The main career decision to date would have to be choosing Barclays as part of my internship programme while studying Commerce in UCD. I had a choice of four offers and it's great to now look back and see that I have decided to stay so it must have been a good choice!

Family influence has given me that drive from an early age, which is the main influence in my career. I have been lucky enough to benefit from many mentors, counsel over the years, which has proved invaluable.

My current role was a progression from the initial aforementioned internship. It included many rounds of interviews and I have been promoted within Barclays in that time too. It is great when you have the opportunity to develop and further your career in a place you enjoy!

A typical day is hard to describe, given that there are many facets to my role. However, it usually included several call and video calls with clients and colleagues alike. I really enjoy the people and problem solving element to my day-to-day work life, which provides me with high levels of job satisfaction. There are inevitably some high pressured days in banking but I enjoy the fast-paced nature of the banking world!

The opportunity to manage my own portfolio of clients and a product on a European basis are two of my main responsibilities. This can be quite exciting and building an income stream from scratch has been a great experience.

Everyone will probably say time to try and fit everything in and I'd have to agree! Prioritisation is key in every walk of life and that helps me stay engaged and interested while at work.

I love the ability to talk to clients and colleagues all around the world (and I get paid to do something I love)! I have been the local lead on launching a new product in the bank, which very few people get to do in such a mature industry.

There's always parts of any job that can get on your nerves but it's important to remember the positives and not to focus of the negatives. I'm very grateful that the positives far outweigh any negatives at work!

Communication and interpersonal skills are key to any job in the current market especially when we're all on-screen all day! They are the cornerstones to success, if you have them, you have so many options.

In my particular industry, analytical skills are really useful to be able to take a high-level view and establish what areas to focus on. I'm a firm believer in that so many skills are transferable and we have far more skills that we might initially think. Give it a shot, what's the worst that can happen?

For my Leaving Cert, my eight subjects were English, Irish, Maths, German, French, Business, Physics and Applied Maths. Looking back now I think I had a really broad list of subjects and this theme resonates today. I can get quite impatient and bored quite quickly so I really enjoy the different aspects of subjects. This is linked to the ability to get involved in different things at work, which keep things interesting.

St Kilian's Deutsche Schule Dublin - Leaving Cert

UCD Lochlann Quinn School of Business - Bachelor of Commerce

Chartered Accountants Ireland - Associate Chartered Accountant

The ability to speak European languages before I started Irish in school has paid off now with the connectivity across Europe. There are areas in subjects in school that still come back to me to this day so the investment in your education is not to be underestimated

I have already mentioned building the income stream and product from the ground up, which has been really rewarding. The exposure I have been granted in my role as well as the opportunities to represent the Irish business across a number of European countries was truly exciting. Spending a few days in London and Paris helped!

I am a really organised personal outside of work and that plays a role at work too. It allows me to know what I need to do and when I need to do it. This is linked with my earlier point around prioritisation. I have always been very ambitious in all aspects of my life and that has aided my progression at Barclays to date. Hopefully this will continue into the future.

I was one of those people that regularly changed their aspirations when I was younger and was always supported by my parents no matter how fleeting these ideas were. A few of these were to be an architect, a TV presenter or work in fashion! I'm a huge tennis fan too so I'd love to work with one of the governing bodies of the sport one day.

My job allows for great flexibility so that I have a degree of control over my time. I am able to manage my work-life balance effectively as a result. My role has increased in responsibility since joining in 2016, which is very rewarding.

You don't know until you try it! It's hard to imagine what any job will be like until you're in it so don't let that put you off. It is so important to take the time to consider if the job is right for you too and do not underestimate this. We all spend many hours each day at work so choose wisely.

Communication skills People skills Resilience

People who don't exchange pleasantries on email, it's nice to be nice!

I qualified as a Chartered Accountant last year so I am looking forward to the next educational step in my career. I completed a couple of online course late last year in areas of personal interest including watches and art history. It's important to have a genuine desire to learn and spend the time to do so. Otherwise, it can be quite a slog.

I work in a client focused role and as such any job where you're dealing with people will have transferable skills.