Career Boot camp will be held at the National College of Ireland from 16th-21st of August 2010. This is a free week for job seekers offering a range of workshops and seminars.
Paul Mullan is one of the guest speakers attending the event this year. His presentation is titled “Get Creative & Get Hired”. It will be held on Tue 17th Aug @ 9.30am
In the new world of job search you need to inject creativity to stand out and attract more job opportunities. Paul will inspire you to move from your comfort zone to inject more creativity into your job search. Paul will explain his formula for success; (A + C = V) = (O). He will help you to accept that the job market has changed, accept that you need to change and help you use creativity when targeting both the advertised jobs and the hidden job market.
Paul Mullan is the founder of Measurability. He is a rounded Career expert with deep and current knowledge across key job search ingredients including Self-Marketing, Social Media, Job Search, CVs and Interviews. Paul is a recognised through his expert career advice in the Irish Independent, Sunday Times and many leading websites. A business owner for over a decade, Paul job hunts every day, which means he walks the talk. Paul mixes his passion and humour to motivate activity, inspire creative, increase visibility and help jobseekers land more opportunities.
Leading career expert Paul Mullan will be presenting a FREE presentation at 6.30pm on 25th March sponsored by the Dublin City Central Library. The topic – “Job Hunting – Creative ways to increase visibility & land more opportunities”. For more information and to book a place email businesslibrary@dublincity.ie.
For those of you who use Linkedin you can also access free tips, advice and discussions on “Measurability Careers & Jobs Club” Group on LinkedIn.
Below is the video for the Monster Careers Fair at the RDS on 12th November. This was a very successful day with great feedback from jobseekers. I presented at the event and you can hear some of my views on CV Writing during the video.
Interesting post about office politics. Give you an opportunity to work out what animals work in your office. On a serious not though this information could help you manage your work relationships better.
Office politics are annoying aren’t they?
Did you know there are four ways that people play politics in the office?
Sheep, donkey, fox or owl.
Below is a description of each.
Sheep: An implied innocence underlies the sheep approach. Other words that spring to mind might be naive, easily led and loyal. They are the types who say (providing they recognise what is happening in the first place), “I have no time for politics” or, “I don’t want to play that game.”
Donkey: Words such as stubborn and inept might sum up the donkey character, but it goes deeper than this. We have all encountered the colleague who thinks he’s on the inside track, is fond of mentioning connections to the senior staff and is convinced he plays a smart game.
Fox: Cunning, sly and clever, foxes know their way around. They are really quite adept at negotiating the corridors of power, getting support and being tuned in to the bigger picture. They recognise and take advantage of the weaknesses of others in order to get ahead and further their cause.
Owl: Wise and highly observant, the organisational owls are well placed to succeed. They differ from the fox in that ’succeed’ for them means positive
outcomes for both themselves and the organisation.
My friend works for a leading multinational and he informed me that the company has made a decision to move away from job boards and recruitment agencies and they are currently training their recruiters to use social media networking tools to source potential job candidates.
Could this spell the end for job boards and recruitment agencies?
It is too early to say this BUT one thing is for sure that if jobseekers are not using these tools they are missing out on potential jobs. Quite simply – you will not work for this particualr company as they will not find you or you will not know about their jobs.
If you are a jobseekers and you have not already set up a Linkedin Profile I suggest you do it now. Linked in is fast becoming a must use resource for jobseekers. If you want an idea how to set up hte content of your profile view Paul Mullan Linkedin Profile – Career & Outplacement Expert
I read an interesting article online today about sure ways to annoy a hiring manager during the job hunting process from applications, sending CV’s through to the actual interviews. I have listed the points and some of my comments after ….. some of these are so no brainer!!
1. Applying for jobs you are not qualified for. (From a jobseekers perspective you have to try …. certainly in a skill shortage market)
2. Sending generic cover letter’s. (Absolutely agree – you won’t get called for interview in a tough job market)
3. Seen-it-a-million-times Objective on your CV “challenging opportunity with a forward-looking company where I can utilise my knowledge, experience and skills to our mutual advantage.” (You can forget about these right now – worst start possible to a CV – no point!!)
4. Making your CV a list of past duties. (You have to make an impact and include achievements!!)
5. Lie or exaggerate about ANYTHING (Are all CV’s not self promoting documents. In fact most hiring managers expect some lies on a CV. I have to agree with this point though …. do a CV well and you don’t have to lie)
6. Keep making repetitive “notice-me” calls to ask if your CV was received. (Yes this can be harassment – one call or ideally call before you send it)
7. Slow response to messages left on your answering machine or voicemail. (You obviously don’t need the job if this is the case)
8. Lack of flexibility for phone-screening interviews. (Previous comment)
9. Not providing salary requirements when requested prior to the interview. (If asked provided – if don’t have one then let employer know your current salary)
10. Fail to research the company prior to the interview. (No brainer!!)
11. Arrive at your interview late. (Previous comment)
12. Rude to the receptionist. (especially if the person at reception is on the interview panel)
13. “See attached CV” instead of filling application completely. (Lazy!!)
14. Lack of interview preparation. (EHHHH!!! – forget about annoying the hiring manager – you are wasting your time attending interview)
15. Ask “What’s in it for ME?” type questions at the interview. (Well “me” is part of the process so you can ask these questions but just disguise them)
16. Fail to send a thank-you letter after the interview. (not that common in Ireland BUT nice touch!!)
17. Call for update before decision date (this is a number one annoyance – don’t do it)
Jobs are scarce and competition is high. What worked during the Celtic Tiger highs will not owrk now. Whether you are changing career or out of work this career workshop is a MUST ATTEND. It will unearth the essential skills to find a job in a tough job market.
The workshop will help you
Enhance you job hunting skills and knowledge – Access the hidden job market!!
Enhance your CV – Market yourself effectively and land more interviews
Enhance performance at interview – Get jobs offers!!
Paul Mullan & Jane Downes will be running the workshop – Meet the experts
Paul Mullan is founder of Measurability (www.measurability.ie) a leading Career, Outplacement and HR consultancy. Paul is a leading commentator in Ireland as career doctor for Irish Independent and CV expert for RecruitIreland. He has 15 years career coaching, recruitment, outplacement and HR experience in Ireland and UK.
Jane Downes if founder of Clearview Coaching Group (www.clearviewcoachgroup.com) and practices career and executive coaching. Jane also co – owns Irelands first Development Assessment and Coaching Centre for Emotional Intelligence – www.EiIreland.com. Jane is regularly invited to write articles for the National Press in the areas of Motivation/Performance/ Goals/Career & Interview Coaching and Work Life Balance. Jane has a Social Science Degree from U.C.D and Fas Approved Training/Facilitation Qualification (N.U.I). She is a Qualified Life & Business Coach and Career Coach Assessor (www.fireworkcoaching.com) and a licensed and qualified Emotional Intelligence Assessor (EQi).
Workshop & Booking Details
Date: Sat 25th April 2009
Venue: Bewleys Hotel Dublin Airport
Address Baskin Lane Cloghran, Dublin
Workshops: 2 separate workshops – morning and afternoon
Time: 10.00 – 1.00pm & 2.00pm – 5.00pm
Cost: €120
Each workshop is limited to 15 places so book now to avoid disappointment – email paul@measurability.ie or via booking for contact us
Through my work I come in contact with two groups – those with no or little qualifications and those who go to third level directly from secondary. I have observed individuals from both groups who have not progressed in their career.
I often ask – why?
My theory is as follows ……
When I was growing up the importance of qualifications was drilled into me by teachers, family and peers with comments like “if you don’t have qualifications you will end up in a dead end job” or “get a degree and you will be successful”. The unfortunate thing is that many believe these comments. Those without qualifications accept lower level jobs and never seek to better themselves because they believe it is not possible. Equally there are those you get a degree and enter the working world with a “made it” sign without realising that they must actually do some hard work.
Therefore my stance on qualification is as follows – you don’t need qualifications to be successful (don’t believe me – well some of the most successful people in the world will vouch for this). Qualifications will open more doors though BUT once you get through that door you have to actually work hard to earn success.
Attached is a link for MS Office training – again this will not guarantee success but it will enhance your CV and perhaps open more doors.
If you are hunting for a job in Ireland below are links to some free advice that can support your efforts. The are some excellent CV & Interview Tips to ensure you make an impact in this competitive job market.
I offered some free advertising on this site for Recruiters or HR Service providers. One thing I didn’t clarify was that direct competition would not get a look in. As we offer Outplacement Services those seeking to advertise similar services need not apply.
Anyway I received little response BUT was surprised that the small response was all from Recruitment Agencies who were seeking to advertise outplacement and career services. Sign of the times I guess.
Now I am not anti-agency providing these services as many commentators are. I am actually from an agency background some moons ago and I realise that there are many skilled professionals in the recruitment sector with qualifications and experience to support organisations and employees through redundancy. I know of many professionals who have moved from recruitment into outplacement and career services very successfully (again including this writer). BUT there is a distinct difference between those professionals in that they chose and were not forced to.
The questions I ask are:
“How committed are recruitment agencies to Outplacement & Career services?”
Possessing the ability and capability is one thing but the commitment is another. Having discussed this with some agencies they have no more interest in Outplacement or Careers and this is purely for income generation during a tough recruitment market. Once the market picks up the interest will subside. One particular agency left a post on this site advertising Outplacement services. When I visited their website there was no mention of these services. One other agency I read about “had been thinking of this for some time” – really!!
“Can you be a recruiter and give impartial Career & Outplacement advice?”
This is a 50 million dollar question. If a sales professional affected by redundancy is telling the recruitment consultant offering outplacement support that the want a career change. What will the recruiter do/ how will they respond when they have an open vacancy for sales which this sales professional would fill in a heartbeat. Tough one!!
