Ciara Anderson

Ciara, hailing from Nenagh in Ireland, dedicated six years of her life to working for a charity. However, at the age of 33, she made the bold decision to return to education. Starting with college, she eventually transferred into the third year of a degree programme at Abertay.

Determined to make a success of her university journey and wishing to make up for lost time, Ciara took a proactive approach to her time at Abertay. She sought out part-time job opportunities related to her course to develop practical accounting skills, aiming to gain a competitive advantage when applying for graduate positions upon completing her degree.

Ciara secured a position as an account assistant with Saturn FE Ltd, a local engineering firm based at Water’s Edge, Dundee. She worked 20 hours per week, and Ciara considers this job to be very valuable as it provided her with essential accounting techniques and skills. The practical experience she gained from the job complimented her coursework and she was soon thriving academically.  

As well as subject-specific knowledge, Ciara says her degree has provided her with invaluable ‘soft skills’ that will greatly benefit her in the future.

She said:

When I started studying toward my degree, I genuinely thought it was just a piece of paper that would help me get my foot in the door for a good job. However, it has been so much more than that! My time at university has taught me important things like research and investigation skills, communication skills, teamwork and problem solving. These are all things that I will take with me into my future career. Another great aspect of my university experience was that I was able to widen the degree to include people management. The classes gave me a good understanding of the challenges that businesses will face in the coming years, and ways to consider how those challenges can be overcome.

As Ciara approaches graduation, she is eagerly anticipating the start of her new role at Empowered by Cloud, an accounting company situated in Glenrothes. Armed with her invaluable experience, improved skills, and a promising opportunity, Ciara is ready to tackle challenges head-on and make a positive impact on the world.

View the BA (Hons) Accounting and Finance with People Management course

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