A year out helped Callum realise he didn’t feel qualified to start his career, and having since graduated with a Masters he says it really prepared him for the real world
Callum McElligott is a past pupil of Comeragh College, Carrick on Suir, Co Tipperary and had an undergraduate degree in Economics prior to starting on the MBS in Economics & Finance
Prior to studying this programme I: Had done an undergrad in Economics, graduated in 2017 and was unsure what I wanted to do career-wise so I took a year out. During this year I felt that I needed to return to college to get a better education as I felt I wasn't ready or qualified enough to start my career.
My motivation for doing the MBS in Economics & Finance programme was:
Having researched a number of postgraduate degrees in the country I felt that the MBS in Economics & Finance in WIT suited me best. Not only geographically but I felt that the modules and the way the course was set up seemed to be what I was looking for. Many things spoke to me including the specialized modules, the study trip and the chance to do a postgraduate thesis were all leading factors for me.
The MBS in Economics & Finance programme has impacted my career in the following way:
It really prepared me for the real world. You don't really realize how important and how often teamwork is used in the workplace until you're in one. I felt that this course really prepares you for that through the various group work assignments. The assignments were practical and I found them to be very applicable to real life situations, they were not just assigned for the sake of doing group work. I found in particular the Business sim module's group work project really opened my eyes to how a business runs, and how important teamwork and cohesive communication is to a team/companies success.
My advice for adult learners considering this programme at the moment is:
Go for it! I can't speak highly enough of the course, the lecturers and my fellow students. I felt that the lecturers in WIT really cared about our education and open discussions in the modules were welcomed, as well as there being no fear in saying you didn't understand something as it was happily reexplained. The modules themselves are enjoyable, I particularly enjoyed the finance ones as that is more so the direction I'm going in my career and again, these were applicable to real life. I never found myself thinking "what's the point in this", quite often I was thinking I can't wait to try this once I start working. The modules are relevant to your one personal development, I found that the research module was a big help for the dreaded Thesis (which was genuinely my favorite part of the course). Overall I can't speak highly enough of this course and I think that if you're able to do it and considering it, to just go for it, you won't regret it.
Why I would recommend studying in Waterford/WIT:
WIT had great support systems in place. I found that the lecturers were great to help out, going the extra mile time and time again. In my case anyway the class was a tight-knit group that had group chats for various modules and we worked well together to help each other out.
I think that WIT is ideal for studying and if you need to work part time (which I did) the timetables work well for that. In terms of the thesis I felt that I was fortunate enough to get such a great supervisor, but in general from what I heard from my classmates the support that we all got from our supervisors for the thesis was exceptional and you don't realize how much that helps until you are deep into a Literature review and not sure what to do next, I felt that WIT was excellent in that sense and really helped with the process.
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