Step out of your comfort zone

The future has snuck up on us and caught many of us by surprise! So why not look at the fun we could have with it instead of the stress of applying for postgrads and graduate programmes??

1. Teach abroad in countries like Thailand or China
This is a fantastic opportunity offered to degree holders across every discipline. It is an incredible way to meet new people and experience the real cultures of these countries. It is paid work and the friends you will make will be for life.

Would you mind being paid to live in a country like this?!

Or working with fantastic kids like these?

The accessibility to jobs like this is incredible with companies like USIT offering various different roles and packages. It will be an unforgettable and rewarding experience that many can only dream of.

2. Volunteer abroad
There are unlimited and various opportunities which involve volunteering abroad. They can range from orphanage projects to the Cheetah Conservation project.

Pretty cool eh?

                                                    

Take for instance the Community Development programme in South Africa. This involves skills development, learning projects, awareness projects and community outreach projects. Tours are also organised for volunteers including the full day Peninsula tour. You can immerse yourself in communities and make a difference. It wouldn't be without it's hard work but the rewards for both the people you meet and yourself would be second to none.

3. Australia/New Zealand
Still unsure about what you want to do with your life?? Why not take some time out and follow the crowd down under? Many go it alone and have the time of their lives making new friends, living completely independently on the other side of the world and experiencing the polar opposite of rain/wind/cold. The Irish don't exactly stay hidden over there so a support network can quickly be established. If you have a friend or 2 to bring along then the more the merrier but don't let a lack of willingness to travel there from friends stop you from living your life. This experience will stand to you and you might just figure out what you want to do with your life on this incredible venture.

Stay tuned for more ideas in my next entry. If you have any ideas please comment below with them!

2012!!

So here we are - 2012! The year where CHANGE will undoubtedly be the theme.



Once again I am back to filling out more graduate applications in the hope that one will provide me with some direction. I do have some good news though...

I know where I will be in June 2012...well kind of! Somewhere in America as I have been persuaded to apply for a J1 next summer. In the end I thought why not - as this is my final opportunity to apply for one as a student. In the next few weeks a destination in the USA will be decided on and the next 8 months of my life will be a little more clear. A lack of money and job security has stopped me in the past from applying sadly but don't let factors like that hinder your life as a student. Easier said then done I know but I am talking with a deep sense of regret for leaving it this late. Better late than never I guess. (Please excuse all the cliches I have just used) Check out https://www.j1online.ie/, http://www.j1.ie/ or http://www.go4less.ie/J1/j1-usa-visas.asp (the company we have chosen) before it's too late!

Hopefully!

Who knows what opportunities may present themselves or what risks will have to be taken in 2012. So for now I will leave you with a simple HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Ps. World please don't end in December 2012 as I don't want this stressful year to end with my world crashing down around me. :P

Just a quick but important quote....

"The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.” 
Don Williams, Jr. (American Novelist and Poet, b.1968)

Let's hope there is some truth to this one! :)

Christmas dinner and sleep ins....

It's time to take a short break from pondering my future and immerse myself in what really is just around the corner....

mmmmmm....

It's Christmas soon! I don't like to think about Christmas until we reach those dark December mornings but this year I gave in a little earlier.My reason might have been to distract myself from FINAL year or simply because I have taken up a festive and COLD job with Cork on Ice. Also, I may have succumbed to the Pogues and Mariah last week after one or two. Finally, I was in the presence of this Christmas miracle last week....

Holidays are coming!

Can anyone really blame me for giving in?!

The Christmas special sandwich in the student centre stood out to me the other day and now I may be slightly addicted to that turkey, cranberry and stuffing filled goodness. I really don't think there is any coming back now...

Project deadlines are nearing and the stress of applications is piling on but all of the above will continue to make the next few weeks bearable and worthwhile. Quite simply I couldn't give a hoot that I've given in early this year. Plus as my future is still very much undecided for the time being, who could possibly predict where in the world I will be resisting that Christmas feeling in November 2012. 

It's time to enjoy this time of year! Roll on the late mornings and turkey! I better go remind my mum to order it soon!

Don't forget to make a trip to Cork on Ice this year guys to have the craic this Christmas with me and feel free to entertain me on the slippery ice! ;) Check out www.corkonice.com

The confusion continues....

My life has been quite the rollercoaster in the last few weeks and yet I still haven't the foggiest idea what I want to do with my life. However I did get quite the insight into one of my options.

I progressed quite far in an application process for a very attractive graduate programme, so far that I landed myself in LONDON for an interview. Yes, I was ecstatic and proud of my progression but the thought of flying to London on my own for a very important interview frankly terrified me! Opportunities like this didn't come around too often though and I had worked hard to get to this application round so I had to take the bull by the horns and go for it!

I had done these types of interviews before but to refresh my memory, I visited websites such as http://www.measurability.ie/competency-based-interview-skills/ and http://www.brightwater.ie/career-planning/Competency-Based-Interviews.aspx (YES - that company from The Apprentice!) for help. I do wonder how people survived without the internet. Anyway, the usual STAR technique appeared everywhere and answer prep wasn't to difficult thanks to my summer placement!

Off I set at 6am in the morning in my business attire and small suitcase feeling very professional. Ironically, I bumped into some girls I knew heading to London for a birthday session and I did feel slightly jealous, but no! I was growing up so I tried to feel good about it! Found my way to the interview location (after a scary tube trip) 2 hours early so waited in Starbucks and revised my prep. I was distracted though by all the businesses and their employees rushing about around me probably working extremely long hours just to get a powerpoint perfected. Was this where I wanted to be??

My brain turned to mush after looking at this!

The interview went smoothly apart from "Can you tell me when you've convinced a senior stakeholder of an idea of yours?" to which I nearly had a heart attack in response to! I'm a student who has part-time work experience and an internship under her belt, not a professional who has dined and liased with chief executives and other senior representatives! I held my own though and no matter what the outcome, that day was a huge step for me. Yes I'm still confused but hey at least I'm trying to figure it out and possibly getting somewhere.

Security or Freedom?

As a final year business student who has very little interest in a career in accounting, tax or audit, I have found myself with little direction or help. A masters is a big fat NO for me as the life of paid full time employment during a summer placement has left me quite depressed in my life back as a broke student.

So I began my search with an open mind and anticipation. I typed marketing graduate programmes into the old reliable (Google). I was astounded at how simple this search actually was and how easy it could have been for the careers office to point me in the direction of all of these amazing graduate programs that appeared on my screen instead of endlessly promoting the famous milkround in my direction. Websites such as www.graduate-jobs.com, www.gradpool.ie and www.gradireland.com proved very fruitful.

Application and selection processes are long and draining but rightly so as potential salaries and benefits were beyond my expectations. If successful in any of these applications I could finally consider anything that was beyond my current financial constraints. The list is endless! Typically, my mind went into overdrive and it struck me that the idea of being tied to these programmes for 2-3 years terrified me. The well-known phrase 'life is too short' consistently comes to mind.

I want to travel, see the world and experience things I could never imagine. Do I sign the next three years of my life away to a company but gain invaluable experience and enjoy the feeling of financial security? Or do I live impulsively, move to Austrailia/Canada/New Zealand etc. but still crave designer shoes, a macbook and other luxury goods aswell as gaining very little experience in an area that I believe my career will eventually be in?

My brain has become mush again so I'm off to cinema to console myself with a large popcorn and the happily ever afters of Hollywood.