Careers and Jobs

We have been posting quite a bit recently about job loss and redundancy in Ireland. I guess this is what is making the headlines in the news. One cannot argue that we are facing a tough job market. Even “Comical Ali” could not deny this (Remember him – “What tanks?”).

There are opportunities in a difficult market. They may be more difficult to find but you have to believe they are there and put in the effort to find them. More often that not those who don’t achieve don’t believe. Remember if you believe that there are no jobs out there this will be your reality.

I have been working on quite a few projects with employees affected by redundancy in the past 12-18 months and I can tell you there have been many more positive stories than negative. Quite often many participants moved on to a better place. Some actually set up their own ventures.

It is important to understand that what worked in a buoyant market may not work in a tough market. There is much Career Guidance & Advice available. You must take this on board and change your strategies until you achieve your goals.

Take the 1st step today

Let’s look at some of the common problems faced by jobseekers.

1. Can’t find the jobs!! – You need to try out other job hunting strategies.

2. Not getting called for interview!! – You need to take a critical look at your CV & Cover Letter – CV Writing Tips– Cover Letter Tips

3. Failing at interview – Change your approach to interview preparation – Interview Tips Skills

Career Coaching – Job Search Strategies from leading Career Consultant

There are many strategies to source new employment in any job Market. This article will outline some of the popular job search strategies and how to get the most out of these strategies. If you are searching for a new job then this article will help improve your efforts and results.

Online Job Boards – This is probably the most popular strategy for jobseekers to source new employment. The last decade has seen many job boards spring up as the popularity increases. The most popular job boards in Ireland include RecruitIreland, EmployIreland, IrishJobs and Monster. There are also niche job boards focusing on certain sectors including SalesJobs, AdminJobs.

How to get the best out of online job boards – Many of these sites make searching easy with job alert functions which will send you the latest relevant jobs. By all means use these tools but I recommend that you visit the site every 2/3 days anyway to do a manual search.

Newspaper Advertisements – Job advertisements in the local and national newspapers has witnessed a steady decline over the last few years with most newspapers increasing online presence with most owning the job boards. Having said this it is still important to review the national and regional papers. The most popular national newspapers include The Irish Independent on Thursday and The Irish Time on Friday.

How to get the best out of newspaper advertisements – There are no shortcuts when using newspapers and a job hunting strategy. I guess quantity is the important point here. If you are actively job hunting you need to look at the job advertisements whenever possible. Most people buy a paper each day but I would certainly recommend Irish Independent on a Thursday and Irish Times on a Friday.

Recruitment Agencies – Love them or hate them agencies play a very important function the job market placing thousands of jobseekers in new positions every year. There are approximately 400 recruitment agencies in Ireland recruiting staff across a variety of skills and industry sectors. Agencies range from the large household names to niche recruiters focusing on a particular sector or skill-set.

How to get the most out of recruitment agencies – The most important point when dealing with agencies is to identify the agencies that recruit for your skills. It can be confusing as there are 400 agencies in Ireland. Speak to friends, family or work colleagues to get recommendations. Alternatively another tip is to do a search on one of the outlined job boards and see what agencies are advertising similar jobs to those you would like. Once you have identified suitable agencies it is important to meet your recruitment consultant and build a relationship. You must also take a proactive approach and stay in touch BUT do not stalk your recruiter.

Networking – It is estimated that 50% of jobs are never advertised so if you are relying on job boards, newspapers and recruitment agencies you will not be accessing the “hidden job pool”. Networking is an excellent tool where you utilise your contacts in an effort to unearth and secure a new job.

How to get the most out of networking – Many jobseekers can find networking difficult and unnatural. It is a skill and can be learned. I recommend that you start with a familiar network such as friends, family and work colleagues as these are familiar names and faces. To extend this network you can attend work related or industry related networking opportunities. Remember

Speculative Applications – This strategy is normally at the bottom of the list because it involves the most work and feel like a waste of time. There is an element of luck but by initiating this activity you are actually creating your own luck. Speculative applications involve identify and targeting suitable companies or industry sectors that potentially require your skill-sets

How to get the most out of speculative applications – An important point with speculative applications is to start your search quite focused. Pick an ideal location and industry sector. Otherwise it can seem like a daunting task. When you approach companies try to speak with the relevant hiring manager before you email or post a CV. Remember try to target hiring or department managers directly and avoid HR.

Need a CAREER COACH or CAREER CONSULTANT? Contact Career Coach Ireland

Career Workshop in Dublin on 18th October. For more information email paul@measurability.ie. The workshop will be run by two of Ireland’s leading career coaches and costs 165.00 euro

The papers have been focusing on global financial jobs loss over the last few days with thousands more jobs lost as a result of financial sector meltdown. Back home there was also more negative job news

Hewlett Packard announced that it wants to cut 24,000 jobs globally which has increased uncertainty with its 4,000 employees in Ireland. HP employs 4,000 staff in Belfast, Dublin, Galway and Leixlip. The global job cuts will represent a 7.5% of its 178,000 global workforce. It is expected that most of these job cuts will come from EDS a recent acquisition. EDS employs 400 staff in Dublin.

250 jobs will go in Waterford with the news that buy-out talks for poultry firm Cappoquin have collapsed. This is a huge blow for the poultry industry in Ireland with the direct job loss and indirect impact on 50 producers for the firm in Munster.

Finally Tourmakeady in Co. Mayo had some bad jobs news when local firm Caideil MP Teoranta announced that it would be closing with the loss of 32 jobs.

Heed a career coach or interview coach in Ireland?

The economy is falling apart all around us and now we are being told that the future looks even bleaker than the present. Looks like Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) will fall unless our students take more courses in science, technology, engineering and maths.
I am not surprised students are not taking maths judging by recent leaving results.

From experience students education and career choices are dictated by the economy and what sectors are strongest. There was a huge surge towards IT until the dotcom bubble burst. Then the numbers of IT grads dropped dramatically to a situation were we now have a skills shortage of graduates in this area. So where did they go after IT – to Pharmaceutical of course as this was the big growth area.

I agree that we need educated graduates to fill roles and future role BUT should we be pushing students towards jobs and roles that are not the right fit for them. It is a tough one with strong arguments for both cases. Personally I meet many people daily who are miserable in their career and were pushed a particular direction by a parent, mentor or through guidance. With this in mind I would be for individuals following a suitable path and not a secure path or one with opportunities.

I would be interested to hear other views

It looks like there is more bad news for the Insurance Sector with the announcement that Axa will shed 120 jobs at its Dublin offices. This news follows a previous announcement by Hibernian that they will shed 580 jobs moving them to Bangalore in India. We brought you rumours of this Hibernian announcement a few months back.

Axa plans to shed the 120 jobs through voluntary redundancy and there may be plenty of takers as they also plan to restructure pay scales. Basically those left in the company may have to take a pay reduction. This scenario is not uncommon in this climate as a leading Estate Agent in Ireland reported the same move recently to fight of the possibility of redundancies.

Axa has seen its turnover drop drastically over the last number of years so this latest news does not surprise many commentators. Having said this for those affected the news is always hard to take.

It also looks like Northern Ireland is not safe from the current economic conditions. Toughglass in Co Down has announced 60 compulsory redundancies.

If you have been affected by redundancy – a career coach, interview coach or CV service could help you navigate these difficult times.

Looks like we have more to talk about than the bad weather today. A friend of mine has been predicting a recession for the last 10 years. And guess what the newspapers announce it is finally here. Tell us what we didn’t know!! Official reports of a recession have been agreed by most experts but what they cannot agree on is when it will pass. Anything from 2-10 years by the sounds of things.

This news was amplified with the announcement that Hibernian Insurance will let 580 jobs go in Ireland. Irelands loss is India’s gain. The bulk of these jobs will be support and back office. It now looks like the slow down is affecting other sectors outside of manufacturing and construction.

So does the slow down in the economy offer opportunities or threats to you? I guess it is what you choose. I think I will go for the opportunities. If you feel this news offers a threat then take some action – make yourself recession proof. This could mean retraining, getting a new job, moving sector. If you need help from a career coach, an interview coach or a CV professional then get that help. If you have alternative option then start taking action.

Career Coaching

I have noticed a few recruitment agencies advertising Career Coaching services online. Unlike previous years these now seems to be a formal service offerings and not just lip service to attract job hunters. For many jobseekers it may seem quite normal for a recruitment agency to offer career coaching BUT beware.

There may be genuine intent from these recruitment companies but the nature of their core business and revenue could impact any career advice. Recruitment Agencies are all about putting bums on seats. A colleague once described agencies as “glorified dating agencies”. I worked in recruitment and I believe recruitment agencies have a key role to play in the job market placing jobseekers in jobs. There could be a conflict of interest though when offering career coaching services. Ask yourself if the career coaching service is leading you down a path prompted by potential placement revenue.

If you are a jobseeker seeking career advice thread carefully. You could get an excellent career coaching service from a recruitment agency but remember there is the risk of conflict of interest.

Support through Career Coaching and a Career Coach

I just posted about a new site careersportal which offers career support for second and third level students. It is designed to help them find the right career path. So what about those of us who didn’t have good career advice and fell into the wrong careers? There is help there for you too. I will outline where you can get career support in Ireland.

Career Coaching – How can it benefit?

Career Coaching has many benefits for job-seekers. Here is a list of some of the benefits you can get from a career coach:

• Clarification of your current job/career situation
• Identify your needs
• Self discovery
• Development of new perspectives
• Conquer job uncertainty and fears
• Identify career passion
• Identify strengths
• Improve decision-making
• Hemp avoid similar mistakes
• Overcome career hurdles
• Initiate momentum and maintain focus
• Clarify direction and solutions
• Increase positive thinking
• Improve performance and results
• And of course – RESULTS!!

Career Coach – A definition

A career coach is a professional who provides jobseekers with expert career advice, career guidance, and career support. A career coach takes the role of observer and listener. A career coach looks at the now and supports goal development, plans, and action. A career coach is dedicated to providing the tools for career success.

If you need a Career Coach or are interested in finding out more about Career Coaching why not contact a leading Career Coach now. Measurability offer expert career coaching to clients across Leinster – Dublin, Meath, Louth, Kildare & Wicklow. Paul is a leading Career Coach in Ireland regularly commenting on a variety of recruitment sites and he is a career expert with Irish Independent and Sunday Tribune.

If you don’t want to pay for expert career coaching advice there are other options you can explore aside from a career coach. This post outlines some of these options

“Is Career Coaching or Interview Coaching worth the money?”

Many jobseekers ask this question when they set out on their job hunting journey. It is the million dollar question and this question can be asked about any service though.

Is a mechanic worth the money?
Is a barber worth the money?

Services are worth the money when you get a good service for the money paid. Career Coaching and Interview Coaching is no different.

A good coach can help you achieve your career goal. You have to ask yourself if this is worth paying for. If you do the research and choose a coach as you would any other service. Need a coach in the Dublin, Meath, Louth, Kildare or North Wicklow?