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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National Recruitment Federation

Q. Will I definitely get a response to my CV when I send it into a Recruitment Agency?

A. It is good business practice for an agency to respond to all CV’s they receive. However, given the vast volume of CV’s received by some agencies and shortage of time, we recommend that job-seekers should follow up themselves if they have not received an acknowledgement.

Q. Will I be interviewed by the agency?
A. If the agency feels that your skills/experience are suited to particular positions available then you should be called for interview.

Q. How should I treat the interview with the agency?
A. Job-seekers should treat the interview with the agency as their first interview as the agency will shortlist candidates to be put forward to employers for interview based on their CV and interview with the agency.

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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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Jeremy Kyle ‘to get people back to work’

A new TV programme which aims to help unemployed people find jobs may be fronted by UK talk show host Jeremy Kyle. ITV are currently holding talks about the plan.

“Jeremy Kyle Gets Britain Working” has been cited as an early title for the show,

On Sunday, an Observer columnist declared that the plan to use Jeremy Kyle as motivation for the unemployed is “downright disturbing” and wrote that it is a “peculiar choice” to select him as the face of a government-endorsed programme

Is Jeremy Kyle’s brash, in-your-face style really what’s needed to shake people up ???

News by Adfero

15 Irish companies were in the Top 100 companies to work for in Europe list.

• O2 came top of the list of Irish companies.
• Depuy in the TOP 100 in Europe
• Microsoft Ireland – Best Place to Work 2008
•  Best practices in creating a fun place to work – Google Ireland.
• Best Practices for Work-Life Balance – Intel Ireland.
• .Best Practices for Diversity Management – Abbott Laboratories Ireland
• Best Practices for employee involvement in Corporate Social Responsibility to GE Commercial Aviation Services.

If you are job searching…..these companies are a good place to start!!

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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One of the leading professional services firms ha secured buy in from employees to allowing management change employee contracts over the next year. When investigating the option of sabbaticals or reduced working week there was significant buy in from employees. Rather than forcing changes to T&Cs, this organisation has taken a proactive approach which should provide damage limitation if the need arises in the future

Great to see that large reputable organisations are considering alternatives to redundancy.

Welcome to my career blog. My aim is to keep you updated on the job market in Ireland, CV advice, Interviewing Skills and Tips and how to job search in a way I can guarantee your fellow jobseekers are not doing!