A morning spent job coaching in Kilkenny was a real eye opener. A snapshot of what’s going on in the economy at the moment. Both the employers hiring and the job seekers had very interesting stories to tell.

The employers at the event were: Glanbia, Taxback, State Street, Cyphertechs, Prochem and Morgan McKinley Recruitment. The green shots of recovery are represented in the profile of employers looking for graduates.

I met with six wonderful and completely different people – a female professional just out of maternity leave, a male professional looking for a new job after 15 years with a former employer, a female professional in the childcare sector, a female professional looking to advance her career in the psychotherapy field, a social care graduate looking to move away from contract work and into a permanent position and a man from Burma who has been living in Ireland for 11 years.

Once again from our conversations, I am convinced that we all have to discover our passion for our profession. The recession has battered a lot of spirits; in order to get back into a job that fulfils us we need to spend a lot of energy and focus on the things we can control. When you discover where you want to go, then its about putting the work in. Practical work takes over, updating the CV, completing a short/mid/longer term course, attending networking events, working on interview techniques.

Through all of this we have to keep the faith – we may not see results as quickly as we want, but they will come.