So since my last post many things have happened, life really has a way of speeding up rather than slowing down! I'm going to take this as a sign that I NEED to keep up on my posts while I'm away or I'll get so behind that there will be no way to keep up on all the goings on's.
On April 14th, I received and email from one of the recruiters I've been working with in Ireland. She had been sent my "CV" (Curriculum Vitae or as we would call it, my resume) she had an available position and the Radiology Manager wanted to speak with me if I was interested. Of course I said yes(!!!) and gave her all my contact information to be forwarded to the Manager. I was to receive a phone call the next day between seven and nine am. Which is early, even though I work mornings I'm not ever up at seven am. So the next day I was up at six-thirty, making sure I was ready for the call when it came. Call didn't come by seven forty-five and I headed for work. Arriving fifteen minutes early and still waiting. Nine am came and went with no phone call. I gave it until ten and ten-thirty before I sent an email to my recruiter to see if she had heard anything or if maybe the number didn't work since dialing out of the country can be a little tricky. But of course at this point I felt my hopes dropping, like my chance at the job was gone.
Let me warn you the Irish are phone call teases!! When I first got in contact with my current recruiter we arranged a time to speak on the phone and get things in order to start the job hunt. I didn't get called at the time specified and even the next time we agreed on, the call was still late. So if you ever are expecting a phone call from anyone (including myself) from Ireland...don't freak out if it's not on time. It will come eventually.
Eventually finally came around right at seven-thirty on day two (16th). I had woken up earlier than normal again to be ready for the call. However when it came I can't say I was as prepared this time and was caught with my pants down, literally. All I can say is I'm glad this was not a video chat and the man on the other line could only hear my voice. Even with only being half dressed the phone interview or "chat" as he called it went very well! I was able to understand every word he said and I was offered the job before we had even finished talked. The one thing he said that caught me was when he asked if I had a pen, he called it a stylist. Like what we use for touch screens?! Anyway all that matters is that I was offered the job, a full time position, Monday-Friday at a regional hospital!!
It was later that day that I accepted the position via email and then spent most of my morning on the phone with close friends and family sharing the exciting news!!
Since then my mom and myself moved everything out of my apartment and into storage(while we both were sick). I'm now living out of suitcases and crashing with family while I work the last two weeks at my two current jobs. In the mean time Ireland has been nice enough to give me more forms and papers to fill out for employment.
My final day at work here in the states will be May 7th and I will fly out exactly a week later on May 14th!! Landing in Dublin on the 15th. Since booking my flight I have also secured housing! Always good to know you will have a roof over your head and bed to rest in once you land in new country.
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Introductions all around
Good Morning!
For starters I want everyone to be well aware that this is my very first blog ever, I've never spent any time reading other peoples blogs and never had one of my own before. Don't hold me to a very high standard and I apologize if there is any gibberish that makes no sense or it puts you to sleep. I'm very very sorry! Hopefully that wont happen.
Since this is the introduction post I should probably give a little background on myself and why I've started a blog. This blog is meant to keep all my friends and family up to date on my daily life, travels and all other adventures I have while in Ireland.
I'm guessing a few people that will read this have been kept in the loop and know exactly where I'm from, where I've lived and why I'm going to Ireland. But of course not everyone is privy. I've spent my entire remembered life in Washington state. Only lived in two different towns in Washington. So you could say I haven't seen a whole heck of allot. Which never used to bother me and as much as I truly love Washington and the north west, I want to see more of the world. At first that meant moving two hours from home to go to college for Radiology, while in college I decided I wanted to move to another state after graduating. Then while working on a project with two of my good friends and classmates, I got the idea into my lil brain to move to Ireland and work as an xray tech. And so the story begins!!
The first step to getting to Ireland was to be approved to work there. The process of being approved is quite a long one, heads up to anyone out there that wants to work in a foreign country, it takes a lot of paper work and patience! First off I had to be approved by the Irish Institute of Radiography and Radiation Therapy ( aka IIRRT) to work as a tech. I requested an application for validation of my qualifications and soon received two large packets in the mail, form A and form B. They required extensive details on what classes I had taken, what tests and how the tests were given, my grades, our clinical experiences, any licenses I had and work experience. Not only did they require both forms to be filled out in a very specific manner but they also needed notarized copies of all my licenses, certificates, my diploma and U.S. Passport. Several letters from my instructor and the papers had to have the school stamp on them.
I started the process of the paper work before graduating in 2012, but wasn't able to submit the papers until a year later due to the fact I first had to pass my U.S. registry and receive all the documents from our government to make copies for Ireland. After submitting the packets the first time they were returned, Sent them a second time and they were returned...again. After the fourth time of resubmitting the papers with the necessary corrections or added documents they finally accepted them for review. The review process could take four to six months and lucky me it took six months for to hear back from them. But it was worth the wait since they approved my validation, making it possible for me to work in Ireland.
Since receiving my approval from Ireland things have gone from a long and painful hurry up an wait pattern to gone in 60 seconds! About a week after receiving my approval letter I applied for two jobs in Ireland, one in Galway and one in Dublin. I was contacted the next day via email from a recruiter in Dublin. Having a contact in Ireland has been a God send. He lined me up with a work visa for new graduates and helped lay out the paper trail I would have to follow. Compared to the packets of papers I had before it wasn't to bad, but figuring it out on my own would have been another story. So I was back in the position of having everything in the air, things were happening but with no set job, no 100% guarantee of a job and no set leave date it was a mix of knowing, yet not really know what was happening.
In the mean time I've had to prepare my life here in Washington for being totally turned up side down. My lease was just coming to an end, which was great timing! I'm still in the process of cleaning and packing. Had to line up a temporary place to crash once my lease has ended since I have no leave date, that was actually pretty easy. Thankful I have friends that are willing to open up their homes and lend me a couch/bed. But of course it couldn't be that easy! Not only did I need a place to stay but so does my cat, my dog, my reptiles, my newly purchased car and all the furniture I plan to keep. It has been a to do list that never ends!
I feel like this post has brought everyone from two years ago when this all started to current day and moment! There are job prospects in the works and once I have more information, like a leave date which would be nice not only for you but also for myself to know, at that point in time I will make a new post.
Cheers!!
(Gotta get used to their slang!)
For starters I want everyone to be well aware that this is my very first blog ever, I've never spent any time reading other peoples blogs and never had one of my own before. Don't hold me to a very high standard and I apologize if there is any gibberish that makes no sense or it puts you to sleep. I'm very very sorry! Hopefully that wont happen.
Since this is the introduction post I should probably give a little background on myself and why I've started a blog. This blog is meant to keep all my friends and family up to date on my daily life, travels and all other adventures I have while in Ireland.
I'm guessing a few people that will read this have been kept in the loop and know exactly where I'm from, where I've lived and why I'm going to Ireland. But of course not everyone is privy. I've spent my entire remembered life in Washington state. Only lived in two different towns in Washington. So you could say I haven't seen a whole heck of allot. Which never used to bother me and as much as I truly love Washington and the north west, I want to see more of the world. At first that meant moving two hours from home to go to college for Radiology, while in college I decided I wanted to move to another state after graduating. Then while working on a project with two of my good friends and classmates, I got the idea into my lil brain to move to Ireland and work as an xray tech. And so the story begins!!
The first step to getting to Ireland was to be approved to work there. The process of being approved is quite a long one, heads up to anyone out there that wants to work in a foreign country, it takes a lot of paper work and patience! First off I had to be approved by the Irish Institute of Radiography and Radiation Therapy ( aka IIRRT) to work as a tech. I requested an application for validation of my qualifications and soon received two large packets in the mail, form A and form B. They required extensive details on what classes I had taken, what tests and how the tests were given, my grades, our clinical experiences, any licenses I had and work experience. Not only did they require both forms to be filled out in a very specific manner but they also needed notarized copies of all my licenses, certificates, my diploma and U.S. Passport. Several letters from my instructor and the papers had to have the school stamp on them.
I started the process of the paper work before graduating in 2012, but wasn't able to submit the papers until a year later due to the fact I first had to pass my U.S. registry and receive all the documents from our government to make copies for Ireland. After submitting the packets the first time they were returned, Sent them a second time and they were returned...again. After the fourth time of resubmitting the papers with the necessary corrections or added documents they finally accepted them for review. The review process could take four to six months and lucky me it took six months for to hear back from them. But it was worth the wait since they approved my validation, making it possible for me to work in Ireland.
Since receiving my approval from Ireland things have gone from a long and painful hurry up an wait pattern to gone in 60 seconds! About a week after receiving my approval letter I applied for two jobs in Ireland, one in Galway and one in Dublin. I was contacted the next day via email from a recruiter in Dublin. Having a contact in Ireland has been a God send. He lined me up with a work visa for new graduates and helped lay out the paper trail I would have to follow. Compared to the packets of papers I had before it wasn't to bad, but figuring it out on my own would have been another story. So I was back in the position of having everything in the air, things were happening but with no set job, no 100% guarantee of a job and no set leave date it was a mix of knowing, yet not really know what was happening.
In the mean time I've had to prepare my life here in Washington for being totally turned up side down. My lease was just coming to an end, which was great timing! I'm still in the process of cleaning and packing. Had to line up a temporary place to crash once my lease has ended since I have no leave date, that was actually pretty easy. Thankful I have friends that are willing to open up their homes and lend me a couch/bed. But of course it couldn't be that easy! Not only did I need a place to stay but so does my cat, my dog, my reptiles, my newly purchased car and all the furniture I plan to keep. It has been a to do list that never ends!
I feel like this post has brought everyone from two years ago when this all started to current day and moment! There are job prospects in the works and once I have more information, like a leave date which would be nice not only for you but also for myself to know, at that point in time I will make a new post.
Cheers!!
(Gotta get used to their slang!)
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