A working masters programme? Here’s what you need to know

Written by Kerri Murphy | Mar 1, 2020 11:19:54 PM

The last couple of months in university are usually filled with one daunting question, so what are you going to do next? While there are so many options I found myself torn between two: start my career or further my education? I quickly decided I wasn’t ready to compromise on either and began to look for opportunities which allowed me to do both.

That’s how I found the Bord Bia Global Graduate programme.

Pictured: 32 very nervous but very excited graduates on day two of our induction

What is the Bord Bia Global Graduate Programme?

  • A 23 month paid job placement with Bord Bia in one of its offices around the world
  • Opportunities to work in Dublin, London, New York, Paris, Milan, Dubai, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Shanghai or Dusseldorf
  • Full tuition-fees paid MSc in Global Business Practice with one of Europe’s leading graduate business schools, UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School
  • Academic block release of 8 modules including Digital Marketing, Business Sustainability, B2B Marketing and more
  • Wide range of roles across food categories and disciplines including Marketing, Events, HR, PR & Communications and more

What do you need to apply?

  • Recent graduate of any discipline
  • Ambitious, flexible, willing to travel
  • An international language is desirable but not required
  • An interest in the food industry and an appetite to learn is all the experience you need

And what’s in it for me?

Graduate programmes always tell you what you need to be to apply, so let me give you a snapshot of some of the things I’ve learned in my first 8 months and why I think they’re so valuable to my career.

The Irish food industry is impressive and something we should be proud of

Ireland's mild and damp climate isn't great for sunbathing or barbecues but it means we have the ideal landscape for agriculture and we do this really well. Last year Ireland exported €13 billion worth of food. To put that into perspective we produce enough food to feed 50 million people while our population is less than 5 million. This is where Bord Bia comes into play, we are actively working in countries around the world to grow Irish food and beverage exports and support the business of our Irish food producers.

Did you know that Ireland’s food industry had the world’s first national sustainability programme? Origin Green has been in place since 2012 and Origin Green members commit to a minimum of seven sustainability targets under the Origin Green Charter and have their sustainability plans independently verified by international auditors. I personally thought it was pretty mind blowing when I found out that Ireland’s food producers have been working on sustainably producing food since 2012, long before sustainability was something on my radar.

I work across four categories: Meat, Dairy, Seafood and Alcohol. This means that I get to interact with different Irish companies and I am involved in a range of different projects and activities from the marketing of grass-fed Irish beef in the UK to organising to bring buyers to a trade event in Dublin. I am always getting to do new things and no two days have been the same. 

There is also a lot of heritage behind our food industry which is so important to how we produce food and the standards of quality to which our farmers and food producers hold themselves. Understanding how interesting and impressive the Irish food industry is means that I confidently and passionately support it and want to do right by our food producers. This is a great motivating factor behind all of the work I do and I think that everyone should work in a role where they feel so inspired to do well.

I love working with people

This sounds like the typical cliché line from every job interview ever. Yes I love to work with people, yes I would be an excellent addition to your team – please hire me! Well for me this is true. As a self-proclaimed chatter box I have to say that getting to work with others is one of my favourite things about the programme. 

I work in a relatively small team of 8 people alongside people who have years of experience in the food industry, just a five minute chat over coffee in the morning and I sometimes learn more from that than I have in classrooms or lectures before. That being said the lectures in Smurfit are unlike any I have ever experienced, based majorly around case-studies and focused primarily on participation and interaction the lectures are so engaging and informative that it doesn’t even feel like I’m being force fed information but rather that I’m having a chat with my peers, getting their take on things and learning to approach and think about problems in new and different ways. This way of learning and teasing out topics is so interactive that it is difficult not to retain the information because you are so engaged with it.

I’m also slowly but surely learning how to network. As part of my role I have had the opportunity to attend many conferences, from debriefs on the current Eating Out market in the UK to full-day trend predictions events outlining all the predicted trends likely to shape the food industry for the next year (hint: regenerative agriculture - look it up!). Attending conferences has been a great way for me to get information about the UK food industry and to meet impressive and influential people from companies like Wagamama or Pizza Hut and hearing about their business challenges and focuses first hand. There have also been some brilliant events in the Irish Embassy and I even got to attend the National Burger Awards! The events I have had the opportunity on behalf of Bord Bia or UCD Smurfit have been second to none and a great opportunity for me to grow my network at such an early stage in my career. 

Pictured: The annual UCD Alumni Event in London and The Food Peoples Food Trends Predictions 2020

You don’t need to know all the answers, you just need to know where to look for them

Bord Bia is an insights led company and we have a wealth of information available for every and any query that comes in. Within my first week someone told me that I don’t need to know the answers I just need to be able to find them. This was something that stuck with me. Coming from a non-food background learning that I didn’t need to have all the answers was crucial to building my confidence in my abilities. I’ve also learned that the best thing about not knowing the answers is that you get to discover them! I now make it my business to read as much about the food industry as I possibly can, signing up to newsletters, reading blogs and keeping up to date with the latest food trends in London. Sounds a bit nerdy but reading about food and looking at pictures of the latest crazy burger creations in the London food scene is pretty intriguing and not much of a chore if you ask me.

How to navigate the London transport system

With the role came a lot of change. I was lucky enough to be placed in the London office but I naively thought that living in London would be the same as living in Dublin so I got a bit of a shock when I realised the sheer size of London and that it was a city in a league of its own. I quickly learned to always have my oyster card ready BEFORE the barrier, that the Northern line has two branches and you walk on the left and stand on the right on the tube escalators.

This was one of the biggest personal challenges but also it has had a great impact on my life. Being placed in a different city gave me the push I needed to move out and stand on my own two feet. It meant I had a reason to make the change and was no longer waiting around for the right time or for a friend to go with, I had the opportunity and I had to take it. Now I would never look back and I’m also extremely proud of how much I grew up in such a short space of time.

London is an amazing place to live if you love food! So many of the food trends of the world start here (usually on street food stands or in little markets) and living in such a foodie city means I'm never stuck for somewhere interesting to eat or for a mouthwatering Instagram story!

Pictured: A glimpse of my foodie highlights in London 

For the last eight months I have said yes to every opportunity I was presented with. This has led to me consistently challenging myself and pushing myself out of my comfort zone. This is great because once you commit to something there’s no backing out and I have surprised myself each time with what I can actually achieve once I’m under a little bit of pressure - leading 10 Irish companies around Canary Wharf on a food tour was one of my highlights as a result of this!

This programme enabled me to push myself out of my comfort zone and achieve things I have always been too scared to do. I've learned so much in such a short space of time and have not had to sacrifice valuable work experience in order to further my education. If you're not afraid of a challenge this is one opportunity that lets you have the best of both worlds. 

Pictured: Weekends spent exploring 

Exploring London at the weekends is one of my favourite things to do and the best thing about being so close to home is that I haven't been stuck for visitors with everyone eager to come spend the weekend in London (free accommodation sure!). 

If you are an ambitious recent graduate or final year student with an interest in food and a willingness to learn and you think this might be the role for you you can find out more about the progamme now.