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A UNEMPLOYED COMMERCE graduate has taken an unusual step in his efforts to find work and avoid having to leave Ireland: taking out an advertisement on a billboard advertising his availability for work.
Féilim Mac An Iomaire, 26, returned from work in Australia last August but has spent the nine last months fruitlessly seeking work in his chosen field of sales and marketing.
Now, frustrated by the absence of any approachable prospects, Mac An Iomaire has commissioned a public advertisement on a billboard on a busy road in south Dublin – hoping that the attention will help to find him a job.
The advertisement, unveiled yesterday on Merrion Road and running for two weeks, is costing Mac An Iomaire around €2,000 – the last of the savings he had built up from his time working in Australia.
“I came back from Australia last August, and since then I’ve been looking constantly, using recruiters and sending out countless cover letters and CVs,” Mac An Iomaire said. “But I’m just getting nowhere.”
The idea for the advertisement was borne out of his desire show his strength in “being able to think outside the box – something that’s hard to articulate in a CV”.
I had the money saved, so I thought: let’s run with it.
Connemara native Mac An Iomaire – who holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree – had originally moved to Australia having gotten work as a travel agent, but was let go early when the strength of the Aussie dollar meant a weaker tourist season than had been anticipated.
Having been let go a few months prematurely as a result, Féilim was then hired as an entertainment coordinator for a hotel and hostel – the first time he was able to “exercise my creative side”, he says. He had previously worked in sales, insurance and event management.
If forced to leave, Féilim says he is most likely to follow some leads offered by his friends in London; though he enjoyed working in Australia, the visa requirements for settling into a career are too cumbersome, he says.
The reception to his campaign had already been overwhelmingly positive and had created a “huge amount of goodwill”, helping him to keep his options open – but Mac An Iomaire says the clock is ticking on whether the campaign can work.
“I can give it until the end of June,” he said. “If it doesn’t work, I’m gone. That’s it.”
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And Andre Agassi had an obsessive father who made him bat at balls when he was still in his pram, then when he was 7 had a machine fire 1000 balls a day at him to return. It was all down to practice.
Except that Agassi has an elder brother who got exactly the same treatment but never won anything. You can bias a sample to prove anything you like.
True in most cases, but Mozart was no normal kid who just practiced a lot and happened to be surrounded by music , he was a prodigy.
A child is defined as a prodigy based on what they do, not on what they might do. We regularly confuse the attributes of talent, skill, knowledge and intellect. Ultimately none of these will deliver achievement without coaching/education, practice and commitment.
Agreed ben, though I’d add having an interest as an alternative to commitment, as the former drives the later in many cases.
But where talent comes in, is that some folk deliver with far less of that coaching, practice and commitment. Some people catch on to certain things far quicker, and see the big picture – and that in its own right is talent. In the same way that the best sportspeople read a game and execute a plan (with flair to back it up), so to does natural talent in the workplace spot problems before they happen, troubleshoot as they happen, or clean up efficiently after things have happened.
Certain things aren’t taught, and that’s why we speak about leaders, in every context of life.
Talent has to be there in the first place….without it practice is useless
This whole thing is a bit misleading! For most athletes they are genetically superior to your average person! A business leader I could believe but the reason top pros make it in their sport is because they stood out from the field from a very very young age! Hard work will cover some gaps but you need a certain physical structure in the first place!
Ted, look at the YouTube video I posted. You’ll change your mind! Talent, though VIP, is only one factor. Environment, access, peer influence, coaching (education) and opportunity are essential parts of the mix.
This is bullshit, the Kalenjin tribe has physical attributes that suit them to distance running. The Sports Gene gives an interesting, fact based insight into this.
Eh some people are just lucky ba$tards in life.
People can be unlucky but most successful people make their luck. They were in the gym at 6 and/or the office at 7 and do it for life!
True Story
The more you practice the luckier you get
Listen to the man and get proper insight rather than read ill informed comments. Essentially talent is only part of the requirements for success and he believes it is wrong and damaging to young people to peddle the myth that talent is the only requirement.
“it is wrong and damaging to young people to peddle the myth that talent is the only requirement.”
In that case, it’s a happy coincidence that nobody is peddling that myth.
Someone is, on the other hand, peddling a book – to people who want to hear that there’s a path to success for everyone, regardless of their aptitude.
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