WILD GEESE: EIMEAR COSTIGANProgramme director of Cape Town branch of Connect-123

THE OLD saying “in every crisis lies the seed of opportunity” is a maxim in which Eimear Cositgan has a lot of faith.

The Bray native is programme director of the Cape Town branch of Connect-123, a company that specialises in placing volunteers, interns and students in short-term programmes in select cities around the globe that enhance their future career prospects.

Established in 2006 by Steven and Lea Levy, an American and South African husband and wife team, the company has grown quickly over the past six years due to the worldwide recession that has crippled tens of thousands of other businesses during the same period.

In the boom years, the idea of taking up an internship or voluntary position abroad to aid the process of securing a future job was one most people rarely considered. However, the current lack of employment opportunities brought on by the economic downturn, has left many people looking to gain that allusive competitive edge in the jobs market.

Consequently, Costigan and her colleagues at Connect-123 have found their services increasingly in demand from people trying to get the right type of work experience for their CV.

As we sit in the company offices overlooking Table Mountain, Costigan, who has been living in Cape Town for the past three years, explains that a practice once the preserve of wealth Americans is now becoming more mainstream.

“In the past, internships and volunteering in developing countries were mostly undertaken by young Americans. While they are still in the majority, we are seeing a bigger uptake of our programmes among people in their early 20s from countries in Europe. We have benefited from the lack of job opportunities available to them back home.

“Our approach is to create a win-win situation for the local employers and our clients, who typically stay for about three months. We take great care in placing them with organisations that match their needs, and vice versa – there has to be value added from both sides,” explains the 34-year-old.

While the uptake from Irish people is still low – only a dozen people from Ireland have participated to date – this year Connect-123 has more than 200 people taking part in healthcare, business and human rights programmes in Cape Town.

In total, 350 people are participating globally, with those not travelling to Cape Town spending time in newly opened programmes in Dublin, Buenos Aires, Barcelona and Shanghai.

Prior to travelling to Cape Town in early 2009 to set up home with her South African husband-to-be, Charlie Moore, Costigan worked as a marketing manager for the US multinational Alltech, which she had joined in 2003.

Costigan’s job description meant there was regular travel to the Mediterranean countries, France, Spain, Italy and Portugal to develop the company’s client base and service their needs.

The experience she gained there and from screening potential candidates for Connect-123 programmes gives Costigan a unique insight into how Ireland’s new wave of emigrants can make a success of their lives abroad.

“From our experience, those interns and volunteers who adapt well to their new environments are the ones who display two things: flexibility and a sense of humour. When you travel to a different country, you’ve got to be able to laugh at the mistakes you make.

“Immigrating in itself is a serious business, but that does not mean you have to take yourself too seriously. Humour is often the best way to deal with the inevitable culture shock that most people encounter. Being able to laugh at oneself is not a sign of weakness, it is quiet the contrary,” she maintains.

Another reality people have to be prepared to accept, believes Costigan, is that life can be difficult when you move to a new country at first and the best way to guard against this is to not be too rigid in your outlook.

“Things aren’t going to go your way all the time. Indeed they are often stacked against you. So you have to be flexible if you are going to adapt to the new environment, jobs market and cultures you encounter. It’s all about taking the opportunities that present themselves rather than holding out for a better job,” she explains.

From her own perspective, planning in advance before she moved to Cape Town was a crucial step that made the transition to Costigan’s new life a lot easier than it could have been.

“Don’t assume that getting things like visas are straight forward, because very often they require a lot of leg work. If you are coming to a country as an entrepreneur, get professional advice in terms of how to set up a business there.

“Networking before you travel is also very important, and looking for a job that connects you to your new home town is a real bonus,” she says.

In terms of things one should avoid doing, Costigan advises that people refrain from bad-mouthing the country they have just left, as it displays a lack of confidence that people pick up on very easily.

“Trying to bolster your own decision to leave by denigrating those who have stayed behind might make you feel better, but in the long run it reflects badly on you as it is very negative.

“People make the decision to stay where they are or to leave for different reasons, so don’t assume your reasons for leaving are applicable to anyone else. For that matter, don’t assume anything when moving to a new country. To do that is setting yourself up for a fall,” she concludes.