Archive for the ‘Candidates’ Category
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010
Check Your Water
When you have an interview organised, the first thing that should come to your mind will be the usual elements of preparation such as, researching the company, memorising who you are meeting and what their position is.
If you are super organised perhaps even a list of questions you may have to direct back to the interviewer!
One other vital consideration for every interview is also the most essential part of interview preparation - getting there? Aside from all the above preparations before an interview, the most essential point is the navigation!
- Do you know where the company is based?
- Do you have the building routed/ entered into your Sat Nav?
- Have you timed the journey so you will be there early?
One final consideration - Is your car in working order?! Have you checked the oil, water and the petrol?
Obvious as it sounds, these kind of blips can occur!
Tags: break down, broken down car, check your water, employer, Interview, Interview preparation, interviewer, interviewing, organise for interview, preparation, prepare, Sat Nav
Posted in Candidates, job seekers | No Comments »
Friday, March 5th, 2010
The Application
Applying for the right job is paramount in this day and age. It is an employer’s market right now so your application success depends on a variety of moves.
A few tips to point you in the right direction!
The Application
- Make sure you quote the job reference yes, but more importantly the Job Title!
- Read the Job Spec. It is imperative you are qualified to do the job - whether educationally or years experience. Some people require both! Most importantly, if you can’t do the job don’t apply for it! It really won’t be the right job for you.
- The questions. Answer the questions given at the end of the job before you click send. It saves a lot of time so be nice to the kind people receiving your application?
The Cover Sheet/ Email:
- Let the person receiving your mail know why you are applying. They really do read it, so give a small synopsis of yourself right and your working experience.
The CV
- If you are happy with it, attach it!
The Send Button
- Does exactly what it says on the tin!
Tags: application, application tips, Applying for jobs, CV, employer, job applications, job specs, Jobs, recruitment, right job, sending CVs, work, Work Experience
Posted in CV tips, Candidates, job seekers | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
Employers have the pick of the crop to choose from
In the current economic climate we find that employers have the pick of the crop when it comes to choosing candidates for their resourcing requirements.
Not in decades has there been such an opportunity for Irish employers to choose from such a wide range of superbly qualified candidates with such excellent experience and skills and as a result they are taking their time before they make their selection.
Many employers only too well remember the scarcity of skilled and qualified candidates that existed in the Ireland of less than five years ago and the relentless career and salary demands of prospective employees.
Fast forward five years and the employment landscape has changed beyond recognition.
Applicants for new positions often describe interminable periods of time waiting for feedback leading to a lack of self worth and a pronounced sense of limbo, this can erode already dwindling confidence whilst waiting and wondering-what happened??
Candidates cannot be blamed for wondering or doubting did their cv meet the criteria? Was there an ulterior reason why they have not heard back? Is the requirement real? Where they or their qualifications good enough?
Feedback is the key and all candidates certainly deserve feedback ;-even if it is negative or disappointing because at least that way they can move on to looking at the next job. Because in the current economic climate it is the persistence to overcome disappointment and the determination to succeed despite competition that will get you your next job.
Tags: apllicants, Candidates, climate, economic climate, employers, qualifications, resourcing requirements, skills
Posted in Candidates, Client, job seekers | No Comments »
Friday, February 19th, 2010
Take the time to format your CV in an accessable format.
Word is the word when applying for a job, particularly to a recruitment agency your opening shot is with your CV and the worst thing you can do is send a CV in a format that cannot be edited easily such as Pdf. Whats the difference I hear you say?
Well for a start all CV’s received by agencies (and some direct hiring companies require CV’s to be presented in a particular fashion that has to be done swiftly.
As the majority of agencies use MS Office and in particular MS Word, it means having to convert CV’s to a completely different format. But that should’nt take long you say. You’re absolutely right but tell that to the recruiter who is under pressure and has a hundred CV’s to review before lunch and edit those of use.
If you send your CV in PDF or other format, it will remain most likely untouched and unconsidered at the bottom of the electronic documents submission list. What would you prefer?
Take time about your CV but the simplest thing you can do is send it in the most easily accessable format that can be read, re formated and read by OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology used by most recruitment databases for data capture.
Give yourself at least a fighting chance for your next job.
Tags: CV, CV advice, Database, job, OCR, Optical Character Recognition, PDF, recruitment, Word
Posted in CV tips, Candidates, job seekers | No Comments »
Thursday, February 11th, 2010
From ATM to AMT (Advanced Manufacturing Technology)
Banking on it, the banking industry in Ireland today is suffering with almost 800 jobs are going in Bank of Scotland, Ireland/ Hallifax. Today people are looking elsewhere for employment prospects that offer security and good salaries.
Currently those conditions only appear to exist in either the public sector at senior clerical officer grades or within certain growth sectors in the Irish economy such as Medical Device Manufacturing or within Medical Sales. Both of these sectors are exhibiting phenomenal growth despite the current down turn.
Positions such as those for Medical Technical Sales rep, Chief Science Officer, or Senior Injection Moulding Engineer are on offer from a variety of major employers such as Vistakon, Mergon, KCI, Medtronic or HSL. All these positions offer considerable career prospects and attractive salaries that still hark back to the good old days of the early naughties.
Tags: Bank of Scotland, Chief Science Officer. Senior Injection Moulding Engineer, employers, Employment Prospects, Hallifax, Ireland, Irish Economy, KCI, Manufacture, Medical Device Manufacturing, Medical Devices, medical Technical Sales Rep, Medtronic, Mergon, Naughties, Public sector, Vistakon
Posted in Candidates, Medical Devices, Medical Jobs, News | No Comments »
Thursday, February 4th, 2010
Back to the Brain Drain of the Eighties
A New Order seems to have decended on the Irish employment front with salaries being one of the most obvious signs that things have changed in Ireland and that the Celtic Tiger is becoming more and more of a distant memory.
The New Order today for job applicants requires greater flexibility in taking on job roles that require increased duties for in most cases salaries as much as 15 to 20% less than previously paid less than two years ago and job descriptions that have expanded responsibilities which would have previously merited increased pay but now are considered mandatory and simply part of the job.
Additionally we see greater flexibility demanded of candidates required to take work further and further away from home requiring longer commutes and in some cases having to be transferred overseas to sister offices whilst the current economic conditions prevails.
Job seekers should consider this as temporary however as these were similar conditions some of our earlier readers may remember existed in the eighties when emigration was the order of the day. But that order changed too and then came the boom of the mid nineties bringing us to the recent present.
The key point to remember is things do change no matter how bleak or omnipresent that they can appear. Our current downturn will change but it requires willingness to accept change to current or previous existing terms and flexibility to continue working in order to survive the harsh conditions we must go through today to meet the eventual upturn of tomorrow.
Tags: Candidates, Celtic Tiger, commute, downturn, economic conditions, eighties, emigrate, employment, flexibility, future, Irish, job, job applicants, job descriptions, job roles, job seekers, New Order, nineties, overseas, pay, Salaries, upturn
Posted in Candidates, News, Redundancy, job seekers | No Comments »
Friday, January 15th, 2010
Use Word for your CV
For job seekers out there currently in the market, please remember to use only a Word.doc version of your CV to send to Recruitment Agencies.
Word is the most commonly used format and can be edited, changed and read easily.
Client Companies also do not like CV’s to be submitted in any other format than Word.
Other formats eg JPeg or PDF do not look as well, do not copy or edit as well and can take up alot of time to translate back in to Word.
If it’s not in Word format, your CV will not get the full attention it should as it will go down the priority list over someone else’s who’s CV is in Word and is good to go.
If you are looking for a job - only send your CV in a Word.doc format so it will get immediate attention and be more appealing to a Client Company
Tags: applying for a job, Curriculum Vitae, CV, CV format, jobs seekers, Word CV's, Word.doc
Posted in CV tips, Candidates, Medical Recruitment, Recruitment Agencies, job seekers, recruitment practice | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 13th, 2010
Take the time to listen and to talk
It pays to be nice! Simple manners go a long way when dealing with people you meet in recruitment. How often have you found yourself in a situation where you helped a person not seeking a reward but for the simple pleasure of being nice or to help a person out of a difficult situation. Being nice pays! This might appear disingenuous but in recruitment potential and opportunity are closely relatives and a good recruiter nevers wastes an opportunity to be nice.
In the Irish recruitment industry, recruiters meet many people and often its the little things that count or lead to success-such as taking the time to talk to candidates. Perhaps you dont have a job for them today but the time you take to talk with them can be all some people are looking for. Some people may simply be looking for help or guidance about their career prospects, feedback on their CV or a little direction.
Because of our intimate market knowledge it doesnt take much to helpfully point a candidate in the right direction or to steer them out of a potential dead end career. So if we can we take that time to talk and we help when we can.
So- whats in it for you? Why bother? Why waste valuable recruiting time talking to people when you need to spend that time making placements and securing your job I hear you say? Well, for one, a candidate can be a candidate today but they can also potentially be a client tomorrow. They can potentially introduce you to friends or colleagues who may be able to help you with your requirement or be the ideal candidate you need tomorrow -or in quite a few circumstances, be the husband, wife, brother or sister, of a client you have been trying to do business with for months.
Always remember be nice to people, its good for its own reason and it will make you feel better but more importantly remember- it’s too small a world to be nasty to people. The wheel will turn and you never know who knows who or who will be in a position to either hire you in your next job or give you your next break-its in your best interest.
Tags: Advice, Candidates, career advice, Client, CV advice, Irish Recruitment industry, job, market knowledge, Recruiters, recruitment
Posted in Candidates, Uncategorized, job seekers | No Comments »
