A young man in a blue shirt wearing a headset smiles at the camera against a blue background that fades down to white.
Philip Ryan. Image: Luke Maxwell/Siliconrepublic.com

‘I wouldn’t have the role I’m in now without the graduate programme’

15 Oct 2021

Philip Ryan took part in the Amgen graduate programme and quickly found that there’s always someone willing to help along the way.

For the past few months, major sci-tech companies across the country have been on the hunt for graduates, while many students have been figuring out which career path is right for them.

For Philip Ryan, this decision started with an internship at Amgen during his fourth year at Maynooth University, where he was studying biotechnology.

“I got the opportunity to get a six-month placement at the end of the degree, which was hugely beneficial in terms of understanding the biotechnology industry and it really gave me a head start,” he told Siliconrepublic.com

At the time, he didn’t know much about the company’s graduate programme, but from speaking to others who had completed it or were in the middle of it, he became more intrigued and eventually decided to apply when the time came.

Now, Ryan works as a senior manufacturing associate for the company. “I probably wouldn’t have the role I’m in now without the graduate programme. It’s been that influential in how my career has progressed.”

During his time on the programme, Ryan got the opportunity to explore different areas within manufacturing including operational support and QC microbiology. These opportunities came from both Ryan seeking them out and from other people within Amgen suggesting them.

“Say you’re a manufacturer, but you might want to see how things work in QC, you have that opportunity. If you want it and you show that you want it, the company are more than willing,” he said.

“There’s always people that you can lean on, that have been through the experience before, and for the mentors then to give you the opportunities to develop internally or help you if you want to go externally, there’s always someone there to help you through.”

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Jenny Darmody
By Jenny Darmody

Jenny Darmody became the editor of Silicon Republic in 2023, having worked as the deputy editor since February 2020. When she’s not writing about the science and tech industry, she’s writing short stories and attempting novels. She continuously buys more books than she can read in a lifetime and pretty stationery is her kryptonite. She also believes seagulls to be the root of all evil and her baking is the stuff of legends.

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