So here I am again, looking for work in Marketing, somewhere. The search is leaving me despondent, to say the least. I am constantly getting hit with that “you haven’t the experience” line. That gets at me a little. I’ve been working, in one form or another, since I was 15. The only time I wasn’t working was for a year, after I finished my degree, and after the country went a little bit funny. So what did I do? I got sick of sitting on my ass, and undertook a Masters in Marketing (during which I worked part time). So what happened after that? I worked for two years, one year for myself and one year for an online deals and affiliate company. Still, I haven’t the experience, apparently. And I know what you may be thinking, am I applying for the head honchos job? No, I’m not. I want the entry level job. I want the job where I get to sit under someone and just learn, this will also give me the opportunity to gain very valuable experience. But I can’t seem to get there.

So, what do I do now? I keep on trucking. Just keep on keeping on. I’m working at the moment, not really in a job I particularly enjoy, but it’s keeping me off the dole, and that’s a queue no-one should want to be in. Don’t get me wrong, if you’re in it now, then the chances are you don’t want to be, no decent person would want to be in it. The majority of those in the queue would much rather be earning their own money. Unfortunately I know too many people at the moment who are forced into that dreaded queue through no fault of their own. The people who for years wanted to be on it should really re-evaluate their own lives, before the Government forces them to with the impending cuts and new time limits. But that’s a matter for them to mull over in their own time. Keep in mind that the people I’m referring to were in that queue while Ireland was flush with money and you could have picked a job up anywhere. You know the type, you probably even have someone in mind now, I know I do.

So anyway, job seeking and the “E” word (E standing for experience and not anything else). I feel daunted. I feel almost let down. I feel like I’m in a tunnel and can’t see the light at the end. I feel worried, but not for me. I’m still adding to my skill set, by undertaking two additional courses, at once no less. I’m learning very valuable things about the Irish consumer in my current job. I’m still looking for a more suitable job. I still have a little hope. But what about the young people. At my age I’m hardly old, and hopefully not even middle aged, but I’m also not in the 17-20 age bracket. If I’m finding it hard now, with my 8 letters after my name, my nearly 15 years of working in some job or other and my desire to keep learning, what about them, what have they? They can go to college, and I certainly hope they do, should the current circus on Kildare St. make that feasible, but what then? They’re missing the “E” word, and are going to have a damn hard time getting any “E”! I worry about the youth of Ireland. The easy answer is go abroad, but why come back? It’s almost like we’re selling out our future for short term savings.

There is such potential in Ireland. If we really wanted we could have a great little Republic. We could even have a comfortable Republic, not a rich one, but a comfortable one. But we don’t. We might, someday, but we don’t, not now anyway. It is apparent that we are happy enough to continue driving towards the cliff at 120kph. The change hasn’t come yet. We’re still sitting back and watching the same politicians make the same decisions and the same mistakes. So what does this mean for the young people, and myself included? We’ll be stuck in the same place. To get “E” we’ll need jobs, to get jobs, we’ll need investment, to get investment we’ll need a Government that can effectively drive business in Ireland and attract foreign money back to the Emerald Isle.

Think about that the next time you decide to vote for the guy who fixed the pothole on your road.