Lots of opportunities available at the moment– a great way to gain experience while biding time on the dreary job market! And of course interning or volunteering simply is great fun and a way to see the workaday side of arts management.
Current opportunities on offer include:
Ulster Bank Dublin Theatre Festival
arts management ireland 
Yeah working for free is great fun. I think The directors of these organisation should give up their salaries too so they can join the fun!
Interning is a part of any other sector of business or industry– why should the arts be excluded?
I set myself up in my career by volunteering at some great events and meeting the kind of people I’m now working with. It should never be underestimated and keeps the arts afloat…
I think the problem lies in the fact that graduates from arts management courses have already spent 4 years or 5 if they have gone on to MA studying and interning. You intern in both DLIADT and UCD. After you have run up four years of debt and having also completed a placement at the very least,most would volunteer beyond their placement, it is extremely frustrating to be constantly turned away from jobs due to lack of experience. And if you have to pay bills interning after University is not an option. A lot of jobs in Ireland, especially entry level jobs, that are advertised in the arts sector have completely unrealistic expectations of candidates. I ended up emigrating to start my career and found it easier to at least get in the door abroad.
Hi Brian and Aisling, thanks for your comments. It’s been a tough market this year and last, and the longer hiring freezes continue, the tougher it gets, as the number of qualified (and over-qualified) applicants for any one position increases.
However having worked with UCD’s MA arts management programme since 2003, I would note that there is no one ‘path’ of MA graduates, either incoming or outgoing! Some of our students come straight out of undergrad, others are planning a career change after years in another industry, and still others come back to university after a few years in entry-level positions in the hope of breaking through to higher levels of management. And once finished, many students land positions soon after graduating, others take more time, and inevitably some choose to change track entirely. Like most graduate programmes, there is no direct correlation between degree and job, and once on the market, the best one can do is try to improve the CV, gain experience where possible, network, and think creatively about opportunities.
I would still argue that interning/volunteering is an essential activity for those new on the job market or with less experience. It may not be possible full time, but there’s always evenings, part time and weekends. Like other professions that are highly desirable yet competitive (such as publishing, radio/television work, etc) internships/volunteering are seen as a crucial step.
In these parts we are always conscious and concerned about experiences on the job market, and certainly one key reason for starting this blog was to find a wider distribution channel for the opportunities and information which comes across my desk(top). So all of these comments and personal observations are very welcome…