There is a shortage of experienced people in these occupations in Ireland at the moment. For further information on Labour Market trends, go to our Labour Market section.
CareersPortal contains a range of resources designed to assist you to make sound, informed decisions about your career. From this site you can complete self-assessment exercises, create a career plan, develop a job search strategy, research employers, explore occupations, keep up to date with our labour market trends, discover training opportunities and watch and read career interviews of people from all walks of life in Ireland.
What's your Career?
We understand a career as a journey, not a destination. You are already on this journey, and have made decisions that have lead you to where you now are.
At various times along our career journey we reach a crossroad. We must choose (or have the opportunity to choose) which direction to move. These times can be exciting, challenging, stressful or frightning depending on circumstances and our readiness to face change.
At school I wasn’t sure what direction I wanted to take. I knew I liked to travel and enjoyed being outside so I decided to do a degree in Geography at Queen’s University Belfast. I really enjoyed that but once I finished I had that familiar feeling of not knowing what I wanted to do next.
I started a Masters in Business and soon realised that Contract Law and Accountancy didn’t do it for me so I decided to leave the course and explore a career in Education. I applied to do a teaching qualification (PGCE) and in the meantime worked for Voluntary Service Belfast, tutoring children in an after school club, to see how much I enjoyed this type of work.
During that period I also demonstrated GIS (Geographic Information System) to undergraduate students back at Queen’s University. This experience helped me make a career decision and gave me something to talk about at the (PGCE) interview.
After the PGCE I decided to explore working in the informal Education Sector rather than in a school. This led me to W5 where I currently work as Senior Educator.
Who said this? Find out here:
There are many factors to consider when the time for a change arrives.
Negative Internal factors - such as job dissatisfaction, job apathy or health issues all require you to take stock of who you are and what you want from your life.
Positive Internal factors - such as a passion to follow your dreams, ambition or simply the urge to do what you love to do, requires you to seek out ways to create the realities you desire in the world of work, and overcome whatever leglislative and practical challenges you might be faced with.
Negative External factors - such as job loss, redundancy or change of location requires you to establish a workable financial budget to sustain you until the next opportunity arises, and the skills of planning and managing a job search so that you get that opportunity as soon as possible.
Positive External factors - such as when a new position becomes available, or a promotion, or an attractive redundancy package, requires you to evaluate such opportunities in the context of your short and long term life goals, your values and your life/work balance.
Personal Career Choices
The choices you make are personal, based on your particular circumstances and the opportunities that you are aware of. Each person has a unique journey, and we present here the stories of many people in Ireland who have taken the time to share the decisions they have taken along their career journey. In these stories you will recognise circumstances similar to yours and we hope they will provide an insight into both the occupations they work at and the personal decisions and milestones that marked their journey.
This Job Is Part Of Your Career
You're on your career path whether you want to be or not. From the moment you started working, it began. The question is what you want to do with it.
How to use this Site
The resources in this site are divided into sections. Use the links in the upper left for information and resources aimed at people at particular phases of their career journey. The remainder of the resources can be found within the three main sections of the site - Career Planning, Work & Employment and Education & Training.
