As members of the HCK parents’ association and the Board of Management we have initiated a project which we feel would greatly assist the current pupils in making the daunting decisions in pursuit of their chosen careers after school. 

To that end we are hoping to compile a database of 3 to 5 minute videos detailing the experiences of a wide variety of HCK alumni in their chosen careers. We would love to hear from a wide variety of people and particularly those alumni who;

• didn’t get required points for their course of choice so took a circuitous route to their chosen career
• Started their own business / went straight into the jobs market
• Started a 3rd level course and decided to change to another. 
• Chose to study abroad

Based on feedback from a survey we conducted amongst TY and 5th year students we have outlined a list of careers below in which the pupils indicated the most interest and suggested points to speak about in your video. 

HCK has created a secure email account for the videos which will be uploaded to the school’s One Drive account. Access to each video will be password protected and accessible only to pupils who are in TY or 5th year. They will be available to view for a limited time period only and, most importantly, if the link is forwarded to anyone outside the school, they will not be able to access the video. 

Also if you would be happy for a pupil to contact you if they’d like to discuss your experiences further, please indicate this when you return the video. Please also indicate the best email address to contact you. 

We hope that you will feel able to give the pupils the benefit of your experience, but please do contact us if you have any questions at all.

All questions can be directed to either Elaine Knierim on elaine.gubbins@protonmail.com or David Crowley on david@ifcfinance.com

Please send your videos to us at careervideos@holychildkilliney.ie, by April 15th. If you would rather come to the school to make a video, please let us know and that can be arranged. 

Thank you very much. 

Best regards

David Crowley & Elaine Knierim 

Length of video: 3 to 5 minutes

Suggested points:

• What do you do day-to-day in your profession. 
• What 3rd level course did you chose and why
• Lessons learned from filling out the CAO
• Did you have enough points for your chosen CAO course? If not did you chose a different path to your chosen career or did you chose to do something completely different?
• Did it meet your expectations. If not, why not. 
• What did you enjoy most / least about your course
• If you changed courses/ switched careers, please describe that process
• Lessons learned from your first job
• What do you enjoy most/least about your chosen career
• If you took a gap year, how did you settle back to college life
• Challenges you faced in college/work (academic/social/financial)
• If you chose not to study further, how it affected your career both positively and negatively. 
• Advice you would now give your leaving cert self. 

Areas of most interest:

• Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media                  
• Architecture and Engineering                                                      
• Legal                                                                                                           
• Business and Financial Operations                                           
• Medicine                                                                                            
• Life, Physical, and Social Science                                               
• Accounting, Banking and Finance                                             
• Hospitality                                                                                          
• Community and Social Services                                                  
• Healthcare Practitioners and Technical                                   
• Computer and Mathematical                                                      
• Education, Training and Library