Graduate discusses benefits of studying a language

Name: Jason Meenaghan

From: Belmullet, Mayo

Secondary school: St Brendan’s College Secondary School in Belmullet

College Course: Forestry, UCD

Started in Fyffes: August, 2016

Title: International graduate management programme

I chose a degree in forestry as I love the outdoors and working within the agri-sector. I also chose to study Mandarin Chinese as I always wanted to become fluent in the language but also because I was a mature student returning to college and I needed to be able to stand out from the crowd when graduation came around.

I graduated from University College Dublin (2016) with an honours degree in forestry and Mandarin Chinese. During my time in UCD, I undertook a study abroad semester at Michigan State University, along with a 20-week forestry work experience as a student researcher with the University of California, Berkeley, for which I won the ASA/AIB professional work experience PWE scholarship.

Fyffes

I started working for Fyffes in August 2016 as part of its international graduate management programme. After spending four years studying forestry with Mandarin, I am now delighted to be working for such a diverse and exciting company like Fyffes. It’s the best of both worlds – I get to work both inside in an office environment and outdoors as well.

Secondly, the opportunity to travel and experience other cultures is what I consider my dream job.

To date, I have spent six months in the Tropics (from Belize to Costa Rica, Ecuador and Peru) working on both banana and pineapple farms. I learned the production side of the business and I found it very similar to any crop production such as trees.

My degree in forestry strengthened my fundamental understanding of the scientific growth cycles of these plants – and any other plant for that matter.

Jason enjoys the travel opportunities with Fyffes.

From there, I returned to Ireland and the UK, where I spent six months in the ripening and distribution centres in Dublin, Coventry, Basingstoke, and Boston. I learnt how to ripen fruit and the logistics behind getting the fruit to your local store at the perfect colour and in the perfect condition. In essence, I saw and experienced fruit production from seed to shop shelf.

For the past five months, I have been based in Tianjin, China, where I’m putting all of my training and knowledge into practice as we expand the business throughout the country. My role as trainee operations manager is to oversee the training of new staff and the day-to-day running of the ripening and distribution centres.

Jason would encourage those who are considering a career in the agricultural sector, to study a language.

I plan to move to Shanghai in the coming months to manage our new facility there. I found the Chinese people to be very welcoming and, like any culture, if you put the effort in, they very much appreciate it.

So far, my experience of Fyffes and China has been challenging but rewarding – I’m struggling along with the language but learning everyday to expand my vocabulary, which is just part of it.

If I could give one tip to school-leavers and current undergrads considering a career in the agricultural sector, it would be to study a language throughout your degree. It will open up so many avenues when you graduate.

If you are interested in applying for the Fyffes Graduate Programme, you can do so by connecting with the company on their Corperate Linkdin page. Updates on the programme and how to apply will be available here.

Would you become a farm manager?

Graduate profile