Considering returning home to work in Ireland?

Considering returning home to work in Ireland?

Should I return home to Ireland? How many Irish people living overseas ask themselves that question on a daily basis, while missing their home, family and country?

I know I struggled with it for months before I made the final decision to take the leap and return
home.

The move posed many questions: Do I wait for an offer before I move back, or should I wait and look for job opportunities after I return home?

What will I do if I do not get a job? Are there many job opportunities in Ireland? What is it like working in Ireland today? These are all valid questions.

After three months of contemplating, I decided it was time for me to make the move. I made the decision to wait until I returned home before
looking for jobs in Ireland. It was the right decision for me. With a plan in place, I packed up all my belongings and made the journey home.

After a month of rest and catching up with friends and family, it was time to update my CV and start circulating it. I had a great CV and my previous work experience was very good.

I thought to myself, how hard is this going to be? Surely, someone out there is going to recognise my experience and snap me up.

However, after nearly three months of getting one rejection letter after another, I began questioning the decision to return home.

Feeling very down and unsure of myself, I decided to take a different approach. I sent my CV to some recruitment agencies. Some did not reply, not even an acknowledgement letter, and some sent me the standard email reply.

I went into see one recruitment agency to speak to an expert about the job opportunities out there.

We went through my job history and what areas I was looking at. I left feeling confident that they were going to help me with my job search. I was wrong; I never heard from them again.

Another recruitment agency got in touch with me about a job opportunity they thought I would be interested in. We put my application forward and, while we were waiting on feedback, they invited me to their office to go through my CV.

When I walked in the building, I knew this recruitment agency was different. There was a very happy vibe and atmosphere. The people around me were very friendly and I felt my confidence grow instantly.

Initially, I thought I was meeting one of the agency’s recruiters to discuss job opportunities and career paths. To my surprise, it was one of the owners of the recruitment agency. I felt like I wasn’t being ignored anymore.

After sitting down across the table from this woman for just a few minutes, I knew I was in good hands. She knew exactly what kind of job opportunities I was looking for, what my needs where, and what was important to me. All of my fears and worries washed away. If anyone was going to get me a job, it was going to be her.

She stepped out of the room for a few minutes and returned with a smile on her face. The words that came out of her mouth nearly threw me to
the floor: ‘Maureen, we would like to offer you a position here with us as a recruiter’.

Unable to believe what just happened, I asked her to repeat what she had said!

I left the office feeling on top of the world. I went in with the perception that this was going to be just another recruitment agency going through the process, and I walked out with a job offer.

When I asked why, she simply said ‘because I can see something special in you’.

She could see how hard I worked in previous jobs, how I had excelled, and she wanted someone like me working for her recruitment agency.

She not only took my career aspirations seriously, she could see my experience and skillset and suggest a career path I had never considered
before. That is what HERO Recruitment is all about.

She knew I was suited to recruitment. Five months later, I am still working for the recruitment agency and am loving it!

There are a few lessons in this story that are important to pass on to people returning home to work in Ireland, and to those struggling to
find employment: Never give up, the right job opportunity is out there for you, and it may not be the job that you thought you would ever see yourself doing.

Find that one person that believes in you and that is as invested in your future as you are. That one person that is going to be in your corner and do everything in their power to help you find that right job. Finding the right recruitment agency is nearly as important as the right job.

Never settle for second best, this is your future.