Education

Grad profile: ‘You get a lot of responsibility’

UCC graduate David Sweetnam enrolled in the IMI graduate course when he started working with Carbery

UCC graduate David Sweetnam enrolled in the IMI graduate course when he started working with Carbery. Photograph: Don MacMonagle

Tue Jun 22 2021 - 00:00

Tell us about yourself, where you’re from and where you went to college

I'm from Douglas in Cork, I grew up on a farm and I studied food science in University College Cork.

How did you find out about the graduate programme?

During college, we do a six-month placement in industry. I joined Carbery, the food and ingredients group, here in west Cork for that in the summer of 2018. I applied for the Carbery graduate programme in summer 2019 and as part of that we’re also enrolled on the IMI graduate course.

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What is the graduate programme like?

Every two or three months we had a two-day course. It looks at a lot of different things, from management styles to dealing with different personalities, different types of personalities and situations and that sort of thing. The Carbery programme is two years but the IMI training is 18 months.

It's very much around structuring and changing how people work with each other. It's about trying to get people to think on the same page and work with different people. We had a number of different speakers from Hungary and different places and you have a mentoring programme where you discuss your goals and things like that.

Explain what the work experience is like

It’s like any other job, you get thrown in the deep end. You get a lot of responsibility and you’re effectively one of the team. The advantage is you are put on the IMI course and I suppose you’re probably seeing more opportunities.

I’m in a sales role now whereas before I was in a very technical, scientific role. You get moved around and you get to see lots of different aspects of the business. It’s good exposure and you get to learn from different managers and different parts of the business. That’s the highlight of the graduate programme really.

What do you plan to work as after the programme and why?

I don’t know. I probably see myself going back to a more science-based role and if that’s in the Carbery group that would be great but I’m open to it at the moment. I haven’t decided yet.

I think it’s as important to learn what you don’t like as it is to learn what you do like. I’ve enjoyed both roles but I think I’m definitely leaning towards a more science-based role rather than sitting at a computer all day long.

What’s your advice to graduates?

Probably just to dive in head first and go for it. Apply anyway and there will be some sort of a role that you’ll enjoy within a company. If you’re not happy, or if you do want to change, put your hand up and get involved in different projects. There’s always plenty going on.

- Shauna Bowers

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