At ESW, we’re looking for technology and business graduates who can bring a fresh perspective to technology and product innovation. Our 18-month graduate program offers a unique eCommerce experience and the opportunity to dive right in, working with some of the world’s biggest brands from day one.
We offer amazing benefits, tailored learning and development opportunities, as well as the chance to learn from and work alongside the brightest tech and product innovators in the industry. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be chatting with some of our 2019 graduates and sharing their experiences with you.
So Darragh, tell us a little about yourself?
I’m Darragh from Kildare, a former bar manager who went back to college in Carlow IT to study Business Management and got his new career off to a great start by landing a Graduate Product Owner role in ESW.
Tell us a little about your average day in ESW?
What does a graduate Product Owner do on a daily basis? Four years of studying and over 10 years of working in bars behind me and I’m about to find out.
Waking from my alarm at 7.00am (after hitting the snooze button numerous times!), I jump into the car (coffee in hand of course) and start my 45-minute journey from Naas to Swords. When I arrive at work, I do a quick check of my calendar for the day and it’s straight to the kitchen for coffee number two and I’m ready to tackle the day ahead.
At 9.30am daily stand up takes place. Here, I will get updates from every member of the team and alongside some other team members (Product Owner, Scrum Master, Engineering Manager), resolve any issues or blockers they may have.
It’s now 10.00am and it’s time for my morning catch up with our Product Owner. We review the status of any upcoming features and talk through any issues that I’m currently facing. We also use this time to look ahead at the meetings we have scheduled for that day and whether we have any prep work left to do. The next few hours will either be spent in meetings, documenting requirements or reviewing User Stories that the team has been working on.
12.30pm It’s lunchtime, time to refuel and who knows, maybe play some mini-golf.
1.30pm Back from lunch and still celebrating that hole in one, I’ve got a couple of meetings scheduled for the rest of the day.
5.30pm It’s the end of the day and it has flown in. The day usually ends with a bit of casual banter with the team and discussing our plans for the evening – This was a snapshot of one day in ESW but the thing is that it’s a rare occurrence that two days are the same, with the fast pace work environment and ever-changing projects we are working on, who knows what the days following have in store?
So Darragh, tell us about the culture in ESW?
At ESW the culture is a positive one, coming in as a graduate I had a lot of questions and people are more than happy to have a catch-up and even if they don’t have the answers you are looking for, they will point you in the right direction of where to find them.
What has been your biggest challenge so far?
The biggest challenge for me was that I don’t have a technical background and at the start, I would attend meetings that may as well have been in a foreign language to me. I was given some good advice, which was to ask questions. What matters a lot is that you are interested in learning and understanding, there is no such thing as a stupid question. I’ve ensured that I am taking notes and storing them somewhere easily accessible (OneNote).
What have you enjoyed most about the programme?
I have really enjoyed the rate at which I was given responsibility, reviewing/advising on work and preparing actual client deliverables.
Has the experience so far helped define your career plan?
Yes! I have a set path now which started with the grad programme, and I am working towards becoming a product analyst, with the long-term aim of being made a product owner. As a continuously growing company ESW has provided me with a range of opportunities that I otherwise wouldn’t have encountered at a more mature company.
What advice would you give to graduates looking for their first professional role?
You have something to offer. Figure out what you have learned from your previous experience, be it work or college, let that be your strength. ESW promotes different ways of thinking, so don’t be afraid to challenge the status quo.
Applications for our 2020 Graduate Programme will close on Friday 17th January. So, if you are want to work in eCommerce – whether it’s as a developer, product manager or security engineer – ESW is the place to start!
