I’m very lucky: That’s the first thing I’ll tell most people when we talk about employment, emigration and the current economic climate.

Save for a four to six week period between my last day as a DCU summer intern on TV3’s Ireland AM and my first day in entertainment.ie, I’ve sailed straight into a career in online journalism rather seamlessly.

It’s not every intern who is assured of paid employment after six weeks, nor is it every lucky sod who manages to secure themselves a new contract with another employer within weeks of leaving.

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Sometimes people ask me how I did it. How did I manage to break through the seemingly impenetrable ‘journo’ barrier and get myself a job in the ‘doomed’ media sector: Ask any journalism student and they’ll tell you, guest speakers/lecturers waste no time in telling them those are scarce.

As I’ve said already, the automatic response to that questions is “I’m very lucky”, but lately others have been challenging me on that and I’m beginning to see where they’re coming from.

I think it’s safe to say that I’m a bit of a dreamer and idealist so I like to believe that I’ve been mystically blessed in some way, shape or form, but when I look at my CV I realise I’ve worked really hard. And so have all the friends I know who have managed to get jobs too. Maybe we have, as those observers suggested, made our own luck.

There are millions of people my age out there hoping to find the perfect job straight away, and their frustration is palpable. You probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you I was still one of them myself.

I’m happy and incredibly lucky where I am, but the search for that dream job is still on. There are elements I love in every job, but I still struggle to deal with those things that I find more difficult.

They’ll all stand to me though, in the long run. My earliest dealings with all manner of characters in our local pub lounge taught me an invaluable lesson about people. My Disney Store days instilled me with a deeper understanding of what makes a well oiled machine run. And my time in Fat Face was spent learning how the best team of people can make things happen, against all odds.

I am, and always have been, at my happiest in front of a camera. You need only read my blogs to see that I love people, and the opportunity to sit down and interview them about everything from TV and film to books and their daily lives is an absolute joy for me.

I’ve had a taste of it and been bitten by the bug but there’s little chance of me finding a full-time job doing just that right now or any time soon. I’m happy to plug away at whatever great opportunity comes my way in the mean time though: I’ve been undoubtedly blessed with the jobs I’ve had and currently have, and the more I learn, the more I believe that everything happens for a reason.

So if things on the job front don’t seem perfect right now, don’t give up hope. It’s easy for me to say, but try making things happen for yourself, because nobody else will do it for you. I’m really nothing special, I just put my head down and hope.

And sure look, you never know what’s waiting just around the corner, eh?

Featured Image via Flickr Creative Commons