Careers and Jobs

Today the newspapers announced that there are growing over the future of jobs at Kostal. This follows the news that the German manufacturer will cut working tme by 20% from February. The firm manufacters automotive electronic systems employs a total of 1,100 workers in Ireland. Downturn in global car sales has been sited as a reason for the cutbacks which will affect its two plants in Ireland – Mallow & Abbeyfeale. 29 workers are expected to be laid off this side of Christmas. There will also be shutdowns at these plants for three days in November and for three weeks over Christmas. From next February working hours at Mallow & Abbeyfeale will be reduced by 20 percent.

Citco has announced that it will cut jobs in Ireland. Employee at their IFSC offices were told that jobs will be lost from next month. Citco provides administration services primarily to non-Irish funds and the company has 1,000 employees in Ireland between Dublin and Cork. We announced earlier this year that they would be creating new jobs in Cork. What a difference 6 months makes.

Citco had planned to grow its Cork city operations and allow the location to take responsibility for a wide range of additional activities. This expansion plans were supported by IDA Ireland and were to create 150 jobs over the next 3 years. This expansion is now in doubt with the job cuts announcement.

Irish operations make up more than a quarter of Citco’s overall workforce. Generally the sector, Fund Administration, accounts for 9000 jobs in Ireland.

Tyco Sensormatic

Cork received another jobs hammer blow last week with the announcement that US electronics firm Tyco Sensormatic will be transferring 320 jobs from Ireland. The announcement was broken at a meeting last Thursday.

The Bishopstown plant produces electronic anti-theft tags used in retail. The company has seen the employee headcount shrink since 2005 when it employed just short of 500 staff.

Swissco

Other job loss in the region came with the announcement that Swissco was planning to close its operations with the loss of 150 jobs.

Cork Job Loss & Unemployment

Cork has suffered with the downturn in the economy as much as most other regions in Ireland with the number of people on the Live Register increasing by more than 4,000 between March 2007 and March 2008, a jump of 28.8%.

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Cork and Tullamore suffered sever job loss today with a double announcement. In Tullamore Boston Scientific announced that it will be closing operations with approximately 250 job losses. This is a serious blow to the midlands egion which has had its fair share of poor jobs news recently. What will be more worrying though is the fact that these jobs were in Medical Device Sector. Meanwhile in Cork there were more construction job losses with the closure of Howley Civil Engineering. This unfortunate news will see similar job loss figures.

2008 Update – 132 people losing job on a daily basis

20,392 employees have been made redundant over the fist seven moths of 2008. This equates to a 36% increase on the same period last year. DETE figures released do not make happy reading for the government or workers in Ireland. More worrying was the fact that 3,914 of the redundancies came in July which is further proof that the job market is in freefall.

What surprised me was the breakdown of these figures. Much spin has been put on the fact that the construction sector has created most redundancies but 6,531 females have been laid of which was higher than I expected. 13,861 men were affected by redundancy.

So where are the redundancy black-spots?

It is no surprise that Dublin has suffered the greatest with 7,500 of the redundancies falling in this region. This was followed by Cork with 1,853 redundancies and in excess of 1,000 in Galway and Limerick. Other counties with significant redundancies included Louth with 698, Waterford with 844 and Kildare with 940. Further north Monaghan has suffer 403 redundancies so far this year.

SIEMENS CREATES 60 NEW JOBS IN CORK

Siemens has announced the creation of 60 new high-tech jobs in Cork with the news that it is expanding its IT Solutions and Services Division. These new jobs will bring the total employed in Cork to 330. Guess it seems that Ireland is an exception for the company as they are shedding over 12,000 jobs globally.

TYPETEC CREATES 15 NEW JOBS IN DUBLIN

IT managed services company Typetec has announced that it will be creating 15 new jobs in Dublin as they plan to expand their product range. Based in D12 the company currently has a headcount of 52.

ON SEMICONDUCTOR CREATES 49 NEW JOBS IN SHANNON

Shannon has witness a bad run of negative jobs announcements recently but ON Semiconductor has bucked this trend. They have announced that they will be creating 49 new jobs in Shannon. The company designs and manufactures data and power management chips and other semiconductor components.

MENTOR GRAPHICS CREATES 35 NEW JOBS IN SHANNON

Good news for Shannon part 2. Mentor Graphics has announced that it will be creating 35 new jobs at its facility in the Shannon. The firm is in the business of Electronic Design Automation developing hardware and software for wireless communications and internet network servers and other markets. Mentor Graphics currently employs 80 staff in Shannon.

If you need help to secure one of these jobs through career coaching, cv writing service or interview coaching then look no further.

Symantec in Dublin

Symantec has announced that it will be letting 70 staff go at its Blanchardstown operations in Dublin. This is a big blow as Symantec have been a key employer in the area for a good number of years. For more information about this announcement read more …

Abtran in Cork

Abtran has announced the creation of 100 new jobs in Cork. This will bring its total headcount to over 500 in Cork. For more information about this announcement read more …

Hormann Electronics has made 138 staff redundant at its Cork facility. This is a blow to Cork and the IT/Electronics sector in the region. For more on this story ….

Retail Sector boom or over saturation?

Many experts are warning that the retail sector could be about to face some serious challenges as sales and footfall are declining BUT retail space is growing at an alarmingly high rate. It is expected that Dublin will miss out on things but other regions will struggle.

Major retail projects in Ireland

Dundrum Town Centre extension (Dublin) – 50,000 sq.m
Opera Centre (Limerick) – 37,160 sq.m
IKEA (Dublin) – 30,500 sq.m
Parkway Valley (Limerick) – 23,225 sq.m
Rockbrook, Sandyford (Dublin) – 21,467 sq.m
New Shopping Centre (Longford) – 20,000 sq.m
Brewery Centre (Waterford) – 20,000 sq.m
Academy Street SC (Cork) – 20,000 sq.m
Parkway Retail Centre (Limerick) – 19,821 sq.m
Laois Town Centre extension (Laois) – 19,680 sq.m

Retail Jobs – Cork, Limerick, Longford, Waterford, Laois & Dublin

If things pick up in the Retail Sector these locations will create a large volume of new jobs in the retail sector. What is great for potential employees in the sector is that these developments are spread across the country in Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Laois, Longford. There will also be potential new jobs in what seem to be a great success – Dundrum Town Centre. I’d say I must be the only person yet to visit it BUT my wife makes up for that.

Retail Jobs – where to find them!!

If you are looking for work in the Retail Sector we did a previous post on retail centres and jobs. Many shopping centres now advertise jobs on their own website. I know Dundrum & Blanchardstown do BUT you might check out the above developments. Otherwise there are the usual job search strategies.

CV Preparation – Preparation equals interviews

I keep banging on about how essential CV preparation is for career success. FACT: CV preparation will improve your chances of securing interviews. FACT: Cutting corners with your CV will equate to missed opportunities. I regularly meet jobseekers who will have every excuse for not preparing their CV properly. The usual suspects like time, money and know-how. Well let’s address these reasons.

CV Preparation – Know-How

I agree with this point in that most jobseeker do not understand CV writing or the principles behind and impact CV. There are many websites with unlimited information about designing a CV. Be careful though as much of this information serves the purpose of attracting you to the site and it is normally text book stuff and dated. I think we all know the type of information that should be on a CV such as personal details, education and work experience BUT it is CV Layout, CV Format and CV Content where jobseekers fall down. If you take one point away from this post it is to put yourself in the shoes of the recruiter when writing a CV. Identify what information they are looking for and ensure that this is evident on the 1st page of your CV. There is much more to CV preparation than this but you will find some good CV advice on this site.

How much time does it take for CV Preparation?

A skilled professional could probably knock up a CV in 2-3 hours BUT for an unskilled person it can take longer. Factors such as seniority and level of experience will impact this. Most time will be spent on CV preparation such as analysing the role you are applying for and what the client wants. Then identifying how you meet these requirements. You will then have to decide on how best to construct CV Layout and CV Format. Physically writing the CV will depend on your typing skills. Remember that one CV does not fit all jobs so preparation will be required for each job you apply for. Again once you understand the principle this should not be too time consuming.

CV Preparation – How much does it cost?

Really there are too options – “no frills” and professional. Many jobseekers prepare their own CV. The cost to them is time and effort. Once prepared they can seek feedback from a variety of free resources such as friends, family, HR professional, career guidance, FAS. Will this work? Absolutely!! Many jobseekers secure new employment through a self written CV. The other route is to source a CV expert and get professional CV support. The cost will depend on the service provider BUT it may not be as much as you think. Lets just say I went out on a night out in Dublin a few weeks back and I could have easily paid for CV preparation service.