#GradStories Jenny Connors, Graduate Economist, Irish Government Economic and Evaluation Service

What does your job involve?

I work in the department of public expenditure and reform. My main role is to manage and monitor health expenditure. I have to appraise different policies and engage with the department of health and the HSE on developing new policies. As part of IGEES I do some research papers on different areas of the health service.

How did you get into your job?

I did an undergraduate degree in economics and finance in University of Limerick and went on to do a masters in economic analysis. One of my lecturers told me there was a job up on gradirelanbd. I liked the look of it and went for it. You do a presentation before going on to an interview; it’s an extensive process. What really helped me is everything I learned in college, along with the little bit of work experience I gained on a research project. That helped give me the confidence to talk about economics and different issues.

What skills are necessary to be successful?

Be proficient in data analytics and have good communication skills as we do some presentations and have a lot of meetings and engagements with different stakeholders.

What advice would you give a first year student?

Put yourself forward for presentations and get your work out there as part of college. Develop as many presentation and communication skills as you can.

What do you love about your job?

The work is so varied that you have something different coming on your desk nearly every day. You learn something new all the time. The thing about the public sector is that you’re doing work that’s actually helping people and it’s at the heart of the public interest. You might see something you’re working on mentioned in the media and that shows that what you’re doing is actually contributing to people’s lives.