`It's a great break, a great challenge, a time of change all round" - this is how Mary Williams, one year into a career as a technical trainer with Ericsson, describes what the move has done for her.
Before Ericsson, Williams, from Tipperary, had been a primary school teacher in Greystones, Co Wicklow, for 10 years. During those years extra curricular activities included taking a diploma in computer programming in TCD as well as a degree in business and information technology.
"Because I went into teaching when I was 20 I felt I should look around, see what else I was interested in," she explains. "I came to realise I wanted something which would combine both teaching and technology."
Determined to break into IT, she worked for Oracle for three months before replying to an Ericsson advertisement in The Irish Times for technical trainers. "I'm really enjoying it," she says of the job now. "It involves training people from many different nations. Last week I had Dutch, Tanzanian, Swedish, Danish and Germans in my class.
"Usually they're people with engineering backgrounds - some have no formal training and some are graduates. It's quite challenging and you have to be on top of things."
She's impressed with the opportunities afforded her for personal input. "There's scope too for course development where you can design and develop a course. It's good to work as part of a team."
