Get outdoors and explore a whole new suite of adventurous jobs!
As a profession, tourism delivers variety and opportunity – to travel, to meet people and to develop your career. It excels at tapping into talent, enabling gifted and enthusiastic employees to progress through the ranks.
It offers flexibility and caters to the wellbeing of those who work in the sector, often in ways that might surprise many outside it, and it places strong emphasis on developing interpersonal skills, invaluable in any sector.
Elaine O’Riordan is Senior and HR Manager at Ballyhass Adventure Group, a Co Cork-based organisation that employs 130 people in peak summer season at its two centres, near Mallow and in Coachford.
"I fell in love with the role and fell in love with the company," she recalls. "It’s not your typical nine to five." There was flexibility and scope for hobbies and family life, says O’Riordan, who has a 10-month-old son, Barra. She describes herself as "very sporty" – she has All-Ireland medals from playing camogie and ladies football for her club Milford and her county – and is a wakeboarding enthusiast.
“With increased hires, the company needed a HR department,” she says of Ballyhass’s expansion, which has coincided with her time there. “I recently completed a degree in HR at Griffith College, Cork; Ballyhass gave me the time to complete my studies.”
Having started as assistant manager, Ronan Sharpe is now general manager at Elbow Lane Brew and Smoke House in Cork city. The nano brewery and restaurant are part of the Market Lane group which, Sharpe says, excels at identifying talent and leadership skills.
“From the outset they trusted me and assigned me a mentor, Dee Munnelly, proprietor of sister restaurant Orso,” he recalls. “If ever I had a problem or a question, I could go to her at any time of the day or night.”
“My end goal every day is to make everyone leave the building happy,” he says. “It’s just something in me. I love to take care of people. I like to anticipate someone’s needs before they realise them. It is very natural to me.”
Sharpe sees tourism and hospitality as “a profession where you can climb the ladder quite quickly once you have the right attitude”.
Alex Brislane is senior wedding manager at Adare Manor, Co Limerick. Brislane cut her teeth as an events manager in transition year, running a fashion show for her school. It enthused her to such a degree that her dad researched courses that might point her in that career direction. She took his counsel and did a three-year course in event management and public relations at ATU Galway. While on work placement there she travelled to Dubai and spent time at Thomond Park, home of Munster rugby. She completed the final year of her degree in business and event management at TUS in Limerick.
Adare Manor’s management “encourage you every day”, she says. “We’re all here for that same goal. We’re a large resort and there are a lot of different teams working together.” The secret sauce here is the training, she explains. “It’s so rewarding bringing people’s visions to life and working in a happy environment.”
Think you have what it takes? For further information on the wide range of professional opportunities visit www.tourismcareers.ie.
Created in partnership with The Irish Times