A real team effort, Paddy Ryder explains about Covid Interns

Young Entrepreneur Paddy Ryder talks about his experiences and seeing business as a team effort in establishing COVID Interns.

Across the globe, businesses have had to come to a halt due to the global pandemic of COVID-19. However, a group of young Irish entrepreneurs have taken the initiative to support the next generation of workers by creating COVID Interns.

COVID Interns is a nonprofit that aims to connect small Irish businesses facing the strain of COVID-19, with volunteer university students and graduates aiming to gain experience.

We spoke with one of its founders Paddy Ryder, a recent graduate of Global Business from Trinity College Dublin, who along with fellow graduates Rob Muldowney and Andrew Kilgallen have decided to create something truly positive during the pandemic.

Paddy Ryder explains about COVID Interns

On his background, Paddy grew up in Limerick, attending the prestigious Glenstal Abbey college, an experience which he looks back on fondly. “It was a unique experience moving out of home and living in a castle beside an active Monastery!” he said.

Paddy reflected on his youth, and how moving to Limerick Tutorial College in his fifth year of secondary school, taught him the necessary tools to kick start a successful business. “I learned a lot about work ethic and time management. From there I went to study Global Business at Trinity College Dublin, and next year I am heading to study a master’s in Finance and Accounting at Imperial College London”.

Paddy believes it was the positive experiences during his youth, which has enabled him to grow into the entrepreneurial role he occupies today. “ I have been fortunate that during my time in Glenstal I’ve made some close friends and got to experience some time abroad. I guess I decided to study Global business specifically to learn about different cultures and have an international flavour to my degree”.

Moving off his background, Paddy spoke about his last 12 months, which has brought him a great deal of success due to hard work. “

I have tried to keep myself busy and balance study with involvements outside the classroom. For instance, I got to teach a class of thirty analysts within the Trinity student Management fund. I was also selected to sit on the board of the Irish Graduates Network (IGN). Other than that it was brilliant to get involved with Movember as the Trinity student ambassador”.

In terms of changes he would’ve made to his year, he regretted searching for a summer internship, as any possibility of one was interrupted by the pandemic.

Despite this, he believes everything happens for a reason. “ There is a silver lining to everything and by my internship plans falling through, I stumbled across the idea for COVID interns! As a result, I think we have had a far greater impact, successfully helping out many small Irish businesses that were in need of help”.

In terms of managing the imposed lockdown, Paddy has spent the time trying to structure his days, having the perfect mix of business and leisure. “Day today is a mixture of emails and calls to get a flavour of what a business is looking for. I also add new CVs to our databases each day and manage the LinkedIn channel. Outside of that, I am getting down to Lahinch for the occasional game of golf which is great, and enjoying some family time”.

COVID Interns for Paddy and his partners is a passion project. Paddy digressed upon how it is a means to help businesses and students whose working life has been disrupted by COVID-19.

“There was a huge amount of businesses who had to endure immense disruption. In some cases, revenue completely dried up. This coupled with the sheer volume of students who had internship or travel plans impeded have us to drive to help businesses yet offer students the chance to gain relevant experience”.

For the three up and coming entrepreneurs, COVID Interns enables them to act as a helping hand and mediator between both business and potential employee. “The ability to act as a central cog between students and businesses that they otherwise might not have known about. Managing a dual side marketplace means we have plenty of opportunities to form partnerships”.

Despite the immense amount he has achieved, Paddy has remained humble, finishing our conversation by commending his business partners. “ Rob and Andrew have been fantastic. It is a real team effort in terms of responsibilities being given out”.

If you would like to learn more about COVID Interns, information can be found at www.covidintern.com or by email, Covidinterns@gmail.com or can be accessed on LinkedIn using the name “COVID Interns”.

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