Claire - Go-Ahead Ireland bus graduate
After studying Business Management at Queen’s University, Belfast I wanted to kick start my career in a successful, global, and forward-thinking company. A role where I am given responsibility, no day is the same and a place where I would gain a wide range of knowledge across the business. Go-Ahead Ireland was just that! Fast forward 2.5 years; I am thankful for all that I have been exposed to and have gained from the graduate programme. It sure has set me up for the future.
I started in summer 2020, a time where COVID-19 was looming, and things were very unpredictable. Thankfully Go-Ahead Ireland were more the keener to get me started and I haven’t looked back since. I started in the Operations Department - the core of the business. Here I assisted as a supervisor in managing the daily run out, to working alongside Revenue Inspectors, to forward allocating and scheduling duties.
My second secondment was with the Risk Department and things got even better. I quickly learnt this team thoroughly care about the company and do everything they can to make work a safe place for all. Here I learnt that attention to detail and thinking outside the box is key to driving incidents down. To add, the programme is very adaptable with a high degree of independence as I was able to extend my secondment here.
A highlight within the programme was having the opportunity to travel to London and work at Go-Ahead Group’s Head Office. Here I got stuck in and helped write a bus tender within the Business Development team. This would not have been possible without a mentor who supported and listened to me. Having a mentor on the programme allowed me to turn to someone immediately when I needed assistance which very reassuring.
Today I am proud to have a permanent position at Go-Ahead Ireland. After leaving the Graduate programme early and being offered the role as Incident Prevention Officer I would not be here without the support and responsibility given to me during the Graduate Programme. My days vary from carrying out route risk assessments, attending council and An Garda Síochána meetings to planning and executing safety campaigns.
If you are looking for a programme where you will grow as a person, improve your interpersonal skills and enjoy a fast-paced environment, Go-Ahead is for you.
