Life after the Leaving: ‘Doing exams during the recession affected my CAO choices’

Iseult Ward is chief executive and co-founder of FoodCloud – a non-profit food-sharing company that connects charities in need of food with businesses that have too much, through an app.

I went to Scoil Chaitríona in Glasnevin and sat my Leaving Certificate in 2009. I studied all the main subjects plus music, art, physics and geography.

I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do and had no set career in mind at the time. Psychology, computer science and business courses were among my CAO options so it was quite varied.

I studied Bess (business economics and social science) in Trinity. It’s quite a broad degree so I liked that you were exposed to a variety of subjects.

It is a broad course that gives you lots of options and then you get to specialise in the last two years.

I don’t remember being too stressed about the Leaving Cert. I was a bit weird because I didn’t really mind exams.

I really enjoyed sixth year because it’s you final year in school with people you have grown up with, but you’re also becoming an adult.

Doing my Leaving Cert in the middle of the recession definitely affected my CAO choices and those of my peers. I had considered putting down architecture but was advised against it because the recession was taking hold and we were told we would not get a job.

Finance and business studies seemed like an area that there would be jobs so I picked my CAO choices that probably were more career-focused.

I set up FoodCloud with another Trinity student Aoibheann O’Brien when I was in third year of college. I thought I would end up working in finance, but we were both interested in social entrepreneurship and food poverty in Ireland, so that’s how the idea for the company came about.

Entrepreneurship is something that is being encouraged a lot more compared to when I sat my Leaving Cert.

And with the economy improving there is a lot more support out there for people who have good ideas or want to set up their own business.