How to be successful in a STEM career

17 Jun 2016

There were a lot of jobs announced in STEM this week, but we also learned an awful lot about what happens after you get one of those STEM sector jobs, and what it’s like when you first enter the industry.

This week saw announcements amounting to 365 new jobs – one for every day of the year, so we can all go home now.

Big announcements came from Eurofins Scientific and Surmodics, with a handful of other companies rounding out the roles.

Though it made no announcements this week, cloud applications and platform services company Oracle is also seeking candidates for roles in its Dublin office.

This week, we heard from Steve Fearon, VP of OD Prime, SaaS Western Europe, who told us what working at Oracle entails, and what the company looks for from candidates.

If you find yourself getting hired for any of these myriad open roles, however, it’s worth bearing in mind that the workplace is changing.

According to Dropbox Ireland’s global head of customer experience, Adrienne Gormley, the workplace of the future will be human-centric. Good news for all of us!

This week, we also heard from a few hugely-talented researchers – Sinéad Kenny, co-founder and CEO of DiaNia; Dr Lynette Keeney, staff researcher at Tyndall; and Jim Greer, researcher and educator at Tyndall.

Kenny, Greer and Keeney each told us about their work, and what has made them successful in their fields.

Also, this week’s piece from Mason Hayes & Curran Lawyers took a look at the legalities surrounding interns, content production and intellectual property – an important read for both sides of the equation.

We learned that the UK is currently bracing for a crisis in digital skills, with almost 13m adults lacking basic digital skills.

That won’t be a problem over here. Or, at least, it won’t be in the cybercrime sector. This week saw IT Carlow announcing that Ireland’s first cybercrime and IT security course will run from this September.

And finally, speaking of higher education, this week saw the appointment of Cork native Prof Patrick O’Shea as president of UCC.

For more details on any of these stories, follow the links below:

1. Eurofins Scientific to create 160 new jobs in Waterford

Some 175 jobs have been created in the last 24 months and 160 more will be in place by 2021 as Eurofins Scientific invests in a major expansion of its Dungarvan campus to bring total staff at the facility to 500.

2. Medical device maker Surmodics to bring 100 new jobs to Galway

Galway’s medical device cluster is to be given a boost with the news that US medical devices company Surmodics is to create 100 new jobs in the region as part of a €10m investment in R&D.

3. Oracle seeking candidates with ambition, belief and a desire to grow

Oracle is experiencing exponential growth, and seeks employees who can match that with their own desire for growth, as well as a healthy dose of ambition and belief.

4. Workplaces are changing, says Dropbox’s Adrienne Gormley

As the battle for talent intensifies, the winning companies will be those that create the best human-centric workplaces, says Dropbox Ireland’s Adrienne Gormley.

5. DiaNia Technologies co-founder: ‘Grab opportunities with both hands’

Inspirefest speaker Sinéad Kenny, co-founder and CEO of DiaNia Technologies, tells us how she got to where she is today.

6. What does a researcher do all day? A lot, apparently

Dr Lynette Keeney, a staff researcher at Tyndall National Institute, gives us some insight, explaining her work, and talking us through the skills, tools and processes she uses in a given day.

7. Research is about taking on challenges head on, says Tyndall researcher

Jim Greer, a researcher and educator at the Cork-based Tyndall National Institute, gives us some insight into how his career developed and grew, and what brought him to where he is now.

8. Interns and intellectual property – what you need to know

Start-ups can run into costly issues if they don’t protect their intellectual property when engaging interns and contractors, explains Mason Hayes & Curran.

9. UK braces itself for a major digital skills crisis

Not only does the UK face a digital skills crisis, with almost 13m adults lacking basic digital skills, but the spectre of digital exclusion in social and economic affairs is becoming real, a House of Commons science and technology committee has warned.

10. IT Carlow introduces Ireland’s first cybercrime and IT security degree course

IT Carlow’s Cybercrime and IT Security course is the first of its kind in Ireland and, in response to the global talent gap for tech talent, seeks to ensure that Ireland remains a tech hub in the face of increased risk of cyberattacks.

11. Cork native returns to take up helm as president of UCC

Prof Patrick O’Shea, a Corkman and a graduate of UCC who is currently the chief research officer at the University of Maryland, where he oversees a $500m budget, is to be the next president of UCC.

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Main image via Shutterstock

Kirsty Tobin
By Kirsty Tobin

Kirsty Tobin served as careers editor of Silicon Republic from 2015 up to August 2017. When she was younger, she had a dream where she started and won a fight with a T-Rex, so she’s pretty sure she kicked butt at this, too. Passions include eating all the cake, watching more TV than is healthy and sassy comebacks.

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