After just one short 4-day week at my new internship I’ve noticed so many differences between how an Irish work place functions in comparison to an American work place. One of the most obvious differences right off the bat is the language people use with coworkers- some would describe it as colorful (others might say at times it’s a little crude)- but the prevalence of people swearing was a little shocking to hear at first from some of my bosses. How people interact is also very different, bonds and relationships are formed quickly and things that might seem impolite, awkward, or just too personal are all seemingly fair game to discuss in an Irish office. Everyone I work with has seemed to have an equal give and take of being helpful and teasing us interns (asking us to make coffee, joking about our accents, etc.). Ive really enjoyed it though because it allowed a sense of comfort with coworkers and one of the women I report to even invited me to a concert and for drinks after!

As far as the actual internship side of things, recruitment to me was a vague concept before starting this internship and now- even though I’ve just seen the tip of the iceberg- I can really see how at times it is just complete organized chaos. Ireland recently passed a new law for data protection, GNIB, so all the files that the company I work for has have to be digitized meaning there are piles everywhere, the office we work in is small and there are often people shouting on phones to hear over each other, and the always unexpected road bumps that come with recruiting for temporary work. I got a taste of the craziness on Wednesday when I got to go to a concert for which Excel hired the bar staff for. There were supposed to be 175 bartenders to check in, point in the right direction, give wrist bands to, and assign a location. We worked hard for about 2 hours making sure everything ran smoothly and after the storm of people it was once again calm- and my boss even bought me an ice cream for helping past when I was supposed to be working. I really look forward to doing more events like the one on Wednesday and was promised that I’d be doing something similar at the Guinness Storehouse in the very near future- hows that for an Irish internship?