At Doras, every single day you learn something different

Meet Robyn and Rebecca, they've completed their student placements at Doras this year. Working at our front desk, they've been the first point of contact for everyone who comes into our office. 

They told us what it is like to be at the heart and centre of Doras.

Tell us a bit about yourselves.

Rebecca: I am a Masters’ student in Intercultural Psychology and am completing an internship at Doras. Oh and I’m from New Zealand. I’m watching my first Munster game on the 21st of September. I have the jumper to prove it! I found a red Munster jersey, so I guess I’m a supporter now. I’m currently looking for a matching jacket for the game.

Robyn: I am from Tipperary and am doing a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Public Administration. I’ve finished my student placement experience in Doras and am now working part-time here. And I can’t wait to go with Rebecca to her first rugby game.

Did you have any expectations coming to do your placement with Doras? If so, did the work match your expectations?

Robyn: I expected that it would be very difficult, as in, that I wouldn’t understand anything, but you learn so fast and everyone is so helpful, for real. It took away any anxiety I had around starting a new job.

Rebecca: I guess my expectation was that I thought it was busy but not this busy, I didn’t realise how much I needed to know. You need to be a counsellor, a therapist. You need to know about most things and know which questions to ask the people coming in. You have to know a little about a lot of things. Every single day you learn something different.

What is the hardest part of the job?

Robyn:  We are the first person people see when they come in. If they are upset, anxious, worried, frustrated… and learning how to meet their emotions, de-escalate the situation and help them. It helps having each other.

Rebecca: The hardest part is dealing with so many emotions from lots of people during the day. When you have only one person talking to you is ok, but we have multiple people along the day, many come in distressed and we have to figure out a way to make them feel ok, so that they leave here feeling heard and feeling ok. I feel we do a good job. We explain things in a way that satisfy people and they leave feeling heard and understood.

What is the best part of the job? What has been the highlight of your time here?

Robyn: The people we work with, you know they will always be there for you. You know you can come in in 10 years’ time and the staff will welcome you warmly. The highlight, other than meeting President Higgins [at the President’s Garden Party in June], was being told Doras wanted to keep me on full-time. I was delighted with my life. If you integrate with the team is so easy to get along, they won’t let you go.

Rebecca: For me it’s the clients who come in and are just super grateful. It’s such a nice feeling, all the effort you put in is not for nothing. Feeling that you helped people, the little interactions where you get to talk to someone, talk about their food, their culture. The highlight was definitely going to the President’s house and Doras being mentioned four times by him during his speech. I felt really proud. It was a day to be alive.

What skills you think are needed to do this job?

Robyn: Patience, a lot of communications skills, resilience to cope with the stories that you hear. Also organisation skills because there are so many people coming to reception/phone at the same time. And initiative because to deal with different situations, if caseworkers are busy, we help people with some information. 

Rebecca: Definitely communication in general but specially the ability to bridge communication gaps. You have to figure out a way to say one phrase in different ways until the person understands it because of a language barrier. Also hard core problem solving and multi-tasking. Sometimes you're faced with many different versions of the same problem. You also need a high level of emotional intelligence and understanding. You need to read the room, what the person has gone through before they got here, have empathy, sensitivity and the awareness that people have lived very different life experiences than you. A lot is about having cultural sensitivity.

What have you learned?

Robyn: I’m bringing with me all those skills I mentioned, I’ve learned here how to deal with busy working environments, how to say no, to stick up for myself, how to be assertive.

Rebecca: I’ve learned that there are many levels to Irish bureaucracy, all the services and its intricacies are actually very complicated to someone who hasn’t grown up here, and that Doras’ work is very necessary.

What are your plans for the future?

Robyn: I love helping people who need it the most, so probably continue to work here part-time.  I need to finish my degree first. I just know that I want to work helping people, no matter what I do.

Rebecca: I want to work with children, maybe combining working with migrant and refugee children. That is the goal. I’ve  worked at a special needs school before and I miss that. 

Please don’t leave us!

Robyn: (laughs) Doras will always be a part of my life. I really can see it, I’ll continue here part-time, or volunteer here in the future.

Rebecca: I have my thesis for the next 6 months, so I’ll be in and out of Doras!