4 Fundamental Points to Gaining Employment in Ireland

1. Improve your job search. 4 fundamentals to increase your chances
After almost 10 years recruiting professional candidates, it is still sometimes surprising the
number of jobseekers who fail to prepare and embrace what is required in looking for a new
position.
In 2010 your job seeking efforts have become increasingly difficult as the employment
market has changed and while there are limited opportunities available, jobseekers need to
embrace the multiple strategies which can increase opportunity.
You may not require multiple plans however from my extensive experience, if you have
prepared well, you are more likely to succeed in gaining employment over those who have
not and therefore act passively.
Seve Ballesteros when talking about winning quoted the following which highlights the
importance of preparation; “To give yourself the best possible chance of playing to your potential,
you must prepare for every eventuality. That means practice.”
The following questions I hope will help you improve your ability to increase you
opportunity and chances in gaining employment
1. How can I promote myself on paper?
The first point is the big elephant in the room that I hear from candidates on a daily basis; “I
don’t like talking about myself” or “I wasn’t going to put my accomplishments on my CV...I
was waiting until I get an interview first, then I’ll tell them!” Whatever format your CV
takes, it has got to:
- highlight where you have added value in your career to date in order to stimulate a
positive response from the reader.
Put yourself in the unenviable task of a hiring manager trying to shortlist over 50 or 60
applicants for a job and identify 8 for interview. You can be assured that professionally
prepared CV’s highlighting skills and achievements relevant to the job advertised, will be
favoured
A lot of employers in Ireland are still reeling from the recession and when needing to
employ a new hire are asking - Do we hire the same level of position that we made
redundant, or do we look for candidates that can perform and have a history of adding
more value?
www.calp.ie
Raheen Limerick
T: 061 305800 M: 087 646 1968

2. To prepare look at your career history and;
- examine the roles that you have performed
- highlight any accomplishments in your CV in a highly visible and presentable fashion
- start learning how to deliver those accomplishments when asked in interviews
2. Ask yourself are you really serious about this job search
The job boards, recruiters and newspapers are not the only route to finding jobs. There is a
hidden jobs market in Ireland and it will remain a valuable job seeking tool plus is becoming
increasingly popular as a method of recruiting for all industries.
NETWORKING
Networking through online channels can be achieved through a variety of dedicated
communication sites:
- Linked In
- Discussion boards
- Blogs.
This is all part of the process of becoming informed about what is going on in companies
and industries and ensure that you are well prepared.
Networking can ensure you identify who the relevant people are in the organisation and
that you are known to them. If they don’t know you are looking and interested in joining
them, then you can’t fault them for hiring someone else. Start increasing your profile
confidentially to increase your chances.
Don’t rely on others to get your CV in front of the hiring manager. Be proactive and focused
and you’ll start getting noticed. This changes your mindset where you are in control of your
search and are solely responsible for its results.
Proactive and focused job search will create your momentum and although it alone won’t
get you a job, it will get you well on the road.
www.calp.ie
Raheen Limerick
T: 061 305800 M: 087 646 1968

3. 3. Create a CV that is different to others and my competition
If you are confident that your accomplishments, experience and education are better than
the other applicants, then it should be obvious that some or all of these are distinguishing
factors.
What if both applicants have the same level of attributes, how does a company decide?
Well one of the immeasurable factors is the person’s attitude. Hard to quantify it but if you
take all your traits and demonstrate how you know when to use those skills when required;
you have your personal advantage. Backed up with examples and results reinforces your
message.
While the CV is critical in getting you through the door and can be improved significantly by
preparing it accordingly and delivering a solid and confident performance during the
interview stages.
Interview coaching beforehand can give you confidence to deliver your answers. Best
advice for you is to KISS – Keep Interview Skills Sharp – you’ll never know when someone
will ring you on a Tuesday looking for you to meet them on a Thursday morning about a job.
If you have your interview skills current, then all you have to do is research the role and
company background. Don’t forget to look at analyst reports on companies or blogs to see
where they have got recent coverage. Employers are not impressed when someone cannot
deliver relevant company and standard interview questions during an interview. It reflects
very poorly on their preparation.
4. Create a CV that will gain enough attention to warrant a call back
Take your present CV, email it to some friends, former colleagues that work in HR and ask
them this question, if my CV came into your inbox for a job, would you;
a) Call me immediately and ask to meet me
b) Close it and go to something else.
c) Delete it, ignore it or reply with a thanks but no thanks response
HR staff, recruiters etc are there to screen CV’s to make sure only the best get through to
the hiring manager. Again, think of that hiring manager in his or her role. They are probably
working under serious pressure as they are missing a person for their team and want to hire
someone immediately.
Your task is to make it easy for the recruiter or HR manager to introduce your CV to the line
manager.
www.calp.ie
Raheen Limerick
T: 061 305800 M: 087 646 1968

4. If your CV doesn’t deliver that level of interest, then you can’t really expect good results.
Make your CV stand out to an independent person who doesn’t know you and get them to
say; “That is impressive”.
I am very aware of the many people who are out of work and feel as if they have limited job
prospects. I know it can be very annoying and frustrating to get an acknowledgement of a
CV when sent to a company. A question for you if you are in that situation; if you are
knocking on doors with the same CV for a couple of months maybe is not your experience is
the problem but how it is portraying you to a prospective employer. Even more worrying is
why are you even sending your CV to a prospective employer unless you know there is
something coming up that you can add value to?
As the saying goes, the difference between success and failure is only 6 inches which isn’t an
awful lot. Developing your plan and persisting with it are the criteria required to get
employed in Ireland now and likely to be the way going forward.
For more information on career planning and for a free CV review, contact me today:
By Joe Delaney – Professional Recruiter & Qualified Career and Life Coach
Web: www.calp.ie
Email: info@calp.ie
Phone: 353 61 305800 / 353 87 6461968
www.calp.ie
Raheen Limerick
T: 061 305800 M: 087 646 1968