Agricultural students should not feel intimidated going into the jobs market with a broad choice of career options open to them, students in Waterford Institute of Technology heard at a career event last week.

Agriculture and Agricultural Science students in WIT met with representatives of the agri-business and banking industry at a career event in the institute.

Dr Tony Woodcock, course leader of the BSc in Agriculture programme told students their education, work placement and the practical experience gained have given them all of the skills required to follow their chosen career path.

Over the past few years, agriculture courses in WIT have risen in popularity in keeping with the overall national trend. WIT also has strong links with Kildalton Agricultural College.

Rob O'Keeffe Marketing Manager for Glanbia and WIT marketing graduate explained to the students how he was inspired by Liam Griffin to set himself short-term goals which would help him to achieve his ultimate long-term objectives, and by doing this he managed to land his dream job. Key to Rob's talk was the message that, while graduate programmes are fantastic routes to employment, there are other career paths which can be just as effective and rewarding.

Anne Marie Butler, Agri-Business Development Manager, Ulster Bank discussed the role her education had played in helping her along her career path, and outlined many practical tips which she has picked up working on the ground with farmers for Ulster Bank.

James Cunningham, Glanbia Agribusiness graduated with a level 7 degree in Agricultural Science in WIT before completing his level 8 degree in UCD. He was offered three different graduate programmes and explained to students some of the practical things he did to put himself in such a position. Having chosen the Glanbia programme, James outlined what his day to day work involved, how he is evolving through his current role and how he felt his key selling point in interviews was the consistency he has shown throughout his academic and non-academic life.

Eanna Galvin studied Agricultural Science before completing a level 8 degree in Food Science and Innovation, both in WIT. For Eanna, the mixture of these two qualifications meant that in interviews he was able to discuss food production in detail right throughout the food chain, from primary production to the point where the product appears on the supermarket shelf. Eanna is currently on the Dawn graduate programme, he is leading two large projects on the Dawn Grannagh plant, and has recently spent six months working in the UK.