“Jobseekers Ireland” is a new, Group here on LinkedIn that has 110 members in 48 hours! It provides a platform for Jobseekers, Business Management, HR, Recruiters & Career Advisors to share experiences and informed advice in areas such as…….

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STAR INTERVIEW TECHNIQUE

Structuring your interview answers using the STAR (Situation, Task, Action, Result) interview technique will give you confidence and clarity when answering your interview questions. Following its form will result in your answers being high quality, comprehensive and detailed with fact. This technique will also help you avoid deviating from the question and keep your answers structured. Always use the first person when answering your questions!! STAR is particularly important to use during competency based interviews.

What is STAR?

SITUATION :A background to the situation you were involved in
TASK : Describe the tasks that were involved in the situation
ACTION : What did you personally actually end up doing and how did you
go about it
RESULT : What was the result of your actions

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What not to do when it comes to your CV!

- Too long. Keep it to 2 Pages, 3 Pages Maximum

- Too short. If your CV is 1.5 pages, you may not have sold yourself sufficiently

- Font & Font Size. Arial and Times New Roman are the most common fonts used. Keep your CV to one font for headings, and one font for content. Do not use too many different fonts or font sizes

-Pull the bullet points right over to the left hand side of the page. There is little point on having white spaces. This is space that you could be using to sell yourself

-Do not use complicated boxes and shading. Some of the Recruitment Database systems do not recognize them, and can cause your CV to be unreadable

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Recruitment Agencies – Do’s and Don’ts

• Find out who the best agencies are specifically for your discipline in Dublin. These arent always the biggest agencies
• Registrar with the top 3-4 maximum and work to build a rapport with your recruiter
• If possible, try and find out the specific names of recruiters that friends or colleagues have encountered. Otherwise you could go on forums and ask others who they would recommend
• The main thing is getting a Recruitment Consultant with at least 2 years experience, and understanding of your discipline, who has forged good relationships with clients in your field. Recruitment is a high turnover industry, so this can be difficult, but it is doable if you do the right research
• Always call in advance if you see a job that you are interested in. Clarify that the role is still open. When recruiters advertise roles, they generally put them up on the sites as soon as the job comes in, and then start working through their database. A lot of consultants can submit shortlists from their databases, so don’t end up considering people who apply. A good recruiter will only submit 5-6 CVs to a client.

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Public Sector Pay Compared to Private Sector

People looking for employment in a public sector workplace may be pleased to hear news regarding pay.

According to research conducted by the Economic and Social Research Institute, public workers in Ireland earned up 25 per cent more than those in the private sector in 2006.

This represents a rise of 11.3 per cent compared to the figures collated in 2003, when public employees earned 9.7 per cent more than those in private industry.

Among the professions considered in the study were health and teaching jobs, as well as civil service, defence and non-commercial semi-state work.

The pay gap is particularly evident in junior positions, in which public sector staff can earn up to a third more than their private counterparts.

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Use http://www.becomed.com to keep track of where your CV is going!

Nowadays jobseekers are applying to multiple jobs through many different mediums. As a result, they can lose track of what roles they have applied to and where recruitment agencies are sending their CVs.

Why manage your job applications?

- It will cause problems with the agencies if companies already have your CV on file and it is also submitted through an agency. It will damage your relationship with your consultant and reflect poorly on your with the organisation

- It helps you track the progress of your job searching process. What medium is creating the most responses to your CV? Do you need to re-channel your efforts in another direction?–

- You need to be prepared for interviews that may arise. The job spec may have been removed from the web by the time interviews progress.

Try http://www.becomed.com to manage your job applications. It will add time to the process, but it will give you a sense of achievement

Job Searching Using LINKEDIN.COM
Friday, June 26, 2009 at 4:13pm
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WHAT IS LINKEDIN?

Linkedin.com is a online worldwide network of experienced professionals with 42 million users across 200 countries.

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SOME STATS….

141,000 Users in Ireland ( Mainly Qualified Professionals), 42 million Worldwide

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IRISH USERS

16,054 – IT, Telecoms & IT Services
21,376 – Banking & Finance
1,219 – Staffing & Recruitment
6,997 – Engineering
1,671 – Marketing / Advertising
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WHO USES IT?
Professionals, Executives, Jobseekers, Headhunters & Recruiters, HR + copmanies such as EBAY and Microsoft
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WHY USE IT?

- Potential Employers search against relevent skillsets
- You can be accessed by 1,219 Recruiters in Ireland
- 1600 companies have “company profiles” on Linkedin in Ireland
- Expand your network using your current network
- Send updates to your network eg. Project work, jobs, Advice
- Reconnect with ex-colleagues
- Accessible to consultants who may need Associate Consultants to support them in   Projects
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Job Searching in Ireland and Worldwide has totally changed and jobseekers need to adapt. One of the key tools that we recommend as Career Coaches, is LinkedIn – a professional networking site ( www.linkedin.com )

The more effort you put into Linkedin, the more you will get out of it. Below are some tips on how to get yourself noticed to potential employers

1. Use critical key words from your field and profession in your profile. Your profile should read like your CV

2. Customize your URL to use your name.

3. Update your profile regularly – this keeps you visible to your network.

4. Use a photo. Linked In is a NETWORKING tool, so use it that way.

5. Make and seek recommendations.

6. Add applications to create a more interesting profile.

7. Display appropriate work product or work samples (see adding applications).

8. Adjust your privacy settings so people can see you entire profile and NAME when you view other people’s profiles.

9. Join groups and participate in discussions.

10. Ask and answer questions.

Up-skilling and Retraining for the jobs market

In the current economic climate, it is vital that individuals from all backgrounds are thinking strategically about their careers. Up-skilling or retraining is key for future career success. Whether you are in employment or actively seeking new employment or a change of career direction, further education & development something that will impress any current or potential employer

Why up-skill?

• Up-skilling or re-skilling will enhance your CV and make you a lot more marketable
• It sends out the right message to current or prospective employers that you are someone who is taking control of your career
• It shows employers that you have the drive and determination to achieve your career goals.
• It makes you more valuable to your current employers, and in the event of downsizing it is less likely you will be considered.
• Keeps you up to date with developments in your field and demonstrates to employers that you are committed to Continuing Professional Development

Why retrain?

• Nowadays it is much easier for you to retrain using online learning or distance learning courses.
• Those who think strategically and consider the developing industries. If you are an individual who is considering a total change of direction, now is your opportunity to do so
• The Government and IDA are focused on creating high value skilled jobs. By thinking long term when selecting what course to pursue, you are equipping yourself with the tools to be successful in the future.
• In the current economic climate people are taking the opportunity to return to college and retrain. It’s important not to be left behind

What role do employers have in up-skilling?

• Employers have a key role to play when it comes to supporting those who want to pursue further education or develop new skills.
• Retraining of staff should not be considered as a cost, but more as an investment. It increases the long term business success and it keeps organisations in touch with recent developments.
• In times of economic gloom up-skilling keeps staff motivated and can improve morale and retention.
• Top talent in any organisation needs to feel stretched, so it’s vital that employers invest in their future.

Nowadays, people are living longer. Two thirds of the country will still be in full time employment by 2020. Now is the time to react to this fact. China and India are producing more and more highly skilled labour and this is putting us in Ireland at risk.

Ireland needs to remain competitive and everyone has to take ownership. Up-skilling is the responsibility of the Government, Universities, individuals and the business world

Mairead Griffin FCIPD
Career Coach and Outplacement Specialist
Career Mentors
http://www.careermentors.ie/

At the moment, the most important part of securing a job is to actually end up in front securing an interview. It is vital that a huge amount of time and effort goes into structuring a professional CV that has a clear CV layout, has clear and concise CV content and is acheivement based. when drafting your CV, you have to put yourself in the place of the person who is screening applications. Compose a CV that is relevent to the role you are applying for. When reviewing the job spec, demonstrate how you have delivered on the responsibilities, and now just that you have done them! You do this by providing examples.

This way your application will stand out from the competition,who have just listed off the responsibilities of the role.

If you need CV tips or an expert to totally overhaul your CV – give Career Mentors a call on 01-2160880.