Career decision

LegacyUser

Im 23 and I have been working in the IT industry in dublin for 6 months now and my contract is due to expire in 3 months, there is now an opportunity to move up a level in the company and my boss thinks i should take it. However. My girlfriend and I have been planning on moving to galway in April because basically we have had enough of dublin and want to move for at least half a year to see what its like to live there as we both love the city. I know id be happier there in general as im a surfer and would be relatively close to some good spots outside galway.

My question is should i be worried about leaving my developing career here in dublin or should i just follow my heart, im only 23 so im relatively young but i just feel a bit torn at the moment, especially seeing as there doesnt seem to be many suitable IT jobs for me in galway, and all my friends are starting to settle down and thinking about buying houses etc, any advice would be greatly appreciated

cornbb

Galway's a great spot but you're correct, there are feck all IT jobs here. A classmate of mine moved up here in october after we finished our masters, he ended up working in a record store and eventually moved back home after he couldn't find IT work.

However, I wouldn't worry at all about "settling down", making tons of money etc. There's a different pace of life out here and you and your girlfriend would love it. I guess you are taking a bit of a risk, but if you leave your current job it hardly amounts to throwing away decades worth of experience.

But, if you do want to work in IT in Galway, I would strongly advise you find work BEFORE you commit to making the move or you could be disappointed.

Black Swan

Have a friend in human resources. She says, don't leave your job until you have a job. She would probably suggest to you that you take the Dub promotion, but at the same time keep looking for a job in Galway. Make the move when you have one, but not before. You could perhaps enlist the services of a job placement firm that knows IT to help you find that Galway job?

Heyes

Blue_Lagoon wrote:

Have a friend in human resources. She says, don't leave your job until you have a job. She would probably suggest to you that you take the Dub promotion, but at the same time keep looking for a job in Galway. Make the move when you have one, but not before. You could perhaps enlist the services of a job placement firm that knows IT to help you find that Galway job?

Would have to agree 100%

Marksie

Blue_Lagoon wrote:

She says, don't leave your job until you have a job. She would probably suggest to you that you take the Dub promotion, but at the same time keep looking for a job in Galway. Make the move when you have one, but not before. You could perhaps enlist the services of a job placement firm that knows IT to help you find that Galway job?

quoted for truth. Good post blue_lagoon.

Additionally, If there are no IT jobs, is there anything else you could do?

You are only 23 Retraining and finding a different career altogether is a distinct possibility, even setting your own business up perhaps. I know one guy who gave up a job to become a gilley in Kerry, combining his love of fishing with his knolwedge of the local area to ferry tourists around to "hotspots".
He took his hobby and made a business of it. Is there a possibility there for you?

LegacyUser

'Yeah thats the thing, im not HUGELY bothered about not getting an IT placement, of course im going to try but i think its more of a try something new idea than 'furthering my career', i know i will easily be able to get a job if i move back to dublin'

Marksie

whattodo? wrote:

'Yeah thats the thing, im not HUGELY bothered about not getting an IT placement, of course im going to try but i think its more of a try something new idea than 'furthering my career', i know i will easily be able to get a job if i move back to dublin'

Well, if you both can live on what you earn and you do want to try something different..go for it. As you say you can always get a job in Dublin. LOL you could become a surfer dude to the tourists

kowloon

Get the promotion, at the very least it'll look good on your CV.
Then try to get to Galway, if it goes bad you can always come home, call it a mistake and pick up the pieces, if you dont go you'll regret it.

OliviaM

It is wise to follow your heart(the things you wanna do etc.) but it would be wiser to follow your head. Your future has started.

Miguel_Sanchez

I say move. Just go with the flow. You're only 23, you will enjoy Galway - it's a great town to live in. You've obviously educated so should find a decent enough job in Galway - maybe not in IT but you'll get one somewhere.

You can always come back to Dublin in a year or two and restart your IT career.

Believe me when you are all settled down you'll look back at this time and say 'I'm glad I moved and enjoyed myself for a while while I was still young with little or no responsibility'.

Feck this settling down before you're even in your mid-20's. People are too much in a rush. Enjoy yourself for a while.

Jivin Turkey

Take the promotion, work at it for three months and then head down to Galway. Surely you and your girlfriend can hang around for another three months? And then you have the superior position on your CV and if questioned in the future about as to why you left so soon you can cite personal circumstances (i.e. GF at the time).

There may not be many level entry places in IT in Galway but someone with your experience may find it easier. And even if you don't want to work in IT in Galway you will find it easier if/when you return to Dublin.

Enjoy Galways is a good city.

Static M.e.

From Galway, working in Dublin in contract IT.

As previosly mentioned you really should take the promotion and work for at least 3 months. That way while you will still only have 9 months Exp it will lt will stand to you first off becuase your job title will Change and secondly because it will show new employers that you worked hard and half way through your contract they decided to Promote you! That looks great on any CV.

Another point is Galway isnt a hot spot for IT, hence me like many others working in Dublin. This is all of course circumstantial right place right time etc but I wouldn't move back to Galway without having a job to walk into. Too much competition and Galway is expensive, maybe not as expensive as Dublin but its not far off! I spend the same going out in Galway as I do Dublin.

While not talking away from your Post what kind of IT do you do? Have you applied to Cisco? they are planning to open up and office in Galway very soon. Ifs its dev\programming work I would pass my Cv around to the Different Industrial parks, espically the one in Newcastle, alot of IT/programming companies in those buildings.

Others have mentioned Stopping/changing your carear I certainly wouldn't do that you need to keep going once you start dont let yourself get out of the loop the more time you have the better. What their is alot of in Galway is factory jobs paying good money which makes them very easy to walk into and get stuck in, once you get use to the income its very hard to walk away from it. My advice is stay in Dublin go for the promotion and then look for jobs in Galway.

Moojuice

Go to Galway, you have the rest of your life to get a career together. If you dont go you will regret not going. Also I would be pretty sure that the promotion necessitates the signing of a new contract so just working for 3 months and then fecking off wont be a great career move.

23 is REALLY young in the grand scheme of things. If you put career first at that age then you could end up in the same or similar job for the next few years (5-10) to the detriment of your relationship and life. Life is not just about work, you need a good work-life balance.

AngryBadger

If you're only there 6 months I'd be inclined to go with the promotion, IT jobs seem to be like gold dust, and another few months toa year of getting some good experience and establishing yourself to some degree couldn't hurt. You may even find more lateral mobility within the company with more experience under your belt.

It's not like Galway is going anywhere...for a good 30 years of so, global warming people