Grounded by a love of teaching

NEW LIFE:Claire Redmond gave up an exciting career with Aer Lingus to pursue her love of teaching and has now turned her hand to writing with the publication of a French textbook

FOR CLAIRE Redmond, languages were always her passion, even as far back as secondary school. This, coupled with a sense of adventure and love of outdoors, led to her first career move.

“I did French and German in school and was lucky to have a choice to do both. I loved reading as well, and would always have had at least one book on the go. In career guidance class I remember being told it would be an awful loss if I didn’t consider teaching.”

Claire though followed the lead of a young teacher in the school, who had completed an arts degree. “I thought she was great and bubbly and exciting. She set a good example, so I set my sights on arts as well, taking French, English and sociology in my first year at University College Dublin and concentrating on languages after that.”

Having completed her studies in 1999, Claire saw an advertisement for a job in the reservation office in Aer Lingus and thought the role might make a nice summer diversion.

“I went for the interview, purely thinking of it as a temporary job, and got the role. I think I was one of the last group to go into the company as permanent staff. We had a great lifestyle with the workers in the office and I loved it.”

Two months in and a cabin crew position came up within the company. The working environment was good, so Claire decided to throw her hat in the ring.

“Cabin crew jobs were very hard to get at the time,” she says. “It was one of the toughest interviews I ever did in my life. For an hour, I faced several interviewers, and everything from personal grooming to emergency responses was covered.

“There were lots of ‘what would you do?’ scenarios and questions about what I could bring to the position. I got the job and did the training, which was also quite tough.

“One of the things I found challenging was that I wasn’t a particularly strong swimmer at the time and had to improve very quickly.”

What had started out as a temporary summer job was now shaping into a solid and enjoyable career for Claire, who spent the next 18 months working as a cabin crew member, mostly on European routes.

“I was very tempted to stay in Aer Lingus. I thought at the time it was a great job for a young person, very glamorous and great training. I always remember the advice the career teacher had given me though, so I applied for teacher training. I didn’t really expect to get it, but I was offered a place.”

Claire now had a decision to make. Did she leave a secure pensionable job to return to college and a somewhat more uncertain future?

“It was a case of ‘what do I do now?’ I had a huge decision. I did feel though that I wanted to pull all the strands of my life together and, for the sake of a year in college, I felt teaching might be the answer, so I went back studying full-time.

“It was very hard coming from the lifestyle I was used to, where I was abroad at least once a week and had lots of friends at work. I found in Aer Lingus there was a genuine happiness and bubbly outlook. Everyone in work tried to be in good form and it was easy to feed off that.

“Going back studying was very difficult, with little money to spend and people stressed and hassled a lot of the time. I found the whole change of climate from the world of aviation to the world of teaching the hardest aspect to adapt to.”

Completing a Higher Diploma in Education in French and English, Claire was offered work in the school where she did her teaching training, Maryfield in Drumconda.

“I was offered full-time hours straight away. In some ways I was lucky and I worked very hard. I’d like to think I did a good job on my training placement and that swung it. After two years at the school I was made permanent.”

More recently, Claire has begun to expand her career with a move into writing textbooks. The Educational Company of Ireland had contacted her over the years to review various French textbooks and suggested that Claire herself should try her hand at writing.

“I got a proposal for a French grammar book together and wrote it last summer. It’s called French Grammar Made Easy and is based on my own notes.”

The writing is something that may lead to another career change down the line. Recently, Claire completed a Masters in Education, and hasn’t ruled out a move to full-time writing in the future.

When she looks back on her career progression, from cabin crew member to teacher and now budding writer, Claire says it makes sense to her.

“I always knew I had various strands to my bow that I wanted to pull together in a career. I like going out meeting people, and I also like writing and the world of academia. So combining all those gives me more options now.

“I’m writing a sequel to the French grammar book next and I have been approached to do another academic text. I do see myself writing a novel at some point.”

What advice then would Claire give to those considering a life change?

“I think that you have to look at what your interests are and what you like doing. You have to be prepared to work hard and accept that something you want won’t come straight away.

“Very important, too, is that you have to believe in yourself. To my mind, confidence is everything. People can confuse it with arrogance, but you need that confidence to get on with life and believe in yourself.”