50 Years of Co-op: Mary McEvoy

Tell us a bit about yourself, what course did you study in UL, what has your career looked like to date?    

My name is Mary McEvoy, I’m originally from Kilkenny and graduated from UL 30 years ago this year with a degree in Business Studies with Spanish.  When I first graduated from UL I went to New York and worked with Enterprise Ireland on their graduate program for a year and after that, I set up an office for an Irish software company in Boston and worked there for three years.  I returned to Ireland and did an MBA at Smurfit Business School.   After working in business development in the private sector for almost a decade I returned to the public sector working with local and then regional businesses in the Southeast to help drive business development for Irish companies as Regional Manager for Enterprise Ireland.  I later transferred to IDA Ireland where I have worked for 13 years helping bring multinationals to Ireland.  I’ve been based in our Austin, Texas office for over six years now where I am the Vice-President of Technology, Consumer and Business Services 

Tell us a bit about your co-op placement, what organisation did you work with and what year it took place?  

After my third year, I did a six-month placement in Pennsylvania with Intermedia Marketing which was a telemarketing company working for a variety of U.S. companies but also for Cashs of Cork, an Irish catalog company selling Irish products to US consumers.  It was my first time in the U.S. and I loved the experience.  The job was challenging as they trained us to deal with U.S. customers.  We all were taught to slow down how quickly we speak.  I remember taking calls for a student loan company with customers crying on the phone as they couldn’t make their payments.  I learned a lot about dealing with challenging customers and working in an intense environment and it served me well for my future sales career. 

What impact did your co-op placement have on your future career?  

Learning to talk to strangers, persuade them to buy products and deal with upset customers were all skills I learned while on the placement.  Also being in a completely different country I had to learn a lot.  I have spent more than half my career working in the U.S. since which was largely influenced by that first exposure too.  I don’t think you ever forget your first real job and many of the memories of that time are still as clear as if it was yesterday 

What piece of advice would you give to students going on co-op now?   

I would say be open to every opportunity and take the chance to challenge yourself and get out of your comfort zone.  Every job you do will teach you something about yourself.  Seek out mentors in the role and learn from them and their experience so you get guidance as to how to steer your career in a helpful direction.  Most of all enjoy the experience and stay in touch with everyone you work with, start building your network early.