Lab Assistant (Former Employee) – Wexford – 21 July 2018
Very easy going place to work personal as a lab assistant. Colleagues made it all the easier. Consists mostly of students on PhD’s. Found it very easy to work within the workplace.
Kitchen Porter/Waiter (Former Employee) – County Meath – 27 March 2018
Throughout the work day I had a copious amounts of tasks. tasks including: preparation of food, serving of food to the customer, use of the cash register, cleaning up of the kitchen and also porter duties.
General Worker (Former Employee) – Fermoy, County Cork – 30 January 2018
Worked here with the FRS, The guys at the pig research facility were very welcoming and lovely people, the work was enjoyable and fun and kept me interested throughout my short stay..
Office Assistant (Former Employee) – Naas, County Kildare – 14 June 2017
Only having a brief time period, workinh for nothing it was a pleasure to work there, lovely employees working there, all of whom were extremely helpful
Principal Research Officer (Current Employee) – Fermoy, County Cork – 9 January 2017
I found Teagasc to be a fulfilling place to work. I availed of many opportunities for collaboration with other research institutions and with industry, nationally and internationally. I also availed of opportunities to develop my expertise and keep abreast of new developments. It was exciting to work with multi-disciplinary teams.
Pros
The challenge of scientific discovery, Excellent laboratory facilities.
Intern (Former Employee) – Ireland – 10 August 2015
Working in Teagasc was like exposing me to science in the real world. Job duties include lab work, field work and report writing. Co-workers and supervisors are friendly and always willing to give a listening ear. Overall, it was a great experience.
Research Assistant (Former Employee) – Cork – 13 January 2015
Typical day was using PowerSoft Login software to check if the data monitored on the Dairy farm was recording. It was important to make sure electrical energy usage was recorded every 15 minutes from the farm that the meters were installed on. Reducing Electrical energy usage on the Dairy Farm was the aim. I learned in great detail how to save energy usage on dairy Farms in Ireland. The Hardest part of the job was working from the office all the time and not being able to see what kind of system the farmer had, which made it difficult to try and make savings by just an imagine created in my head. The most enjoyable part of the job was producing the savings which can be made, produced from the Excel model I created.
IN work placement I found it to very educational and a good experience to grow as a person. It was a great advantage to see how life was in an office environment and to learn key skills that are required in an office. This office was one with extremely friendly staff and I found it very easy to fit in. I started my placement on the 14th of January 2013, the first day we were brought to Newcastle west for induction and training. The training that was involved was computer skills required for the position. There was also a meeting held to discuss the agenda for the year ahead in which the trainees sat in on to get a sense of what the organisation was all about.
I was placed in my own office with access to internet and phone line, I made sure that I was responsible with the use of both these and only used them for business purposes. In my position I was delegated to do out E-profit monitor for farmers as vital source of knowledge for where losses could be cut to improve profits and spotlight areas which could be vastly improved.
I was also involved in the nitrate directive which is a big part in agriculture at the moment. This included checking soil samples of farmers and placing them in the correct indexes. The use of soil mapping system e-REPS was used to map out farms and use of fertiliser plans for the responsible use and to estimate the correct allowance of fertiliser so as not to infringe the nitrate directive which would hinder the single farm payment which is of vital importance to farmers. Any farmer who went over there limitmore... had to apply for a derogation which I assisted them in getting so as not to incur any financial penalties. I was also involved in inspection with Ger O Sullivan to ensure that the farms had adequate storage systems for animal waste, this involved measuring slurry tanks and any other storage facilities and calculating the amount it could hold.
I took some field trips upon learning about forestry, also working with Andy Whelton on the cut foliage sector working in a nursery test site in which the experimental use of different horticultural plants and shrubs which were viewed as possible candidates for growth in our climate. We went out to plot sites to see which plants and shrubs were showing positive feedback and which ones were giving negative feedback, it showed which plants would be profitable to grow and some which would be profitable, but still had to do research on disease’s and pests control. There were experimental plots of different nutritional value for each different plant this showed the most cost effective and best fertilisers for yield to make out a framework for farmers to work off to give them the best available profits also I helped with recording the results of different plot sites working in a test area of 2 ha.
There was also in service training days allocated in which I attended and learned skills which were important for working on derogations as well as working with cross compliance. Also attending meetings with Andy Whelton on the cut foliage sector on disease and pest control, I also attended sheep beef and dairy discussion groups in which I learned how to conduct myself in groups and in a business like manner, I took notes and observed the interactions of the group.
I was also put in charge of updating a new grass measurement programme on pasture base Ireland to get a inside view of growth rates and which areas seemed to be most effective for growth, also a useful tool for the individual farmers to view which paddocks are providing the most grass, and also for assessing the best rotation plan for their paddocks.less