| What was your favourite subject in school and why? |
| Always had an artist flare, I really enjoy Art in school. However in my later years in school, I loved learning more about Maths and more technical subjects! I want to purse something that was a balance of both.
|
| How did you get into your line of work? Can you talk us through a quick overview of your career path to date? |
| I studied BSc in Product design and tech in UL, I completed an 8 month internship in BD. After graduating in 2022, I travelled for a year and returned to Ireland. I got an job as a graduate product designer in Dolmen ! Been developing my skillset as a designer ever since and got opportunity to work on wide variety of interesting projects.
|
| When do you use creative thinking and problem solving in your line of work? |
| As a product designer, we use creative thinking and problem solving everyday, the two are interlocked and in a fast paced environment becomes second nature. it’s the element of the career that I really enjoy!
|
| Any top tips for young people looking to get into your area of work? |
| Keep curious and ask questions, everything can be a learning experience! Communications skills and working well in a team and being able to adapt is very important. As initial first step setting up that LinkedIn account to see elements of the industry that might interest you down the line.
|
| What B!G idea are you most proud of in your own life/career to date? |
| Completing my bachelors degree and final year project. I was able to showcase my previous work in a portfolio that ultimate lead me to my current position now.
|
| What professional failure have you experienced that has made you a more resilient person as a result? |
| I found that I come across many failures as project work rarely goes according to plan, design work naturally calls for adaptations, problem solving and constructive criticism. In hindsight everything leads to the end goal it’s important not to let small failures get you down as there apart of the process.
|
| What is your go-to resource to help you with creative thinking and problem solving in work? – a website, tool; app or framework – whatever! |
| Miro is great for team collaboration and idea sharing, adobe suite great for visualisation, quick CAD builds can also help to get ideas across quickly into a 3D space. AI is becoming more and more an interesting tool for designers.
|
| If you had the opportunity, what advice would you give your 16-year old self now? |
| Follow what interests you, take every opportunity as it comes be surprised where it can lead you. Often the soft personal skills are as important as the ones who learn in academia. Remember to have fun exploring your potential career path! |
Fiona Byrne
Alexandra Moza
Gemma McLernon
Uday Bala