Meet Ruaidhri. After leaving secondary school Ruaidhri moved to Belfast to study politics, philosophy & economics at Queen’s University Belfast. After graduating he was confused about what career path he should follow, and decided to move to London to study a graduate diploma in law. Ruaidhri didn’t enjoy studying law and decided to move back to Belfast, where he worked in the hospitality sector.

In 2016, the European Union Referendum was taking place within the UK. Ruaidhri felt passionate about this issue and joined the NI Stronger In Europe Campaign. When the referendum was finishing up, Ruaidhri was seeking other employment and was offered a position as a housing case worker in London.

A few month after moving to London, Ruaidhri was offered a job within the political advisory team of the Labour Party. Ruaidhri accepted this position as the Labour Party advisor in Northern Ireland, where he would talk to the people and make sure their voices would be heard within the UK Parliament. Ruaidhri toured around the UK with the head of the party, Jeremy Corbyn, and helped to run the Labour Party campaign against the Conservative Party in the upcoming election of 2017.

As the election was coming to an end, Ruaidhri was offered a position to work as a political advisor for the SDLP Party in Derry. He works closely with the MP Colm Eastwood to prepare for upcoming elections and to work with members of the local community.

In this episode, we discuss with Ruaidhri what it is like to work within a political party, the importance of upskilling, and how to develop your CV to kickstart your career in politics.