I just finished my last week in Dublin and have made it home. This last week was nothing special, but I had a great time. After last weekend’s trip to Paris, I wanted to take this week casually. I didn’t need to end my time abroad on some big bang. I just wanted to chill and hang out with the people I met here. I am glad that EUSA held a gathering on Wednesday, which allowed me to see people I haven’t seen since week 1. I am delighted to have had the opportunity to work with my internship, and I am sad to see it go. However, on the bright side, I can work at home and earn money. I won’t go much more into the whole experience because I will write about that in my next blog post. All I will say for now is that Dublin is a beautiful place, with a fantastic culture, and I will surely miss it.

Now, to talk about the question this week. Success is such an arduous thing to define. I am not sure I can characterize what it means to be successful in the American workplace; nevertheless, what it means to be successful in a Dublin workplace. However, I will attempt to explain what I believe being successful in the Dublin workplace means. Success in Dublin seems to be less defined than it is in America. It seems that success may come from more personal success than business success. I mean, of course, to be successful, you have to help the company succeed. However, it is not the complete meaning of success. If it was more people, they would be working overtime and using their free time to help the company succeed. It’s not like people don’t do that, but it isn’t the same here as in the States. The idea that defines success here is that you have a successful work-life balance. People want you to work hard, but at the same time, when you aren’t working, they want you to enjoy yourself. I believe that success in a Dublin workplace means getting your work done at the workplace, but when you leave, you enjoy life.

What is success specifically in the IT workplace? Using what I have defined as success in Dublin. I would consider a successful employee as one who helps out everyone who comes into IT for help. However, when they leave, they don’t worry about the problems of today and instead realize they can work on them tomorrow. To be more specific, what I view as a successful day for me. I would say I had a successful day when I set a goal of how many articles I could edit, and hopefully, I finished that goal. Even if I don’t, I leave the office not worrying about what I didn’t get done and realize I can get the extra done tomorrow. The balance of work and life is extremely important in Dublin, and I am glad to have experienced it.

The definition of success is completely different in Dublin compared to the United States. The definition of success in the States is what success you have brought to the company. If you have a great balance between work and life, that’s great. However, that is not mandatory to be considered successful in the States. If you want to be successful, how many hours did you work in the office and in your free time? Did you do something specific that helped the company make money? If you can’t answer these questions, you are not a successful employee in the States. I am exaggerating it, since it isn’t as bad as a place like South Korea. Even so, the States are much more about the business than the person.  Dublin seems to be more about the person than the business. I am glad to have experienced a different work culture and understand the meaning of a successful employee. However, I am glad to go back to working in the States. It may be because I grew up in that culture, but I like the American work culture. I feel it pushes me to work harder, and when I work harder, I do feel more personal success. This is a personal feeling, but I understand anyone who would disagree with me. In the end, success in Dublin may be completely different from what I understand, but this is what I have come to the conclusion of in my 2 months here.