Not Irish Enough

Before I moved to Ireland I had just finished school, I had a good job (despite all of my whining and moaning), a car and enough money to pay all my bills (with a little left over for the occasional fun thing) and a pretty good social life. I knew that when i moved here I was giving up a lot of things, including my beloved car

But for me the hardest thing that I've had to give up is working. I have always worked, I worked my way through college, sometimes even working two jobs while a full time student. My last couple of college years I worked 40 hours a week and did 18 hours a semester. I barely had time to sleep much less anything else but i loved it. I love being busy and I love feeling like I have a purpose, and there is nothing more that makes me feel like I have a purpose than a good days work. Now being unemployed I find that its been the hardest part of my transition. I hate applying for jobs and even more than that I hate trying to find the patience to wait for call backs, or more likely the rejection letters or emails.

I understand that I left my job at one of the worst times in recent history to do so and I know that finding a job is hard for anyone, especially here in Limerick which is one of the worst hit areas in Ireland. I consider myself lucky that I have the experience and degrees that I have, both give me an advantage and the fact that I have had job interviews proves this. But something happened yesterday that as Peter Griffin says "really grinds my gears"

So a few weeks back I had an interview in Dublin for this assistant manager position. It was not convenient for me to go to this interview- 4 hours up and 4 hours back on a crowded bus in an interview suit is not my idea of a fun Tuesday. Well I went and I killed the interview- it was excellent and I was short listed for the final round of interviews. I was told that I would be contacted to head to Galway for the final interview at the head quarters of this company (which will not be named for their sake) and to await an email detailing me when and where I should head for this interview.

Well I was extremely hopeful and excited for this interview- I was exactly qualified for this job and it had a great starting salary. So I patiently (not so much) waited for several weeks for my email. James's family lit candles in the church, people asked me when the interview was. I got nothing. So after playing phone tag with the man I had my first interview with for several days I get in touch with this man, I'll call him Mr. K. So I ask Mr. K. about the details of the next interview and he says to me, well I'm sorry to inform you that you have been removed from the short list. When I asked him why this is what he had to say- (this was an exact quote) Well they told me that you are not Irish enough for this job.

Irish enough?!? what the HELL is that supposed to me? How can you be Irish enough for a job? It makes no sense and its total discrimination. I can't change the fact that I'm an American just like I can't change the fact that I'm female and short or any other thing. This company has a no discrimination policy which apparently doesn't apply to nationality. I was and am offended. When I was first told why I was denied the position I was outraged and felt like making calls to people and giving a piece of my mind, but honestly this company isn't worth another minute of my time, especially if they create an environment which breeds this kinds of thinking.

It just felt like another depressing set back on my quest for employment. But in an interesting turn of events, a job I applied for several weeks back called me this afternoon asking me to come in for an interview next week. It seems like a good company and they are opening a store here in the city. Here's to hoping that me just as I am is what they are looking for!