My Internship Part 1

You hear it said that there is nothing worse than not having the time to do the things you want to do. They want more time; time with family, time with friends, time to be alone, time to get more things done. However, I can confirm that there is nothing worse than having so much time but not enough things to fill that time.

I was unemployed and looking for a job, time was the last thing I wanted. With every day that flew by; the hours and minutes began to gather pace and shoot out from my grasp, truth be told I didn't have much use for them as they went by. How many times can you tailor your CV or Cover Letter? Apply for another job? Or contact another recruitment agent? There comes a point when your avenues become exhausted and then all you are left with is minutes and hours to fill.

My job search began with jobs that I really wanted, jobs that were appealing to me. Everyday, Google would be hit with term after term, “Marketing Jobs”, “Advertising Agencies”, “Sports Marketing in Ireland” the list was endless as I scoured jobs.ie, irishjobs.ie and perfectjobsforyou.ie, the last one doesn’t exist but I presumed it did.

Three weeks later, almost every application drew no response. Those that did, trained me on how to scan an email for that most disheartening of terms, “unfortunately”. Interviews were few and far between and I was left disappointed by the ones that did materialise. Time after time I got the sinking feeling that the experience I had built up over the previous two years, working in marketing, was so specific to that particular industry that companies could not see it as transferring to their industry. For the love of the #jobfairy please give me a chance, just throw me in for two weeks and I will prove I can do a good job.

Apparently, that is not how it works. As the weeks turned into months my search for a job became more desperate. Hope was becoming my biggest enemy. I would apply for a job and then sit back and let hope take hold. I would imagine myself in new employment, meeting my new colleagues and settling into a job that would be both rewarding and challenging at the same time. My job search was beginning to shift; jobs that had previously not caught my attention were now receiving an application. I wanted a stepping stone to something better, no matter how disinterested I was in the job.

Christmas was now looming ever larger on the horizon, the thought of doing the twelve pubs, Christmas jumper night or any random night out during the festive period was eating away at me. At no time in the year is everyone in as good a collective mood as at Christmas. How would I survive the countless conversations with friends home from abroad, all about how I still had not managed to convince an employer that I was a right fit for their company?

Then, like the star over the manger I saw a light on the horizon. Hays Recruitment were offering an internship opportunity. To be honest I did not see the word ‘internship’ all I saw was ‘opportunity’. 6 months being trained on all aspects of marketing by the best in the business. The advertisement was full of life, opportunity and sparked something in me. Before I knew it I was sitting opposite the Marketing Manager trying to convince him that I would be a great apprentice and hoping against hope that my previous experience would not prevent me from being considered.

That is where we will leave it for this week, please do come back for part 2. I guarantee a twist in the tale worthy of a Dan Brown novel. Ok not quite, but there is a twist!