week I got to meet a lot of different workers from different occupations within Solas. Instead of presentations we had 1 on 1 talks with them. Through these talks, I learned about a variety of work fields such as data analysis, HR, strategy and finance and understood more about Solas and their objectives. 

Aside from talks about work fields, throughout this program, me and the other students worked on a presentation to promote better recycling in the company. When researching for this project, I learned more about which products were recyclable and non-recyclable as well as how much trash Ireland produces. This project also showed me the impact the younger generation can make as Solas chose us to promote recycling because of how our generation was more educated on the topic. 

On the 12th of Febuary, We went on a trip to a further education institute involved in arts and a primary school in Ballyfermot. Although there were many parts of this work experience I enjoyed, this trip was my favourite. It was very fun and interesting exploring the schools and learning about the different activities and programs held in them. 

I  loved my time at Solas. I’m not too sure I’d do anything differently if I were to do this program again. I think the work experience program is great. I would definitely recommend this work experience program to other students in TY because of the lovely staff there and because you get to learn about alternate pathways in third level education. 

Danion Wang, February 2020

State Street

Anamaria was one of 8 students who completed two weeks work experience with State Street in February. Anamaria talks about her experience of State Street and the impact it had on her. Thank you to Ruth Sinnott and Sandra Foley for all their work in providing such a worthwhile placement for our students.

Myself and seven of my classmates worked in State Street for two weeks as part of our TY work experience. State Street is a financial services company based in the IFSC. Throughout the two weeks they had planned lots of different activities and talks for us.

It was very interesting to learn about the different jobs that people who worked there had and what they got up to on a daily basis.

The part I enjoyed most were the two hours in the afternoon where we were put into small groups and we had to work and figure out what company was best to invest money in. They gave us three different companies and we had to work together to decide which one would give the best return on our investment.

I was in a group with two of my friends and we had to research ‘Nike’ using different websites that were given to us by our mentors. At the end of the two weeks we had to present the information we found and get people to vote for our company as the one that is the best to invest in!!Unfortunately for us, since Nike is an already big brand we did not win because there was not much room for growth. Sate

We also got to experience Virtual Reality which was really cool!! I had never tried it before and was very impressed with it.


This work experience has shown me a life I was not used to and it has helped me realise that I would like to work in the area of law or finance when I leave school. 

I have started to build up the skills that I need to work in a company like State Street in TY such as developing my public speaking and presentation skills. It is nerve-racking putting together a presentation about a certain topic that you did not know much about and then having to present it to experts in that field. I am so proud of myself that I had got to do it and that I did a good job

My two weeks with State Street were very enjoyable and I would recommend for other TY students to do their work experience there!!

I would like to thank everyone from State Street for making us feel so welcome while we were there!

GSOC: Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commision 

Zuzanna was one of two students who spent a week working with GSOC as part of her TY Work Experience. Below she reflects on the week explaining what she did and what interested her most.

Thank you  to George O'Doherty, Lesley Gray and all the staff in GSOC for working with our students for the week and giving them such a great insight into what you do.

I was very excited about getting to complete my work experience with GSOC. On our first day we got a timetable listing all the different units and what day we would be in each one. I found this very useful as I knew what I would be doing and where I would be for the week. We visited casework, IT, HR, Communications, Investigations, Legal, Corporate Services and Secretariat. 

From all the units I enjoyed the most Investigations and Casework. In casework we observed them taking in the complaints and figuring out which act it applies under. Each case is different and interesting, everything is confidential, so you don't use names when referring to cases.

In investigations they explained how they deal with the cases, they showed us how to pack an evidence bag and showed us their evidence room. It was really cool getting to experience all of that and observing the skills that they used in investigating cases.

Doing my work experience in GSOC has given me an interest in maybe studying criminology when I leave school. I am still unsure but it is something I will now investigate further. I would really recommend this work experience to other TY students especially if they have an interest in criminiology or forensics.

Thank you to George O'Doherty and Lesley Gray for looking after us so well for the week!

Zuzanna Jedrzejczak February 2020

The Mater Hospital

Eric Martin was one of two Transition Year students who spent a week in the Mater Hospital. Below he gives an account of what he got up to and how it has helped him decide what he would like to do after school. Thank you to Nuala King and all the staff at Mater for working with our students for the week!

For my first week of work experience I was in the Mater Hospital. I was very excited about doing my work experience here as I am interested in medicine. On our first day we met with Nuala King and she gave us our swipe cards and coats to wear around the hospital. We then met one of the respiratory doctors and he brought us to the Respiratory Clinic, and we got to observe some patients in the clinic.  

On the second day we went to meet Dr.O’Reilly on one of the wards in the hospital, she then got us to meet with the Physiotherapist. We got to see some of the physiotherapists’ patients and then she showed us the hospitals rehab gym and swimming pool.  

On the third day we were based in the Speech and Language Clinic. We also got to see a swallowing test being done on one of the patients in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).  

On the fourth day we worked in the Elderly Clinic. We got to see bloods being taken and we got to see a memory test being done on one of the patients.  

On the last day we visited the Cardiac Clinic which deals with heart conditions and problems as well as the Ear Clinic. While in the Cardiac Clinic we got to see a test being done where they made the patient walk on a treadmill while they monitored his heart rate to see if there were any problems. In the Ear Clinic we had a hearing and balance test done on us! It was also interesting to be in the patient's shoes and to see how that felt! I really enjoyed my time at The Mater Hospital, and it was one of the highlights of my year. It has given me a taste of where I would like to work when I finish school. I now hope to study Biology as a subject next year. I want to thank Nuala King and all the staff at the Mater hospital for putting together such a great programme for us and for looking after us so well.  

                                                                        Eric Martin February 2020

Bar of Ireland

Nadia Gourley was one of 100 students from accross the country chosen to take part in the Bar of Ireland Look into Law Transition Year Programme. Below is a reflection from Nadia explaining how she benefited from the week.

During my one week placement with the Bar of Ireland I took part in various activities such as the following: 

  1. A talk from Orla O'Donnell the RTE Legal Affairs Correspondent. 

  2. A talk from Junior Counsel, An Garda Siochana, the DPP, a Judge, various solicitors, barristers and a prison guard.

  3. We travelled to the CCJ (Criminal courts of justice at the Phoenix park) to sit in on a capital murder trial with our host barrister for the week. 

I really enjoyed the very last day which was Friday the 7th of February as I participated in the mock trial as a jury member and got to see how a courtroom situation worked.

The real highlight of the week for me was getting my certificate presented to me by The Hon. Mr. Justice Frank Clarke, Chief Justice and the Chairman of the Bar of Ireland and Senior Counsel Mr.Micheal P. O'Higgins. It was an honor and pleasure of mine to have met these highly successful people as they have gotten so far in the legal profession.

This programme showed me how much ability, devotion and dedication goes into a career in law and it also demonstrated to me how much everyone in the Bar look out for and support each other when a struggle arises.

I was very excited to get the opportunity to take part in this programme as I have always been interested in a career in the legal profession. This experience helped me understood the different roles that are available within a career in law. I found the different speakers really interesting as everyone that spoke came from a different background and it was nice to know that you don’t have to come from a legal background to make it to the legal profession. 

I would highly recommend this placement for any TY student who is interested in law. Let the TY Coordinator know early as you have to fill in an application form and get it submitted by the school.

I would like to thank Lindsey Bond and all her colleagues in the Bar of Ireland for looking after us so well! I really enjoyed the week and learned so much from it. I now know what I have to do in order to work within this profession.

For more informtion about the Look into Law Programme please click here.

                                                                        Nadia Gourley February 2020

Garda Headquarters

Garda Headquarters kindly took four of our students on work experience, Alex, Mark, Skye and and Aleks. They got to work in HR, IT, Finance and Legal. All four students really enjoyed it.

We worked each day from 10am until 3pm. I woked in the legal department which I found really interesting. I got to go down to the Criminal Courts of Justice and sit in on a murder trial which was so exciting- you usually only see that type of stuff on TV or in the movies and here I was in the middle of it all with all the professionals!

I got to meet loads of Gardai and they told me how the system works and what they must do – it was so interesting. I also got to drive around in a Gardai van! We got a tour of Blanchasrdstown Police Station. It was crazy to see what the inside of a cell looks and get to see around the whole station. It was also really interesting to see how many different people work in Garda HQ and also to see that not everyone was a Guard. I visited the District Court and also the legal offices in Ashtown.

On the last day I was lucky enough to meet the commissioner Drew Harris, he even gave me a medal of An Garda Siochana. This is an experience I will always cherish.

Overall, I really enjoyed the work experience and I am now considering a career in law the Guards or criminology in the future. 

I would like to thank everyone in Garda HQ for providing us with a great week of work experience. You always had something for us to do and we all really enjoyed it. I would recommend for any TY students who get the opportunity to complete their work experience there to go for it.

Skye Murtagh February 2020