A short(ish) Introduction
Hello, my name is Jane and I am an International Graduate based in The Thinking House in Dublin. I work with the Insights team, so I spend a lot of my time reading about food and drink trends and innovations, analysing reports and working with client companies by using insight to drive growth and profit.
I will give you a bit of insight into my background prior to joining the International Graduate Programme. I did my undergraduate in Business and Law in UCD. I finished my four years in UCD with hopes to pursue a career in Law and I began my solicitor traineeship after a summer in Vancouver, in September 2018. Long story short (and believe me I could write a book on this one!) – I realised very quickly that becoming a solicitor wasn’t for me. I was two months into the job and I knew that it was not the future career I had anticipated… I decided to explore my other options.
Given my degree, naturally I turned to Business, it was a passion of mine and a career I had always considered as an alternative to law. Whenever I considered it, I knew that my preference would be to work in the Irish food industry. I had experience working in the food industry and I found it to be a very exciting and thriving industry with lots of opportunities.
So...what happened next? I started applying for masters in food business and I began searching for job opportunities. By December, I was starting to get interviews and I was accepted onto the MSc in Food Business in UCC and UCD Smurfit, so with that, I decided to hand in my notice and I left (with a not so subtle grin on my face) my brief career in Law behind me!
Shortly afterwards in January, I started a field marketing role with KIND Snacks Ireland and I completely immersed myself into the food industry, grabbing every opportunity to learn and develop my skills. The KIND team appreciated my enthusiasm and provided me with diverse opportunities in sales and marketing. At this point I made the decision to enroll on the Food Business Masters in UCC beginning in September 2019. KIND were delighted to offer me to continue to work part-time with them based in Cork. I was enjoying the varied work with KIND, while also looking forward to the fast approaching move to Cork.
Luckily however, on a rainy day in March, while aimlessly scrolling through my Instagram stories, I stumbled across an advertisement for a food business graduate programme that combined job learning with a postgraduate qualification! It was a scholarship so academic fees were paid for and it included a bursary payment each month! It would mean a job with Bord Bia – the Irish Food Board and the opportunity to work with Irish food and drink companies to help them export globally. It sounded like an ideal solution for me – nearly too good to be true?!
I was intrigued…and it rang a bell! I recognised the programme immediately because a few weeks previous I heard it mentioned on a panel at the AgriFood Careers Fair. However, they were speaking about the Marketing Fellowship Programme which I dismissed because it required 2-3 years work experience. I hadn’t realised that there was also a similar programme for recent graduates! So of course, I quickly brushed up my CV and applied straight away!
I was very lucky and after a long and difficult recruitment process I was eventually rewarded and offered a place on the programme at the end of May! Needless to say, I was delighted and very excited to start my career in the Irish food and drink industry, as an International Graduate with Bord Bia and Smurfit which is, in my opinion, the best possible way to start!
So that’s my background story wrapped up in as few words as possible…and now I am going to attempt to give you an insight into my time on the International Graduate programme so far, and hopefully you’ll understand why it is a fantastic programme.
My most memorable moments….so far!
The First day - meeting in Bord Bia Head Office
It wasn’t a long wait from the day I found out I had a place in May until we started the programme in July, but the first day was certainly a highly anticipated one. It would be my first time to meet all of the other graduates who I would be spending the next 23 months with as well as seeing the office and meeting my new colleagues in Bord Bia.
Unsurprisingly, it turned out to be a very eventful day, one where I learned a huge amount about Bord Bia and got a taste of the exciting experience that lay ahead of me.
We sat through insightful presentations that showcased exactly what Bord Bia does, particularly highlighting the different functions of each department. Hearing about Bord Bia’s noble mission which is to enable Irish food, drink and horticulture companies to take Ireland’s outstanding food and drink to the world, I felt very lucky to be sitting as one of the 69 new members of the talent academy.
I also got a glimpse of what it would be like to be based in the Dublin head office. The location is very central being only a 15 minute walk from Grafton street. I could immediately see that Bord Bia is a close-knit organisation, everyone I met in the office was warm and friendly. After meeting the other graduates, I knew that the social side of the programme was going to be great. Being part of a cohort of enthusiastic and bright people is a massive advantage of this programme.
Reflecting on this day now, eight months later, I can see that my fellow grads, particularly those based in the Dublin office, are an integral part of my experience. I feel like I am part of a Bord Bia family, certainly amongst my fellow grads, as well as the wider Bord Bia organisation.
Smurift (the food!)
We were quickly transferred via bus from Mount street to Blackrock so that we could begin our lectures in Smurfit. (The International Graduate programme works with two-week block releases to Smurfit every 5-6 months. Two modules are covered in this period.) This was most definitely an eye opener for me as we began an intense learning experience that was interactive and discursive. It was nothing like what I had experienced in my undergrad and everything that you would expect and want from an Msc. Apart from the academic side, I got to know the other 31 International Graduates very well with plenty of nights out in the mix. I can't neglect to mention one event that is the highlight of Smurfit for a lot of the grads and that has to be the food! It is something that we all look forward to returning to Smurfit for and we reminisce on it in the Dublin office often! We have since returned to Smurfit for two more modules. Besides going back for the food, we were also excited to be reunited as a group of 32. There are 16 graduates based in Dublin and the remaining 16 are placed in Bord Bia’s international offices. I also enjoyed being back to learn in Smurfit with a new perspective from the work I have carried out in Bord Bia.
Settling into The Thinking House
I am very fortunate to be based in the Thinking House (see above). For anyone who doesn’t know, the Thinking House is Bord Bia’s Insight Centre and its main purpose is to provide cutting edge consumer, client and market insight. The Thinking House uses actionable insight and then plans by identifying opportunities for growth and brand development for our client companies. My first time in the Thinking House involved a tour given by my manager, and an introduction to the Strategic Insight and Planning team that I would be working with. I was very impressed. The Thinking House boasts a Library, the Living Room and viewing room where focus groups take place, packaging and trends zones and a Creative Workshop. I was very excited as I got know more about what my role would entail and how my main priorities would be the project management of our quantitative tools; BITES and Consumer Taste ‘n’ Tell.
I have the pleasure of working very closely with my fellow grad Gavin Costello who is also based in the Thinking House, but on the Brand Development team. It is great to have another grad to work closely with! Together we manage the running of the Creative Workshop and the day to day tasks and duties in the Thinking House. We even get to do cool things like burger trends expeditions around Dublin. See below, a picture of Gavin which shows how much he enjoyed our stop at Bunsen…
Workshops and Insight Sessions
Insight sessions take place in the Creative Workshop in The Thinking house every month or two. I get the opportunity to carry out a lot of the preparation work for these events. My first insight session was the launch of the Whiskey Usage and Attitudes study. This was really interesting as I got the chance to help with editing the presentation for the event. It was a fun theme because it was based on five different consumer need states. This was brought to life at the end of the session with five cocktails representing each need state being served. I have since been involved with Trends clash sessions and most recently ‘What Ireland Ate Last Night’. They are excellent learning experiences that give me the opportunity to improve my event management, communication (creating invites and designing the event page) and research skills as well as getting the chance to network with the client company attendees.
Grads Trip to Galway
The grads get on so well that we decided we needed to spend even more time together and go on a trip to Galway! Hats off to Christina, our Dairy graduate, because she managed to organise a brilliant trip. She found us an amazing Airbnb which was the perfect size and set up for all 12 of us who went. Between piccolo, ferris wheels, tiktok on the stairs, singing with hanging ceiling lights as mics, Mr & Mrs, Christmas markets, ice skating/watching others ice skate, fancy brunch and discovering Aidan’s hidden talent for MC - we had a ball! It really proves that the Bord Bia Smurfit International Graduate programme is more than just an excellent learning experience - it is also an opportunity to make lifelong friends!
Trends Presentations in London
This is definitely a highlight for me! In October I got the opportunity to carry out some interesting research and create a presentation for two of our ongoing workshop programmes with Sainsbury in London. I conducted the research which was category specific and based on the Consumer Lifestyle Trends. I was given the opportunity to do this research independently but with the help and guidance of my team. I then flew over to London and presented my findings at the workshop and I helped to facilitate the workshop. It was a huge learning experience for me, being my first time to carry out independent research and present my findings.
Winning/losing Tag Rugby!
We decided to participate in a tag rugby tournament which took place every Wednesday evening for the Winter and it was a great chance to spend time together out of the office and the pub! A memorable moment, not because we won the trophy but because we won plenty of laughs and freezing, frost bitingly cold Winter Wednesday evenings spent together! Unfortunately, we didn't collect any silverware but there is always the summer tournament...
So that’s it - they are my most memorable moments after 8 months on the programme. 15 more months to go and I’m sure there will be plenty more memories to come!