The Dubliner

I am half way through a two week stay in Dublin to see my girlfriend Tory and investigate the local employment market, but more of that in a minute.

The reason I arrived in Dublin two days earlier than originally planned was sport but more accurately corporate hospitality. My school mate Richard works for Sky and lined me up a ticket to the final day of the 2006 Ryder Cup.

Europe was well ahead by the start of the final day so the spirit in the stands on the first tee was very jovial despite the heavy rain which fell on us. Play got under way and it was great to be able to see the first shot of the day for the likes of Colin Montgomery, Sergio Garcia Jim Furyk, Stuart Cink, Tiger Woods and Paul Casey.

However, we were drenched and cold and it was nearing lunch so Richard and I retreated to the luxury of the Smurfett Clubhouse for the remainder of the afternoon. My thanks extends to Richard and Sky for the opportunity to attend one of the world's great sporting events and watch most of the action on a TV in the clubhouse.

Later that evening I was reunited with Tory who had been in Wicklow for the weekend. We moved into a guesthouse in Ranelagh but that proved unsuitable, so were forced make some changes in accommodation during last week. We hired a car on Saturday morning and drove to Galway before heading through a beautiful coastal and mountainous area called Connemara. We stayed the night in Clifton in one of Ireland's hidden treasures the Quay House. This eccentric but beautiful place is decorated with big game hunting trophies - fish, tigers, zebras, birds, deer. You name it they had it all on a wall, floor or draped over a couch. It felt as though we were spending the night in the Natural History Mueseum.

Our hosts were Paddy Foyle and in the absence of his wife, Dr Bob, the 12th pug that Paddy has owned. Thankfully, I did not see any of Dr Bob's predecessors stuffed and being used as a door stopper. With some reluctance and many promises to return ourselves and tell our friends, we departed the Quay House to drive on to the Connemara National Park where we stopped to enjoy a short hike under the unseasonally blue skies, warm sun and gentle breezes of the west coast of Ireland. The journey from Galway to Clifton under grey drizzly skies was impressive enough. To return to Galway and then onto Dublin in fine weather was a pure joy.

I approached my employment search in Ireland with a reasonably open mind. Afterall Ireland has the fastest growing economy in Europe and it would be foolish not to explore opportunities here. While Ireland is undergoing considerable economic growth particularly in IT and property/construction industries, it is also experiencing very high inflation. While it offers lower corporate and personal taxation than the UK it offers proportionately lower wages due to an abundance of educated labour. That is a major part of the attraction for companies such as Google in setting up their European HQ here. Thus, despite the potential I would need to obtain a very senior role in Dublin to earn what a middle manager would earn in the London.

Having met with recruitment agents in London and Dublin I continue to be given the message that a lawyer with an MBA is essentially a lawyer. While I am not sure why that it so, it would seem that prior work experience is still more compelling to most employers than the sheer fact that I have a postgraduate business qualification from a top tier university. Of course, every recruitment agent is only interested in their commission so I take what they say with some salt. Certainly, I have had some success by applying directly to companies that manage their recruitment internally and by emphasising my business development experience.

As for sport management, I have realise that excluding from the most senior positions in the leading organisations, the financial rewards are not comensurate with the benefit of working in an industry that is personally satisfying. Therefore, I am limiting my search to a handful of sports and roles that are capable of achieving both aims. Sadly, as they are quite senior, the probablity of jagging one is greatly reduced. However, at least sport management is an industry in which an Oxford MBA carries considerable cache.

So what lies ahead....Friday night Tory and I will join Tom, the only Irishman in my MBA course and his brothers to watch Leinster play Munster at Lansdowne Road. That is rugby for the uninformed. We plan to have a quiet weekend but may try to get out of Dublin again for a day trip on the weekend. Then I return to London on Monday to attend interviews and continue the job hunt. Wish me luck.

That is it from me now. I hope you are all keeping well.

Cheers,
Doug.