On Wednesday, February 26th, 2025, our Spencer Dock building was buzzing as we welcomed attendees to the inaugural International Financial Services (IFS) Apprenticeship Conference.
This event was designed to provide NCI’s IFS Associate Apprentices with valuable industry insights and professional guidance from esteemed, inspiring, industry professional speakers. It was an incredible day of talks as our guests were delighted to share their expertise with our students who are always engaged and eager to learn. Key topic discussions about economic trends, career development, and the future of work were the highlights of the day. Our apprentices gained firsthand exposure to the latest industry data and thinking from IFS professionals and practitioners that will support both current studies and future career aspirations.
This was the first of what will be an annual corporate conference experience for our IFS Associate Apprentices. It is brilliant for students to get a taste of industry life and to learn from and network with keynote speakers from professional companies such as Central Bank, HSBC, Fidelity, and Thrive Marketing. Our guest speakers were joined by NCI’s IFS Apprenticeship Alumni. We were delighted to have past students involved to chat to the current cohort of apprenticeship students, giving them personal insights, sharing what their experience has been, and how their careers have progressed since their time on the programme.
Dr Mary Liz Trant, Director of the National Apprenticeship Office was also in attendance at this event to speak about Generation Apprenticeship and to present the IFS Academic Excellence Award. We congratulate Matthew Dunne, a 2nd year IFS Associate Apprentice, this year’s recipient of the IFS Associate Academic Excellence Award, acknowledging that he received the highest grade in 1st year. This is an incredible achievement, and we wish Matthew the very best of luck as he continues his work on the programme.
More about IFS Apprenticeships
At National College of Ireland, our International Financial Services Apprenticeships offer people a unique way to start their career or upskill in the financial services sector. Our two-year programmes are ideal for Leaving Certificate students or those who have an equivalent qualification, who have an interest in pursuing a career in the financial services sector.
The higher certificate and higher diploma programmes in financial services allow students to "earn while you learn,” as the courses combine paid on the job training with academic study. This blended approach allows apprenticeship students to learn both inside and outside of the classroom, engage with a wide network of lecturers, peers, mentors, and colleagues at their onsite training, and ensures that they are industry ready upon graduation. Taking learned theory and knowledge and applying it directly in the workplace is a skill that can take time to learn, so having the opportunity to directly develop those industry skills while still studying is a fantastic benefit to students and it hugely benefits them when they go on to take that next career step.
Applications for NCI Apprenticeships are OPEN. Learn more about how to apply by visiting NCI’s IFS Apprenticeships homepage.
“Our aim was to create a real-life corporate conference for our apprentices so that they could get a taste of what a professional networking event is like. It was an amazing day, and the students really enjoyed hearing from the speakers from the FSI Industry and connecting with our alumni. These firsthand insights from people who were once in their shoes are invaluable, and it is brilliant to see our current students be so inspired. We are hoping that this conference will be the first of many and we are extremely excited to see how this conference grows over the next few years.” ~ Darragh Brien, Apprenticeship Co-Ordinator at National College of Ireland.
We wish to say well done and congratulations to NCI’s Apprenticeship Team for all the work they did in creating this innovative event. It is safe to say that all their immense efforts paid off, and we also wish to say thank you to all the guest speakers and alumni who took part in Wednesday’s event.
At National College of Ireland, we strive to share how apprenticeships can be extremely engaging, beneficial, and sometimes even life-changing opportunities for people because of the experiences they provide and the doors they open, and we were delighted to see the buzz and energy that was created in Spencer Dock at the inaugural International Financial Services (IFS) Apprenticeship Conference. We look forward to seeing how this event continues to evolve in the future.
#ChangingLivesThroughEducation