Dublin’s tech hub status, international working experience opportunities and diverse course content – just some of the reasons Graziele, our Brazilian Ambassador, is a MSc Marketing student at NCI…
Dublin – a tech hub
I first came into contact with the field of marketing in 2004 when I was studying advertising but my decision to pursue a career in digital marketing started in 2011 when I got in touch with an International student in Ireland that introduced Dublin to me as “the European hub of the world’s leading tech companies such as Oracle, IBM, Facebook, and Microsoft…” I had made up my mind in the middle of this sentence.
Why NCI?
When I was looking for a college to pursue my studies in Dublin, I had a clear criteria in mind:
- I wanted to study in a college that could provide hands-on experience to launch my professional career in Marketing; anywhere I decided to go to after graduating. The National College of Ireland (NCI) ranked the highest in this category, with 96% of students gaining employment within six months after graduation.
- My former lecturer in marketing had stressed the importance of going for a course that would combine Marketing and Digital Marketing. That is exactly what the MSc in Marketing at NCI offers to its students, within a well balanced course structure.
- Ultimately, as an international student, I wanted to feel represented. The international office at NCI are well prepared to assist international students in all aspects of college life – from the first enquiry to graduation day. At NCI, you don’t feel like just another student number!
Marketing is never boring
Marketing is the perfection combination of creative & analytical skills, offering an endless amount of learning opportunities. At NCI, students are afforded intense exposure to the latest marketing theories and practices within digital marketing. Our assignments, essays, projects, and presentations involve both group and individual work with practical and analytical aspects. I would strongly advise those interested in studying marketing to broaden your base of skills, even if you want to focus on a niche. A career path in marketing has many options and there can be opportunities to pursue a career in areas such as advertising, PR, market research, e-commerce, social media, sales, web analytics and UX design, to name just a few!
I studied English for two years and going straight into a master’s degree after finishing an English course is really daunting. If you’re not native English speaker and want to pursue a third level degree, I would recommend preparing yourself ahead of time by reviewing some of the content that you’re will cover in your course. This preparation will help you to keep up once the course begins and gives you the chance to learn the vocabulary and terms that will be associated with your field of study.
International working experience
Do you want to gain professional experience abroad? The Third Level Graduate Scheme Visa allows non-EU graduate students to take up a professional job for a period up to 1 year (non-renewable) after you complete your studies. This option is especially valuable for those that want to put into practice what have been learned and gather solid international experience for their CVs.
The future
I’ve been in Ireland since 2014 and believe that studying abroad has been invaluable to me and should be part of everyone’s experience in life. Living in Dublin has been a privilege, it is exciting to be part of and it’s good to know and feel that I am in the right place to further my career in marketing.
Interested in studying abroad? Visit the Education in Ireland website for more information.