Successfully transitioning from university to a professional engineering career is a critical moment for any graduate, and the application process requires strategic preparation beyond just academic competence.

Many students struggle to understand what employers truly seek in a new engineer and how to showcase their potential effectively.

This episode unlocks the secrets to a standout graduate application, sharing direct insights on core soft skills like communication and teamwork, the role of mentorship, and the career growth trajectory within leading firms.

Learn about the value of different-sized companies, from large-scale multi-office execution to a hands-on, personal approach, and the importance of professional development and diversity initiatives. Host Dusty Rhodes is joined by two exceptional industry leaders: Michelle O'Hagan, Group Graduate Recruitment Manager at PM Group, and Bill Bates, Director at DBFL.

THINGS WE SPOKE ABOUT

Why graduate programs are essential
Big vs small company advantages
Soft skills employers demand now
Successful career progression examples
How to make your application stand out

GUEST DETAILS

Michelle O’Hagan is the Group Graduate Recruitment Manager at PM Group, a leading global project management and engineering company known for delivering complex capital projects worldwide. She manages the full graduate recruitment lifecycle across PM Group’s international offices, ensuring the company attracts top emerging talent. Michelle's extensive experience, including prior roles at Deloitte UK and Citi Bank, makes her an expert in understanding what drives success in early engineering careers.

Bill Bates is a Director at DBFL Consulting Engineers, one of Ireland's leading civil, structural, and transportation consultancies. Bill is responsible for overseeing the Civil Engineering team and has extensive experience in the design and delivery of major infrastructure and development projects across the country. As a Director, Bill is deeply involved in DBFL's Graduate Development Programme and the career progression of their staff, making him a key resource for understanding the pathways to Chartered Engineer status and professional success within the Irish engineering sector.

Connect with AMPLIFIED

Website: engineersireland.ie
Search podcast player: "AMPLIFIED" or "Engineers Ireland"
Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and wherever you get podcasts

MORE INFORMATION

Looking for ways to explore or advance a career in the field of engineering? Visit Engineers Ireland to learn more about the many programs and resources on offer. https://www.engineersireland.ie/

Engineers Journal AMPLIFIED is produced by DustPod.io for Engineers Ireland.

QUOTES

Confidence, talking about themselves, talking about their other aspects, their engineering career is only at the start, so they have very little to talk about in that. But I want to know what they've done to date. Tell me about themselves. - Bill Bates

The actual programme itself is a two year programme, but it runs in parallel with your job. So you're permanent from day one, you don't have to re-interview for a role on completion of the programme, which a lot of graduate programmes in our industry does. - Michelle O'Hagan

Be confident in your own ability, but be able to show humility and be able to listen to all others perspectives. - Bill Bates

Communication going into project management, being a strong and effective communicator is essential. Being clear, concise and well structured - Ena O'Driscoll

KEYWORDS

#EngineeringGraduates #GraduateProgramme #CareerDevelopment #SoftSkills #StandoutCV

Leaving Certificate students have an exciting opportunity to explore the diverse realities of an engineering career and discover practical strategies for success as they fill out their upcoming CAO forms.

Ena O'Driscoll, Mechanical Engineering student at MTU Cork and Student Ambassador at PM Group, alongside Sean Ryan, Automation Engineering student at SETU and Student Engineer at Jabil, share their university experiences with host Dusty Rhodes. Early STEM encouragement, fostered through school programs and family ties, significantly influences career choices.

The discussion highlights the importance of paid internships for developing real-world problem-solving skills and building an invaluable CV. Finally, it offers practical advice for creating standout applications by emphasizing leadership roles, volunteering, and project work, while also stressing the need to balance academic demands with societal involvement through networking and mentorship via groups like the Engineers Ireland Young Engineers Society.

THINGS WE SPOKE ABOUT

Engineering career choice STEM encouragement
Paid internships practical experience benefits
CV building leadership & volunteering standout
Time management balancing studies & activities
CAO strategy Level 7 & Level 8 options

GUEST DETAILS

Ena O'Driscoll is a Mechanical Engineering Student at Munster Technological University (MTU) Cork. Ena is an excellent example of maximising university studies by actively engaging with industry. She gained valuable professional experience through an internship and placement with PM Group, a leading international project delivery firm. Following her successful placement, Ena has continued her association with the company and the wider engineering community by serving as a Student Ambassador at PM Group, demonstrating a strong commitment to promoting engineering and bridging the gap between academia and professional life.

Sean Ryan is an Automation Engineering Student at South East Technological University (SETU) Waterford. Sean is currently applying his technical expertise as a Student Engineer at Jabil, a global manufacturing services company. He possesses a strong academic background complemented by valuable practical experience, including previous work as a controls engineer at Integer. Sean is highly engaged within his university community, having served as a peer-to-peer mentor and senior mentor to support first-year engineering students. Sean is also Chairperson of the Young engineer society south east. Hailing from a farming background, Sean brings a unique perspective to problem-solving and engineering challenges. Outside of his studies and work, Sean is an active rugby player for both his college team and a local club.

Connect with AMPLIFIED

Website: engineersireland.ie
Search podcast player: "AMPLIFIED" or "Engineers Ireland"
Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and wherever you get podcasts

MORE INFORMATION

Looking for ways to explore or advance a career in the field of engineering?
Visit Engineers Ireland to learn more about the many programs and resources on offer. https://www.engineersireland.ie/
Engineers Journal AMPLIFIED is produced by DustPod.io for Engineers Ireland.

QUOTES

My secondary school was actually really good in terms of promoting STEM. Every couple of weeks we'd have different people come in and talk about different areas - Ena O'Driscoll

I'm on currently working as a controls and automation engineer student for Jabil healthcare, which is ideal because it's only two minutes walk from my college and I'm able to go in there part time and the hours are flexible which is amazing - Sean Ryan

We were given real work to work on from day one. It started with helping other engineers, carried out a study. We were able to find that quadrant that was the problem and implement that change.- Sean Ryan

I've always enjoyed Maths, Physics, anything problem solving wise. I've always wanted to be an engineer since probably around 14. I interviewed one of my dad's best friends who's a civil engineer. I got into the mechanical side because of my godfather. - Ena O'Driscoll

KEYWORDS

Engineering studies, STEM promotion, student engineers, automation engineering, mechanical engineering, industry experience, internships

Managing billion-euro construction projects across multiple continents requires more than technical expertise—it demands strategic planning that can unite diverse teams around complex, evolving designs.

From Formula One theme parks in Dubai's desert heat to Sweden's groundbreaking European Spallation Source research facility, construction planning specialist Enda Grimes has spent two decades mastering the art of breaking massive projects into manageable pieces.

Now leading his own consultancy Strata, he reveals how digital rehearsals, AI-powered data analytics, and one often-overlooked foundational skill are transforming how Europe's largest construction projects come to life

THINGS WE SPOKE ABOUT

• How breaking mega construction projects into smaller, team-owned pieces enables successful delivery.
• Why engineering principles provide the strongest foundation for strategic time planning.
• How using digital rehearsals BIM models can safely plan logistics before physical execution on site
• How AI and data management are transforming construction planning
• Why communication skills and practical site experience matter for career advancement
• The value of international experience and cultural adaptability in engineering career progression

GUEST DETAILS

Enda Grimes is Director and Owner of Strata, a construction planning consultancy he founded in 2016 that manages projects valued up to €2 billion. His career spans some of Europe's most complex construction projects, including serving as Head Planner for Skanska on the European Spallation Source (ESS) in Sweden—the world's largest research facility of its kind—where he developed contract programs for this state-of-the-art super-microscope facility. Previously, Enda spent over five years as Planning and Bid Manager with John Paul Construction/Absal Paul in Dublin, leading strategic technical submissions and commercial strategies.

His international experience includes planning the $600M Formula One Theme Park in Dubai and the €145M Criminal Courts Complex PPP in Dublin with PJ Hegarty & Sons. Enda specializes in translating complex construction requirements into executable plans using cutting-edge planning, modeling, and visualization technology.

Connect with Enda:

PUBLIC CONTACT DETAILS
Website: https://stratadigital.io/

Social Media:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/enda-grimes-86539a25/?originalSubdomain=ie

MORE INFORMATION

Looking for ways to explore or advance a career in the field of engineering? Visit Engineers Ireland to learn more about the many programs and resources on offer. https://www.engineersireland.ie/

Engineers Journal AMPLIFIED is produced by DustPod.io for Engineers Ireland.

QUOTES

• Engineering is a really good base for time planning, and if you can understand the technical challenges and relate that to time, you know, you get a lot of respect. - Enda Grimes
• It's made up of multiple project teams. If you're able to isolate each component piece to the individual project teams and let them deal with them on a project by project basis, it's a lot easier. – Enda Grimes
• What is a digital rehearsal? It's about building something digitally and rehearsing it and then putting it in practice in real life... the whole purpose is to plan out those works in a safe manner, to make sure that it works. - Enda Grimes
• I learned that sometimes to be Irish is a good thing in international projects because we're good at talking. We're probably have a good way about us with people, and you're able to bring different cultures together. - Enda Grimes
• I think practical experience is really important actually. There is a shortcoming in our education process at the moment. It's too theoretical, and that connection to industry is lost. - Enda Grimes

KEYWORDS
#Engineering principles #strategicplanning #constructionprojects #FormulaOnethemepark #Europeanspallationsource #projectexecution #timemanagement #digital tools #BIM #digitalrehearsal #communicationskills #career progression #internationalexperience #practicalexperience #leadership

Two recent engineering graduates, Jennifer Smith (Manufacturing Operations Engineer) and Denis Hardi (Graduate Commissioning Engineer), share essential advice for students considering engineering.

They emphasise that internships are vital for discovering career preferences across diverse fields like pharma and civil engineering, making the flexibility of the degree its greatest asset.

Their key message is that curiosity and resilience matter more than loving mathematics, as engineering fundamentally relies on problem-solving.

They also stress that networking through groups like the Young Engineers Society provides crucial leadership opportunities and connections.

The graduates provided practical insights on career growth, highlighting rotational programmes as the best way to gain broad experience (quality, global roles) and understand facility operations. They advised students on navigating early career decisions and underlined the necessity of establishing work-life balance by setting boundaries.

Overall, the discussion offers an encouraging view of the modern engineering profession, stressing that the career path is highly adaptable to individual interests and goals.

THINGS WE SPOKE ABOUT

Internships shape careers through pharmaceutical supply, precision engineering, civil engineering, material science hands-on experience discovering preferences.

Engineering degree flexibility enables pharmaceutical, automotive, medical device aerospace careers with curious minds shaping any industry choice.

Networking through Engineers Ireland Young Engineers Society provides leadership opportunities professional connections across counties and internationally.

STEM subjects are important but curiosity and resilience matter more than loving mathematics with problem-solving training and multiple solution approaches.

Graduate rotational programmes offer quality global roles and multiple facilities whilst a work-life balance requires setting boundaries with compensation.

GUEST DETAILS

Jennifer Smith (AbbVie): Manufacturing Operations Engineer and University of Galway graduate with a distinguished academic record. Her career shows the flexibility of an engineering degree, covering pharmaceutical manufacturing, materials, and civil engineering.

Denis Hardi (H&MV): Graduate Commissioning Engineer and TUS graduate, who has held significant leadership roles including Founder of the South East Young Engineers Society and Senior Vice President of Internal Relations for Young European Engineers. His work includes international commissioning projects in Norway and Finland.

CONNECT WITH AMPLIFIED:

Website: engineersireland.ie
Search podcast player: AMPLIFIED Engineers Ireland
Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and wherever you get podcasts.

MORE INFORMATION

Looking for ways to explore or advance a career in the field of engineering?
Visit Engineers Ireland to learn more about the many programs and resources on offer. https://www.engineersireland.ie/

Engineers Journal AMPLIFIED is produced by DustPod.io for Engineers Ireland.

QUOTES

Opportunities are truly limitless with an engineering degree. If you have a curious mind, you can shape your career to be any sort of industry you want. – Jennifer Smith.

I'm actually based in Finland now on site working on a substation project. I was in Norway before this. I never expected to be travelling around the world, it is a rich experience. – Denis Hardi.

Internships will really shape the way you take your career. I did internships across pharmaceutical, precision, civil, and material science. Getting internships is a great way to have a better idea of what you want to do once you finish college. – Jennifer Smith.

Internships give you rich experience showing what you study might or might not be applicable. I worked on combined heat and power, microchips, photonics research, and technical sales, giving me an idea of how it is to work on site and in the lab. – Denis Hardi.

KEYWORDS

Engineering degree, career transition, internships, problem-solving, work-life balance, networking,
professional growth,

Brendan Kearns is a former chartered engineer at eircom who shares remarkable stories from our connected world in his new book Evolution of Telecommunications.

From Bell's accidental discovery of the telephone while trying to improve telegraph systems to Ireland's transformation from 50% manual exchanges in 1979 to today's fiber networks, Brendan reveals the engineering breakthroughs that built modern communications. His comprehensive guide traces the path from Morse code to AI and quantum computing, sharing tales of underwater cable failures that led to heat equation breakthroughs, why an undertaker invented automatic switching, and the cybersecurity challenges facing today's networks.

THINGS WE SPOKE ABOUT

• How the telephone was accidentally invented
• Why Ireland's telephone infrastructure was decades behind in 1979
• The engineering challenges of laying the first transatlantic cables
• How automatic telephone switches were invented by an undertaker
• Why successful engineering leadership requires small collaborative teams
• The cybersecurity threats facing modern telecom networks

Connect with Brendan:

Book: "Evolution of Telecommunications" available on Amazon.ie
https://www.amazon.ie/EVOLUTION-TELECOMMUNICATIONS-Brendan-Michael-Kearns/dp/1068201509

MORE INFORMATION

Looking for ways to explore or advance a career in the field of engineering? Visit Engineers Ireland to learn more about the many programs and resources on offer. https://www.engineersireland.ie/

Engineers Journal AMPLIFIED is produced by DustPod.io for Engineers Ireland.

QUOTES

• We engineers, we're very inquisitive people. We do like to break things from time to time. That's necessary, but then you have to fix them afterwards. - Brendan Kearns
• Sometimes practice can come before theory. You can't wait for the theory to be written first. You gotta do things to make things happen. - Brendan Kearns
• The telephone was invented by Bell in 1876, but he wasn't trying to invent the phone - he was trying to improve the telegraph. - Brendan Kearns
• Engineering is the art of giving something flesh, in my opinion. - Brendan Kearns
• I always like to work on small teams, no more than four or five people, where everybody is completely engaged and where everybody is honest with what they know and don't know. - Brendan Kearns

KEYWORDS
#telecommunications, #engineering, #innovation, #cybersecurity, #career-transition

In this episode of Amplified, Dusty Rhodes is joined by Eamon Daly, Director at Egis Engineering Ireland, to explore the realities of delivering Ireland’s most vital infrastructure.

From motorways and tunnels to Luas extensions and the future of MetroLink, Eamon shares stories from over 27 years in engineering. He explains the challenges of balancing deadlines, budgets, sustainability, and resources — while also highlighting the career opportunities for the next generation of engineers.

Packed with insights on leadership, mentorship, and the future of transport in Ireland, this conversation offers a rare inside look at how critical national projects are brought to life.

THINGS WE SPOKE ABOUT

• How major road and transport projects in Ireland are planned, designed, and delivered
• Lessons from major infrastructure builds — Dublin Tunnel, Jack Lynch Tunnel, Luas, and MetroLink.
• Overcoming geotechnical challenges: peat, karst, and precision bridge engineering.
• Balancing deadlines, budgets, and sustainability on mega-projects.
• Resource challenges — why Ireland needs more engineers and international expertise.
• The value of mentorship, varied experience, and networking for career growth.
• Future-proofing skills: opportunities in transport, rail, and sustainable infrastructure.

GUEST DETAILS

Eamon Daly is a Director at Egis in Ireland and Barry Transportation - now Egis. Eamon has over 25 years' experience, specialising in Transportation and Traffic Engineering.

Notable projects he has completed work on include Luas Finglas, N22 Baile Bhuirne to Macroom and N4 Collooney to Castlebaldwin.

MORE INFORMATION

Looking for ways to explore or advance a career in the field of engineering? Visit Engineers Ireland to learn more about the many programs and resources on offer. https://www.engineersireland.ie/

Engineers Journal AMPLIFIED is produced by DustPod.io for Engineers Ireland.

QUOTES

• Sustainability needs to come into all projects – it’s business as usual now - Eamon Daly.
• Good mentorship is vital. You’re going to make mistakes, but there’s always a solution and it’s never as bad as you think - Eamon Daly
• Ireland has great projects and mega projects ahead – it’s a fantastic time to be a young engineer - Eamon Daly.
• Networking outside your organisation is always useful – we’re constantly talking to consultants, contractors and clients to see what’s coming next - Eamon Daly.
• I’ve always stayed involved in design because it’s something I really enjoy – even while leading and managing teams - Eamon Daly

KEYWORDS

#Engineering #Infrastructure #Ireland #Transport #Sustainability #CivilEngineering #MetroLink #Luas #Motorways #Tunnels #Egis #EngineersIreland #CareerInEngineering #FutureOfTransport

In this inspiring episode of Amplified: The Engineers Journal Podcast, aerospace engineer and entrepreneur Stephen Ringler, Managing Director of Space Store, shares his journey from working on NASA’s Juno mission to launching a space-themed retail and education company in the UK. Host Dusty Rhodes delves into Stephen's early fascination with space, his experiences navigating large-scale engineering projects, and the challenges of budget cuts in the space sector.

Stephen also explores the power of inclusive space education, revealing how Space Store aims to make space accessible and exciting for everyone — from schoolchildren to corporate teams. Packed with insights on testing, risk management, active listening, and keeping passion alive in a demanding industry, this episode is a must-listen for anyone interested in engineering, innovation, and the future of space exploration.

THINGS WE SPOKE ABOUT

• Space belongs to everyone - not just scientists and engineers.
• Testing is critical: break it until it stops breaking.
• Communication and collaboration are essential in large-scale engineering projects.
• Active listening leads to better engineering outcomes and more relevant solutions.
• Drive and passion need support - from self-talk to strong mentors.
• How space innovation directly benefits life on Earth - from MRIs to climate tech.

GUEST DETAILS

Stephen has over 20 years of experience working in the Space sector as a Pointing Precision Engineer, Programmatic Analyst, and Business Developer. With his training that began at UCLA and his vast experience and network in the Space community, his aim with Spacetime Development is to provide top-notch business development support and engineering services to high-tech companies. Stephen enjoys exploring castles and playing board games, jazz piano and drums.

MORE INFORMATION

Looking for ways to explore or advance a career in the field of engineering? Visit Engineers Ireland to learn more about the many programs and resources on offer. https://www.engineersireland.ie/

Engineers Journal AMPLIFIED is produced by DustPod.io for Engineers Ireland.

QUOTES

• "Break it until it stops breaking, and then we can send it to space."
• "The space industry belongs to everyone."
• "We bring space to Earth - that’s what we do."
• "Sometimes we solve problems that people don't have."
• "If you're ultimately trying to take human beings and put them somewhere else, everything that is part of a human being needs to be thought about taking them somewhere else."
• "If I lost either engineering or teaching, I think I would die a little on the inside."