An Irish pub in the centre of New York is turning into an unofficial job centre for young Irish people heading to the city looking for work.
O’Casey’s Restaurant and Bar on East 42nd St, just off Fifth Avenue, is the headquarters of new support group called Failte 32, which hopes to connect new arrivals with the existing network of Irish organisations in the city.
“The first thing new arrivals do when they come here is drop off their bags at the aunt’s house, and come to the pub,” said Maurice Landers, one of Failte 32’s organisers. “It’s where we’ve traditionally got our information and part of our social fabric.”
“So when we got that point out to the Irish community, they thought, why hasn’t it been done before?”
Around 30 job-seekers turned up to the group’s first event which took place on Monday night.
The event has attracted the attention of some local TV and newspapers – intrigued no doubt by how Irish it all sounds – job advice served with a pint.
But organisers are taking their tasks seriously. And say while it’s a tough environment, they believe the jobs are out there for the J1 students who arrive. They just need to be clever and make all the connections they can create.
“It’s tough going” said Gavin O’Hanlon, 20, from Co Kilkenny, who, along with friends, has been going door-to-door with resumes looking for any kind of work. “We were out in Long Beach, and had that cleared up. We tried Manhattan yesterday for bar work, dishwashing anything. Going round door to door...but nothing going so far”.
By the end of Monday’s event, he had lined up an interview for a possible job. “The guy is a building manager, so we could end up with door work or something like that,” he said.
Things also went “really well” at the meeting for Julie Kavanagh from Terenure, a commerce student who is also in New York on the J1 visa also.
“I just got offered an internship with my friend in an international PR company for the summer. The guy just literally came up to myself and my friend and asked what we were doing in college. I said commerce and I specialise in marketing.
“And then he was like, I own a PR company, you should do an internship with me, and I said, ok - I’d love to do that cos it would be such great experience, especially here in New York. So he just said, ‘come in tomorrow, you start at one o’clock – so we’ll see how it goes.”
The owner of Casey’s Paul Hunter got the idea of setting up the organisation, after reading in a newspaper about an Irish graduate who returned home penniless after six weeks job hunting in New York.
He believed that didn’t need to happen given the number of Irish organisations in the city – and realised that many new arrivals must simply not know about the groups.
He’s offering free wifi access to any J1 students who turn up at his establishment, along with networking events
everyone wants you to work for free on an internship. That’s all perfectly good and fine if you live in the city...but when you have to pay rent of up to $700 and you are trying to pay for subway tickets, and phone calls to home, and so on...it’s very tough
15 different organisations were represented at Monday’s meeting, from long established ones like the Ancient Order of Hibernians or Emerald Isle Immigration Centre, to newer ones like the Pan-Alumni group for Irish university graduates and Irish Business Organisation New York.
Since last year, a second type of J1 visa is available for the United Stated – a one year visa for new graduates to work in their specialised area.
Finding work is even tougher for these arrivals, because they must work in the field for which they were granted a visa.
Fiona Canning, a media studies graduate from NUI Maynooth is here on one of those visas.
“It is extremely competitive and everyone wants you to work for free on an internship. That’s all perfectly good and fine if you live in the city and you have accommodation at home. But when you have to pay rent of up to $700 and you are trying to pay for subway tickets, and phone calls to home, and so on...it’s tough, very tough”
Sheila Lynott, vice-president of the Irish Business Organisation – New York says perseverance is the key. She says new arrivals should get involved with some of the organisations.
“It gets your name out there, it gets you known and it shows you are willing to get involved. The networking game does work. It has to work now – we have to help each other out. We have to make sure that Irish are getting the jobs and staying in the city and keeping it a vibrant one.”
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