Switching between microbiology, management consultancy and information technology

Karen Forte runs the busy IT section of one of Ireland's big insurers, but she also helps to design courses for IT students. Olive Keogh reports

For someone who has ended up at a senior level in the IT sector, Karen Forte's background is a little unusual. She studied microbiology at Trinity College, Dublin, but then switched lanes and trained as a management consultant in information technology.

Many of the graduate recruiters she met during the university "milk runs" didn't know how to handle a microbiologist with corporate management aspirations. But Arthur Andersen (which has a policy of recruiting graduates from all backgrounds) offered her a job in its fledgling management consultancy division.

She worked first in London and then in Chicago before coming back to Andersen's Dublin office in 1980. In the mid-1980s she joined Haughey Boland as its senior IT specialist and in 1997 was headhunted by ICI Church & General to run its IT department. In 1999 ICI Church & General was acquired by the giant German insurer, Allianz.

Karen's interest in education goes back almost 20 years to when she was treasurer of the Trinity (college) Trust, which gives money to College societies and supports student activities such as field trips. She subsequently lectured part-time on Trinity's BSc in computer science and this sparked what has become a life-long interest in the connection between the IT curriculum and how it equips students for the world of work.

In the mid-1980s Karen became an external examiner for the IT department in the College of Commerce in Dublin and she also started working with the institutes of technology in Carlow, Dundalk and Athlone. She was also involved in setting up the Centre for Software Development at Dublin City University.

"My involvement has been at a variety of levels and I've really enjoyed it," she says. "I've particularly enjoyed working on course assessments and reviews. As an employer of IT graduates, I have found it very interesting to see how the institutes of technology have developed their courses and I have been able to make an input from the employer's side - a sort of reality check to balance the academic side of things.

" I am impressed by the ITs' approach. I think they are very focused organisations and they are delivering graduates with a 'can do' attitude who slot easily into the workforce."