Do you know how bad things are in Britain?
AS AN Irish journalist about to return to his native land after over a year in England, may I offer some reflections on the English media scene?
I was a journalist in Ireland for over 20 years and gained wide experience of news and feature work there. Personal reasons brought me to England, but I was to find that the length and variety of experience in Ireland meant nothing to English employers.
While I did find editorial work with a London news agency, my efforts to gain more secure employment fell up against my lack of the NCTJ qualification.
While I am aware that this qualification may be obtained by distance learning, it seems to me to go against the whole ethos of EU mobility of labour for British employers to insist on this qualification when they cannot reasonably expect applicants from other EU states to have it.
To ask an experienced journalist to take a basic course in journalism and shorthand is surely insulting. If I could hold a job with one employer in Ireland for 18 years, there was no doubting my ability.
Yet I was to find that, despite attending many interviews, my Irish experience meant nothing, as a recruitment consultant pointed out to me.
I also was gobsmacked by how low the salaries are in British newspapers, significantly lower than in Ireland. How can someone be expected to live on £20,000 as a senior reporter, £21,000 as a sub-editor, particularly in areas near London, but even in more distant parts of the UK?
It seems to me that, despite all the anti-discrimination legislation, it is still a case of “No Irish need apply” in much of the UK media.
However, the experience wasn’t a waste, as I am returning to a better job in Ireland than the one I left.
I gained valuable experience, and received great kindness from colleagues, both British and those of other nationalities.