What do you want to be when you grow up? It’s one of the questions we commonly ask children, and it usually elicits a response along the lines of a garda, fireman, farmer, doctor or teacher
When children hit secondary school, they quickly become aware that there are a whole host of jobs and professions out there – like architect, engineer, journalist or accountant.
But as the class of 2025 comes even closer to that CAO form, they will see that there are even more options. Some of these are unfamiliar or unknown, so we’ve put together a short primer on just a selection of these outside-the-box courses.
SETU: BA in content creation and social media
Don’t call them influencers! Content creation is big business these days, and this innovative level eight course at SETU’s Carlow campus will prepare graduates for a career involving social media marketing, digital content writing and digital strategising.
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Participants on this course will learn about social media theory and practice, turning your TikToks and Insta reels from a hobby into a career, opening up areas like content creation and management, digital design, influencing, journalism and communications.
Modules on this course include digital marketing, social media marketing, media studies, creative video, podcasting and multi-screen production, crisis management, contemporary photographic cultures and more. There are also a number of elective options, and portfolios will play a part in assessment.
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Last year, the course required 307 CAO points.
RCSI: Advanced therapeutic technologies
This relatively new course from the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland may appeal to students who are wavering between medicine and science.
The level eight BSc in advanced therapeutic technologies combines biology, health sciences, technology and maths to help graduates develop new medicines, treatments and health technologies.
It’s all with a view to creating scientists who can innovate and collaborate to develop and deliver therapeutic medicines and technologies that can address global healthcare needs. With 90 per cent of the world’s largest pharma firms having operations in Ireland, this course will help graduates secure roles in the industry.
Students will learn about pharmaceutics (the science of drug delivery), immunology, genetics and genomics, precision medicine (treatments that are tailored to the individual, an area widely believed to be the future of medicine) and more.
There’s a heavy focus on hands-on, practical lab skills and data analysis, while also helping students to develop the key “soft” skills that employers in different industries across the world want from any graduate, irrespective of their discipline: communication, collaboration, project management and teamwork.
Students will complete an eight-month work placement.
Last year, the course required 475 CAO points.
ATU: BSc in fire safety engineering
These days, many level six and seven courses open up pathways to level eight degrees, and one of the more unusual options at level eight is ATU’s BSc in fire safety engineering.
This course is open to applicants who have successfully completed a level seven bachelor of science or a bachelor of engineering programme with 180 ECTS credits in construction technology or a related discipline (civil engineering, building services engineering, architectural technology).
The course is fully online and is focused on the needs of modern and existing buildings. Students will learn about how fire spreads in building apartments, and how to identify fire safety problems. They will also learn about the key techniques and approaches in fire safety design, the legal and regulatory frameworks around fire safety and the technical limits in achieving fire safety objectives.
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Modules include fire protection systems, fire safety management, digital communication and employability skills, fire dynamics and human behaviour in fires.
Graduates of this course will have work opportunities around the world, as their skills are in high demand. Funding is available through Springboard+.
TCD: Early Irish and modern Irish
If you have an interest in the lore of old Ireland, then this level 8 Single Honour Early Irish and Modern Irish programme (CAO Code TR022) could be for you. The course has two components - Early Irish (taught through the medium of English) and Modern Irish (An Nua-Ghaeilge, taught through the medium of Irish). With Early Irish, you will acquire a reading knowledge of Medieval Irish, in which the great literature of Ireland’s rare manuscripts was written. The course covers the history of the Irish language from its first appearance on the Ogham inscriptions to the sagas and law texts preserved in the medieval manuscript collections held in the libraries at Trinity and elsewhere.
Students will begin their study with old Irish basics in years 1-2, reading translations while gradually being introduced to original text and studying the language’s early Christian development.
After second year, the course expands to cover the emergence of modern Irish, with students reading original prose, poetry, law and history texts, while a palaeography course teaches manuscript reading skills. Students in third year will have the option to study medieval and modern Welsh for one term in Aberystwyth, Wales. The small class sizes (the course has a yearly intake of just 15 students) create a very favourable learning environment.
Last year, the course required 343 points. There are QQI/FET routes available for this course. Please see cao.ie for details.
An Nua-Ghaeilge (Modern Irish)
Is trí mheán na Gaeilge, ar ndóigh, a mhúintear an chuid seo den chúrsa (cód CAO TR022). An ‘Nua-Ghaeilge’ a thugtar ar an teanga ón mbliain 1200 anuas go dtí an lá atá inniu ann. Áirítear litríocht ó gach cuid den tréimhse chinniúnach seo sa chúrsa. Déantar staidéar freisin ar Ghaeilge an lae inniu agus ar Ghàidhlig na hAlban.
Clúdófar gach gné den NuaGhaeilge: ón bhFiannaíocht sa 13ú haois go saothar Mháirtín Uí Chadhain agus Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, agus litríocht an lae inniu. Díreofar ar scéalaíocht na seanré, stair shóisialta na teanga, ar an mbéaloideas, ar fhilíocht na scol agus ar an nualitríocht. Caitheann mic léinn dhá mhí sa Ghaeltacht in Éirinn mar chuid den chúrsa.
D’aon duine ar suim leo an stair chomhchoiteann atá ag Éirinn agus ag Albain, beidh deis acu Gaeilge na hAlban a fhoghlaim thar thréimhse trí bliana agus, chomh maith leis sin, beidh deis acu tréimhse a chaitheamh i nGàidhealtachd na hAlban freisin.
Toisc líon beag mac léinn a bheith ann, is furasta dóibh aithne a chur ar a chéile. Ar aon dul le go leor coláistí eile, tá Cumann Gaelach bríomhar in TCD agus tá scéim chónaithe lán-Ghaeilge ar fáil ann freisin.
Griffith College: Bar management apprenticeship
The growth of apprenticeships is one of the most significant developments in Irish education over the past decade. While options like carpentry, plumbing and bricklaying are most associated with the word apprentice, the range of options has expanded dramatically to also include careers in cybersecurity, property management, sales, finance, biopharma and more.
One of the most interesting, however, is the level seven bar management apprenticeship at Griffith College Dublin. Bar managers work in pubs, hotels and clubs, providing food and drink to patrons and running the premises, so they have to have skills in finance, marketing, people management and customer service.
This level seven course, which runs over three years, involves learning on the job while also engaging in classroom sessions once a week. Modules on the course include bar operations, customer service skills, licensing laws, accounting fundamentals, principles of marketing, people management, bar legal and regulatory environment, human resources management and more. any of these skills could easily be transferred to other industries, should graduates ever decide to make a different move in their career.
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