University College Dublin

Three important people in my life inspired me to take up this Master’s Degree. Firstly, it was my father Joseph, who was an exemplary educator himself; my wife Shirley, who encouraged me to go for my academic pursuit and lastly, my astute mentor Stephen, a fellow UCD alumnus who was always there to guide me through my career challenges. He was also the one who advised me to sign up for this programme.

The Master of Science programme at UCD was delivered by highly competent lecturers, who had augmented my knowledge in the field of Finance. I believe that the programme has equipped me with the abilities to better adapt to changes and resolve problems. It takes one from being efficient to being effective. The critical thinking developed at this level is not only valuable to my career but also to my family, social network and personal development.

I was working with a Risk Management Consultancy firm before I embarked on my Master’s education. I chose UCD’s Master of Science in Finance as it encompassed both Finance and Business elements that were relevant to my line of work. Furthermore, UCD is a well-recognised University with a leading business school in the world. After completing the programme, I joined a Global Financial Institution with a significant increment.

The lecturers from UCD were a passionate bunch who went that extra mile to help me. I fondly remember them going for lunches with me to guide me through the materials, and I am proud to become a protégé of some professors who are CEOs and consultants to various private and government agencies. This experience was a catalyst to my career transformation journey from a technical role towards a management role. I am now a Director of Technology and Operations at SSON Analytics, and I attribute this achievement to the UCD programme.

I had to join the workforce early as I did not do well for my O-level exams and my family was struggling financially. However, I never gave up on my aspirations to become a graduate one day and earn the chance to apply my knowledge to help improve the world around me.

Eventually, I worked hard and managed to save up enough to complete my part-time Diploma in Information Technology with Kaplan, even going on to secure a full-time job at Singapore Press Holdings. That helped to spur my dreams, so that I could go on and pursue a Bachelor’s Degree with University College Dublin (UCD).

I chose UCD due to its global accreditations, industry-relevant subjects and flexible schedules, as I needed to balance my work and studies. Now I feel confident of my future plans, and hope that whatever opportunity comes my way, it incorporates helping others in need.

I made my choice to enter University College Dublin (UCD) as the business school has an established brand name, and offer flexible study schedules and easy-to-follow lesson plans that I needed.

While the 18-month Bachelor’s Degree programme provided a great way to achieve my graduation goals, it also allowed me to pick up a lot of industry knowledge on business strategic planning and supply chain operations, from inventory handling to import/export shipment management.

My career started taking flight when I became a Supply Chain Analyst for a multinational corporation right after graduating two years ago, and really took off the following year when I accepted a job offer for a sales position in a Japanese multinational corporation in Singapore.

I chose to embark on my career in my youth instead of pursuing higher education, so I could grow my income first. As I grew up, I felt the need to further my studies for future career prospects and personal growth.

I wanted to experience a quality education with a reputable business school and to graduate faster than my peers, so I decided to take up an 18-month Honours Degree programme with University College Dublin (UCD) at Kaplan. I chose UCD because it is ranked among the top 1% of institutions around the world, and accredited by bodies such as the AACSB and EQUIS for meeting their rigorous quality standards.

It is my aspiration to advance towards a management position in the near future, so having opportunities to lead group assignments in class helped to grow my leadership capabilities and communication skills. As a working adult, the programme’s compact schedule allowed me to make plans so I could better balance my time between work, family and studies. I looked forward to my lessons as the lecturers were always sharing deep insights on how the actual business world operates.

As I am interested in financial markets and portfolio analysis, I enrolled for both the 18-month Finance Honours Degree programme with University College Dublin (UCD) at Kaplan, and the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) programme with the CFA Institute. The knowledge acquired from my lessons with UCD complemented my preparations for the CFA examination, which I have passed, and can now progress on to the Level II examination.

The flexible timetable for my Degree studies was very helpful to my career, granting me the wonderful opportunity to also complete my Certified First Aid Instructor and Advanced Certificate in Training and Assessment (ACTA) certification courses.

I’ve always wanted to earn an Honours Degree after graduating from ITE. While serving my National Service, I discovered that I could achieve my goal by taking up a part-time 8-month Diploma in Commence (Marketing Management) with Kaplan, which would grant entry to a Degree with University College Dublin (UCD), an elite business school ranked among the Top 1% of institutions worldwide¹.

I was really happy that I made this choice as I have had an amazing study experience at Kaplan. My Diploma tutors taught me as if I was studying at a University level, while simultaneously providing extra guidance. As a result, I had a smooth transition to my Degree studies with UCD upon completing my Diploma².

I think studying at UCD is perfect if you want to experience the new and grow as a global citizen. I’ve learned a lot about various cultures by interacting with many students from different countries and experiencing lessons with several fly-in lecturers from Ireland.

¹Times Higher Education 2019
²Jeremiah graduated with a Kaplan Diploma in Commence (Marketing Management) in 2014, and a Bachelor of Business Studies (Hons) in Marketing from UCD in 2019.

Despite my time constraints working at a public health institution and being a mother of two, I sought a quality Degree that could fit both my schedule and location needs. That was why I enrolled with the University College Dublin (UCD) Bachelor of Business Studies (Honours) in Management programme at Kaplan.

Pursuing a Degree after 14 years was initially daunting as I had to balance my work and the needs of my two young children. But life as a UCD student was unexpectedly refreshing. The pace of study was manageable even for me and that helped to allay my anxiety as an older student. The lessons offered in this UCD programme were relevant, practical and applicable to my daily work. So it empowered me with the confidence to take on greater responsibilities, and I became more proactive in resolving challenges within my organisation.