gradireland Undergraduate of the Year 2023

The second gradireland Undergraduate of the Year Awards took place on the 13th of April at the Aviva stadium in Dublin. Over 150 students, graduates, employers and higher education professionals attended the event. ?

What are the gradireland Undergraduate of the Year?Awards??

The gradireland Undergraduate of the Year Awards is an annual competition that aims to find Ireland’s best undergraduates. This year the awards were, once again, held in collaboration with SHL and each award was presented with the support of one of our graduate recruitment partners. Each partner provided a fantastic prize for the winner of the category they sponsored. This year’s awards were significantly expanded on last year., with eight employer sponsors across a wide range of categories. The sponsors for this year were Aldi, TikTok, Chartered Accountants Ireland, Diageo, Jameson Irish Distillers, Fidelity International, Jacobs and Deloitte.?

The awards were set up to celebrate Ireland’s top undergraduates in categories related to career paths (such as CTO and Engineering) and personal characteristics (such as difference maker and sustainable thinking). These undergraduates have a combination of academic excellence, strong interpersonal skills and the ability to excel in a series of online tests.?

The gradireland Undergraduate of the Year Awards are the only undergraduate awards in Ireland and are increasingly valued by graduate recruiters. ?

“This event is indeed all about the students and we have been highly impressed, as has our judging panel, with the extremely high calibre of entries that we have received,” said gradireland Managing Director Gavan O'Brien .?

“Over recent months, gradireland has reached out to students, and undergraduates from institutions across the country, from a truly diverse range of backgrounds. Our objective being to ensure we have the broadest possible representation of the student population at this year’s Undergraduate of the Year Awards,” he added. ?

Undergraduates from all third level Irish institutions who satisfied the entry requirements for their chosen category were eligible to apply. The undergraduates had to complete four tests devised by SHL Talent Measurement, and up to four questions posed by the award partner. The second stage of the process was determined by the sponsor and generally included an assessment centre and an interview. Ten finalists were selected from each category and invited to attend the award ceremony.?

The awards ceremony?

The ceremony commenced with a presentation from Karen McLoughlin , Senior Solutions Architect with SHL for the employers in attendance. SHL are a global leader in science-based talent acquisition and management solutions and have been working with graduate employers for over 15 years. They provide insights and assessment tools to support in engaging, securing and developing talent. The presentation went over the selection process for award finalists, the results of the analysis conducted by SHL and what the data means for the future of graduate recruitment. ?

After the presentation, the nominees were invited into the suite. Gavan O’Brien, gradireland Managing Director, introduced the awards and lunch was served. The sponsors then presented the awards to their chosen winners.

The winners of the 2023 gradireland Undergraduate of the Year Awards were:??

• Future Business Leader Award 2023, sponsored by Aldi Ireland : Kate Henshaw , Trinity College Dublin , Sociology & Social Policy?
• Difference Maker Undergraduate of the Year Award 2023, sponsored by Chartered Accountants Ireland : Ciara O Flynn , University of Limerick , European Studies?
• Undergraduate of the Year for Innovative Sustainable Thinking Award 2023, sponsored by 德勤 : Con Maher , University College Dublin , Sustainability with Environmental Science?
• Female Undergraduate of the Year Award 2023, sponsored by Diageo : Caitlin Chee , Queen's University Belfast , Product Design Engineering?
• Undergraduate of the Year for Opportunity Through Adversity Award 2023, sponsored by Fidelity International : Aisling Maloney , University College Dublin , Marketing and Sales?
• Engineering Undergraduate of the Year Award 2023, sponsored by 嘉科工程 : Ciara Dillon , University College Dublin , Mechanical Engineering?
• Undergraduate of the Year for Innovation Award 2023, sponsored by Jameson International Graduate Programme Irish Distillers : Aisling Cleary , Atlantic Technological University , Galway, Marketing and Sales?
• Future CTO of the Year Award 2023, sponsored by TikTok : Sara Hippmann , Trinity College Dublin , Mathematics and Economics?

For more on this event and this year’s winners, please visit https://undergraduateoftheyear.ie/winners/2023 .