WPP unpaid work or Emigrate?

Zoolander1

Hi lads.
Little bit of my background first.....living in Cork right now and went to NUI Galway.

Graduated with a civil degree a couple of years ago. Work experience so far consists of:
1. few months in a civil consultancy but nothing major. Mainly helping with drawings.
2. 14 months in a planning office in Galway, not really related to degree, but was doing cad drawings, designs, planning applications, site visits etc.

Lost the job a few months back and after numerous failed attempts at getting work recently, I am weighing up my options.

Basically have a few of these WPP unpaid work placements in the pipeline, more related to civil work(roads,water/wastewater) which would go for 9 months. The fact it's unpaid isnt an issue right now, to be honest the thought of getting up in the morning with work to do is enough. I'm thinking I'll probably have to head to Oz/New Zealand/Canada/UK at some point but am worried about my lack of civil experience when looking for work over there.

So what do you lads think?

Would I be better placed with an extra 9 months civil work on my CV when heading abroad for civil jobs(or if something came up here which is unlikely...:pac:) or should I just take the plunge and emigrate in the hope I find the right type of job somewhere else?

Any response greatly appreciated, cheers....:).

CatFromHue

its a tricky one but if the wpp placements are in areas you'd like to work and more importantly if you take one and are getting good experience then id take the wpp.

it would put you in a stronger position when applying for other jobs as you'd have a bit of experience.

if you do take a wpp and arent getting good experience and its costing you too much (travel etc) that is a different story.

there is nothing to stop you still looking for jobs when on the wpp placement either.

bosswinger

I would go for the WWP especially if you aren't keen on emigrating (you may or may not be). At the end of the 9 months there may be paid work for you (you never know :rolleyes: ). If not at least you can say you gave Ireland a try, you have 9 months more experience then if you didn't do it to have on your CV for OZ/NZ/Canada/UK and it been for no money shows an interest which is good. Then again if you like the idea of emigrating and can find paid work, go for it.

Zoolander1

Appreciate the responses.......:)

At this point I'm not really sure what area(s) I would like to go down, I dabbled in a couple of different areas on work experience before I got the job in the planning office, even did a bit of structural which I enjoyed at the time. I took that job mainly out of convenience even though I kinda knew it wouldn't be long-term.

As for emigration, I'm thinking it will come to that whether I go for the WPP thing or not to be honest. I'm already prepared for that - it would just be a case of delaying the inevitable while getting more experience as most civil/structural jobs in Ireland seem to require alot of experience.

As you say, you can continue applying for jobs while doing the placement and leave at any time which is handy.

Cheers.

david4791

Hello Zoolander1,
I'm qualified with 13 years post grad experience trying advise you here. I would strongly advise on getting as much relevant work experience in Eire, even it's for free (getting an internship you get the social welfare). Get at least two more years work experience, if you go overseas with the experience you have you'll be on poor money with large overheads vis a vis rent, flights and city living costs.
In two years time you will be well placed to get a decent salary overseas.
Ciao

breadmonkey

I don't see the point in sticking around working for free just to get extra experience. If you feel that emigration is inevitable, which it probably is, then why not just leave asap and begin a career overseas? Sure, it might be slightly harder with your current level of experience but I'm sure you can find something if you relocate wisely.