Brendan O'Reilly
I enjoyed all three years of the undergrad at Maynooth. As part of the BA Geography programme, I got to travel on a week-long field trip to the north coast of Northern Ireland. We got to visit many interesting geological and historical sights and it gave me a great understanding of the field of Geomorphology.
I was the treasurer for the Geography Society for the year 2007-2008.
The campus location is steeped in history and the fact it is not in a big city gives a unique learning experience. The University benefits from being on the edge of Dublin too. Furthermore, at the time of my degree, I believe Maynooth University was the only BA in geography in Ireland. I now know that in the UK. a geography degree is often considered the most employable of degrees given the style of study and the transferable skills learnt on the course which has benefitted me since my graduation.
I would say interpersonal skills and the ability to conduct indept research on my own or as part of team has really carried on throughout my career. In addtion, critical thinking is a skill often learnt at University which has had invaluable benefits to my own career path.
I would recommend choosing Maynooth as a great place to study. I would advise that as Maynooth is a small town, the university experience is quieter but also unique. I would recommend getting a good understanding of research early on and focusing on time management skills within the first year in order to ensure that all deadlines are achieved on time. Maynooth is incredibly friendly and staff are accessible and due to its size, is a managable campus and an overall positive experience.
Upon graduating I was employed by Allied Irish Bank as a customer advisor. Unforunately, it was 2008 and the financial crisis had just begun. My initial career opportunities dried up and I continued to work within AIB in a low skilled job. In 2010 I applied for the masters programme in GIS and Remote Sensing at MU however, was unsuccessful. In 2011, I applied to a number of MSc programmes in the UK specifiaclly in the field of Town Planning (stemming from my geograpgy degree) and I was successfully accepted at place at Cardiff University to study a MSc in Town and Transport Planning which I began in September 2011. I graduated in July 2013 by which point I had a Graduate Transport Planning role within a leading UK engineering consultancy. From this role I developed a wide degree of knowledge in the Town and Transport Planning field and continued to work my way up in the area of development and sustainable masterplanning. I was then sent on a secondment to support a planning project at the automotive manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover to deliver the development of a new facility. From this secondment, I was offered a job and a promotion within the property management funtion at Jaguar Land Rover. I now work on the Town and Transport Planning team and I am responsible for the site development strategy for the business as well as project managing all Town and Transport Planning projects we have in the UK. This is across eight UK sites which employ 40k people.
I have enjoyed working on a wide range of developments since becoming qualified as a Town and transport planner. However my two highlights are obtaining my current role working with a luxury automotive manufacturer, so I get to enjoy the cars but yet continue to work in the field I have studied. I have also worked on the UK HS2 proposals and this have given me a valuable insight into public transport appraisal.
Managing all transport and town planning projects within my current compmany. Developing site based strategies for the business, ensure the sites are compliant with town planning conditions, representing the company on planning committee meetings. representing the company in term of local reps to local authorities. Project managing a number of projects relating to site strategy and operation decarbonisation of the business.
Everything. The most interesting is getting to work on developing the new factories for the roll-out of Electric Vehicles. This presents new challenges around battery safety, fire hazards etc and there is no regulation in place as the technology is so new for this in terms of planning. Public consultation can be challenging as you are often in the direct firing line of public anger about major schemes.
As discussed, I undertook a secondment from the role and the secondment was so successful I was offered a full-time role within my current company.
I would recommend trying to do unpaid work experience as much as possible. I would recommned attending CPD event in their chosen field and getting to network with potential future employers.