Commerce any1?? UCD vs. Galway??

Pandoras Twist

You are totally putting it on a pedestal. I finished Commerce in UCD this year and I'm doing my masters in Smurfit along with pretty much my entire year so it's not like we jet off to London School of Economics or anything.

And from what I can see, if you specialise in accountancy there's not much difference between how UCD or NUIG is viewed.

I'd definitely go for Galway if I were you. City is great craic, commute home wont be that bad and you're not losing out at all

Stabshauptmann

I'm not in HR, but I'd view anyone who is coming from one of the universities as the same.
There are actually very few ITs I'd question.

8yrs ago when I was picking my course, I choose UCD because of its small class sizes, new building and use of technology. These competitive advantages no longer exist, really.

I wouldnt bother repeating the LC, I think its better to always move forward in life. In 4years time, I'd prefer to hire someone with a degree from NUIG and one years experience in the real world, than someone with a degree in UCD and no experience.

Students really undervalue the worth employers place on experience.

LUPE

Commerce in UCD is the best undergrad business course in the country bar none.

Don't worry about it being full of "D4s", they are in fact human beings as well and the majority of them are sound.

On that, the prejudice double standards regarding "D4s" is appalling; if someone from South County Dublin was having reservations of doing a course in Galway because it was "full of country people" the moral outrage on here would be frightening.

MatthewM

I just finished Comm International in the Quinn School of Business and will be starting into a job in Germany in September. If I had my time again I would choose UCD, that said I am not in love with UCD at all, the university has issues that need sorting. Here is a few observations that im going to just throw out.

- You have said that you are thinking of doing accounting and doing a masters afterwards, so the number one masters school in Ireland is Smurfit School of Business in Blackrock, this is connected to the Quinn School of Business (many of the lecturers lecture to both masters and bachelor students). It is, simply put, easier to get into Smurfit if you have been in Quinn, that is not to say that you will walk in, your grades need to be decent.

- The D4 problem: I am from a farming background and come from Westmeath so I wasnt exactly going to be mistaken for a D4 on any day of the week. Simple fact is that there are several people in the same situation that you will find your way. The Quinn School is very diverse so this year for instance I had a group made up of: A model, daughter of very successful Irish Businessman, A French exchange student, me (farmer) and the last guy was the son of a fisherman from Cobh. The group really got on well.

- Having completed a business degree I can honestly say that I think the most important thing that I did was to take a year out and work. Experience gets you a job, so many Irish people under 30 have a degree now that employers want to see something different.

- Reputation: Unfortunately in business reputation is everything. The Quinn School is the most recognised school in Ireland for Undergrad. I have friends who got business qualifications from NUIM and UCC who are easily more knowledgeable than me but yet they did not manage to get a job with the "Big Four" firms or other ones they were interested in. Again this is only relevant if this is what you are interested in.

- Working Abroad: I studied/worked abroad and always seemed to bump into people who had completed Erasmus in UCD (that said I was not looking for people from NUIG) Quinn has CEMS classification as well as a few other international qualifications which means a lot, it opens doors abroad.

- Where are the graduates: In my year, virtually everybody who wanted to continue down the business route has either gotten themselves a job or are enrolled in a masters by now.

- Is UCD an impersonal jungle: It can be if you dont make the effort. Most of my close mates came from my course but I had friends from many different areas. Clubs and Societies are the way to go.

- Worrying about getting a job when finished: Stop it immediately!!! Regardless of where you choose to go to college, live it to the full. Go out on nights out that you shouldnt, go to the Engineering Table Quiz that you promised some random guy you would go to, go abroad - J1, Interailing, Volunteering. Experience anything there is to experience and you will love college. It is these experiences that will make you different, not your piece of paper (or expensive toilet role as I refer to it) that will make you employable at the end when you have to pay off your debt mountain :-)

There is my 2 cents hope it helps.

AdamD

Cheers for that, made me less worried about my job prospects doing Commerce in UCD. Really gonna put in the effort to get the 1 year work placement though

LetsThinkBIG

Im going into Commerce Galway in 3 weeks.

I know im going to enjoy it, and am aiming for a 1:1 and at worst a 2:1.

Fawwkk.. I think I should just go for it at this stage ?

The line that big4's looked over a Nuim degree. It shouldnt matter. Ah man. Im on the edge of the pool here :L.

In saying that would the following work well? Im not braggin just testing water to see what relevance anything has.

- 1:1 B.Commerce ( not the accounting one, but I would have passed the exams myself)
- Mid teens handicap golfer
- Black belt Judo
-1 week spent in Deloitte whilst in Leaving Cert cycle.
-Competent and presentable

Pandoras Twist

The amount of people that got jobs with the big 4 in my year who had pretty mediocre grades, no relevant work experience (e.g. worked in a local shop for a year) and had little or no hobbies is unreal.

Wouldn't stress about it to be honest

MatthewM

@LetsThinkBig I was just speaking from personal experience, of course many people who do not go to UCD get jobs that they want. All that I am saying is that it is my opinion that students who go to the Quinn School have it somewhat easier to get in to many large companies. But seriously dont be too overly worried about grades in college and work afterwards. College is all about work life balance, just go and enjoy yourself and see where it takes you. Keep an eye on the bigger picture every now and then but dont let it dominate your college experience, all of our lives are spent working, college years is need to be enjoyed!!

The fact that you are thinking so far ahead already means that you will hit the ground running in college, it is surprising how many people come to college and then realise that they need to find a goal to replace the Leaving Cert.

And about the 1:1 or 2:1 thing, I figured out pretty early on that most people do not get a 1:1 and still get jobs, so it is not really an issue. Certainly aim and battle for it but if it doesnt happen it doesnt happen.

With the experience thing I was trying to get across the need to have something to talk about in an interview other than your college subjects which will have little relevance to the job that you end up in. I went through 5 rounds of interviews this year and was not asked once about my grades in college. There is a new recruiting policy in many big companies - "Recruit for mentality, Train for skills". Prove in college that you can learn/understand/think differently and then you have nothing to worry about.

Stabshauptmann

Speaking from someone who was worked close 4 years in a big four, I have not seen any tendency to pick graduates of one uni over another.

LetsThinkBIG

Do big 4 hire engineering grads ? I heard that they do with the aim of broadening their base and with a long term option of consulting?

Would i be better picking one of the two, Engineering and business, and focusing on it?

I had considered doing an engieering degree then an Masters in Business.. Would this be considered as an all round product or someone who has little passion for engineering ?


My goal long term is to work in some kind of finance related management (finance over accounting preferably). I had considered that the degree in engineering would open up a lot more positions through having an all round product. Is this naieve?

Ps. I'd like to thank everyone who has and continues to contribute !
I got my offer in galway after doing the special maths exam, 50 went in and 20 got offers. I have until friday to make up my mind.

mytwocents

Pandoras Twist wrote: »

The arse has completely fallen out of financial services in Ireland. Even the head of finance dept when coming into us to help us decide on what to specialise in said most of the jobs we'd be looking at would be abroad

Financial services/accounting is still doing loads of hiring. I read in the paper about two weeks ago that the Big 4 accounting firms are planning on hiring 800 grads this year, almost up to what they were hiring at the height of the boom. So as somebody pointed out, comparitively the financial services sector is doing well.

mytwocents

LetsThinkBIG wrote: »

Do big 4 hire engineering grads ? I heard that they do with the aim of broadening their base and with a long term option of consulting?

Would i be better picking one of the two, Engineering and business, and focusing on it?

I had considered doing an engieering degree then an Masters in Business.. Would this be considered as an all round product or someone who has little passion for engineering ?


My goal long term is to work in some kind of finance related management (finance over accounting preferably). I had considered that the degree in engineering would open up a lot more positions through having an all round product. Is this naieve?

Ps. I'd like to thank everyone who has and continues to contribute !
I got my offer in galway after doing the special maths exam, 50 went in and 20 got offers. I have until friday to make up my mind.

Yeah the Big 4 hire people from any degree background.

I honestly don't know whether they'd prefer people from a business background or engineering.

welwyn

I would love to change career direction and get into financial services. I have a science degree and am thinking of doing the MiM (masters in management) in Smurfit, Would this be any use to me do ye think???? or any opinions on how to get into this area would be much appreciated...

Pandoras Twist

mytwocents wrote: »

Financial services/accounting is still doing loads of hiring. I read in the paper about two weeks ago that the Big 4 accounting firms are planning on hiring 800 grads this year, almost up to what they were hiring at the height of the boom. So as somebody pointed out, comparitively the financial services sector is doing well.

I wasn't talking about accounting within that. I got taken on by Big4 myself, and they took on a large amount this year.

I'm talking about the people who specialised in Finance rather than Accounting. And the head of that department when giving his speech about specialising in Finance said that it was unlikely you would get a job in Ireland in the areas the course trained you for (dealers, analysts etc). A lot of the people who specialised in finance are doing a masters or have gotten jobs in london.

ShaneFinneran

Does anyone have the hours a week a commerce student in nuig would do?
Thanks,
Shane

Lucario

ShaneFinneran wrote: »

Does anyone have the hours a week a commerce student in nuig would do?
Thanks,
Shane

It's around 20 - 30 hours, I heard anyway.