Jack Moloney is a graduate from the Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Analytics Springboard+ programme. He started the course, which was 90% funded as part of the Springboard+ initiative, in March last year and finished it in September.
“When I was working in a call centre two years ago, I knew it wasn’t the job I wanted to do forever. So I started looking at ways I could further educate myself, and that’s when I came across Springboard+. Before I even finished the course I was offered a job in the area I was studying in, and now I tick many boxes for employers.”
Here, Jack shares his experience of the course and how it helped further his career.
I’m from Nenagh in Co Tipperary. When I finished school, I did a Bachelor of Commerce degree in NUI Galway then, when I finished my degree, I specialised in finance for a year. After that I worked in door-to-door sales and in a call centre for a couple of months.
Even if I did want to progress in the role in the call centre, it would take years and I might not even get to where I wanted to. So I started looking at jobs online and a lot of them required either Master’s degrees or previous experience with different types of software, which I didn’t get with my commerce degree.
Evaluating options
I started looking at the Springboard+ courses to further educate myself and to give me something that could either get me an interview in a job that I wanted or, if I got through the interview, give me the skills and the knowledge to actually do the tasks well. I applied for the Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Analytics at DBS and started in March last year. It opened up so many doors for me because now I have knowledge of all of the systems and that’s so, so important at the moment – especially for getting jobs.
I always wanted to do a Master’s or a post-grad for my own personal achievement, but it would have cost €7,000-€15,000 and I thought I wouldn’t be able to afford it. That’s when I saw that Springboard+ courses are 90% government funded. So it only cost me €750, rather than €7,500, which was unbelievable. I was fairly shocked when I heard about it first. It’s brilliant because it gives people the chance to do something that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to do.
The course was fully online for us due to the pandemic, which had its benefits and its downfalls. It meant that people in the class could be studying from anywhere in the country and didn’t have to move to Dublin. The downside was that we didn’t get to meet in person, but because there’s such an emphasis on the group assignments, it does help you immerse into the class and get to know everybody better.
Reaping the benefits
I had a job offer before I even finished the course, which was brilliant. I got a call around August for an interview with a bank. In the interview I was talking about the skills I’d already learned on the course because they’re what are actually required in the workplace. After the interview, I was told to let them know whenever I finished and there’d be a job there for me. It was a weight off my shoulders.
Doing the course was a massive confidence boost. Even when I was looking at jobs on LinkedIn, there would be all of these requirements and I would have ticked maybe two of the five boxes before doing the course. Now I tick all five boxes and feel like I could be a prime candidate for a lot of jobs.
Upskill in industry-relevant subjects and transform your career with Springboard+. Limited places available, courses begin mid-March. Find out more and apply here. Programmes commencing March 2022 will have a combination of on-campus and online delivery for modules. Should students opt to take the classes wholly online, this will also be permitted for the remainder of the programme.
Among the Springboard+ courses commencing in DBS in March is the Springboard+ Diploma in Big Data for Business, which may appeal to those who are interested in data savvy skills as opposed to technical. For ICT skills programmes, there are postgraduate courses in data analytics, software development, web and cloud technologies, and digital marketing.
Eligibility criteria apply. The full list of eligibility criteria – including the need to be living full-time in Ireland, have a PPS number and to meet the nationality/visa requirement – is available here: https://springboardcourses.ie/eligibility