What is your career background? 

I joined the council in May 2019 after a recruitment drive. My background was in HR in the private sector. I started off in the housing department, which was not my background but I enjoyed it and really like providing support to people. In August 2020, I moved to HR here when a vacancy arose in that department.

What does your role involve? 

A lot of my work is administration, doing the groundwork, processing information and data. Depending on your department, there can be opportunity to contribute to policy development, changing how we do things, helping transform processes, etc. I feel I bring a new perspective to the team and can support my colleagues to adapt to new ways of doing things. 

I deal with recruitment and bringing people into council. We do the admin side of interviews, dealing with the paperwork, running competitions, and taking in applications. 

What are the most rewarding things about working for a local authority?

For me, in HR, the most rewarding thing is seeing people flourish in their roles and contributing to making Limerick a great place. The council is a large organisation so I like to help and support people as they settle in to their roles and let them know they have support and they are valued. 

My family are very proud Limerick people and working for the council gives me the opportunity to work for people of Limerick. 

Why should someone consider a career with a local authority?

If job satisfaction and a good work-life balance is important to you, I would highly recommend it.

For me, job security is important and there are a lot of career opportunities in the local authority and wider public sector if you put your mind to it. 

I love the aspect of representing my county and contributing to seeing Limerick do well. You also have the opportunity to work where you grew up or do a secondment in another local authority elsewhere and there are opportunities to take leave for career or family reasons, which is nice.