How Macra can be good for your Career

Can our involvement in community organisations such as Macra na Feirme have a beneficial impact on our careers? Dead right it can, according to career coach Liam Horan of SliNuaCareers.com.

“The things you do in your spare time can reveal a great deal about you. They can show that you are community minded, effective within a team and committed to developing your skills and knowledge,” said Liam.

“We are not linear beings. We are not just our careers or our professions. There is so much more to us. The person we are is influenced by a wide variety of factors, and our personal lives are a huge part of that.”

How might we put it to good use? Liam offers this three-point plan to get you thinking:

1. Look at what you actually do in the community organisation. Are you the treasurer? If yes, you can justifiably claim that you are reliable – and that your peers see you as reliable. Does this suggestion you have attention to detail and financial literacy? If you happened to be seeking work in an area where attention to detail, reliability or financial literacy are useful, it is quite easy to see how you can make your involvement pay in your CV or job interviews. Are you the chairperson? That’s leadership, right there.
2. Have you led or played a significant role in any major projects in that organisation? If you’ve been the de facto project manager for renovating a clubhouse or buying ground for a sports field, that says a huge amount about you: it can be pure gold in a CV or an interview. It takes special people to manage budgetary shortfalls (aka “sure, we’re flat broke, but we’ll get there anyway…”), planning permission, local sensitives, dealings with quantity surveyors and builders, internal politics and so on to bring big projects to fruition – make the most of it in your career material.
3. Through your community involvement, can you display that you are a keen learner? What courses have you done? They could be personal or professional development – report writing, social media, public speaking and so on. Let them see you understand that every day is school day.

“The reality is that your community involvement can be powerful. But you’ve got to make them see it: you can’t expect them to act like clairvoyants and discern the relevant attributes, experience and expertise,” adds Liam.

Liam emphasises that if you want them to know that “through my involvement in Macra na Feirme, I have shown that I can lead a team, as I demonstrated when we hosted a major regional event attended by 200 Macra members from all over the province…” – you should tell them.

The onus is on you. Don’t leave good evidence off your CV or at the door when you go for interview.

 Liam Horan is Managing Director of SliNuaCareers.com, one of Ireland’s leading career training agencies. They can help you at all stages of your career, whether you need a new CV, assistance with an upcoming interview or a whole new career direction. SliNuaCareers.com offers a 15% discount to members of Macra na Feirme; just quote ‘Macra’ when engaging with them. T: +353 94 95 42965 / E: admin@slinuacareers.com.