50 jobs are to be created in the next year followed by another 300 within three years at Irish company Intune Networks, which is building a new communications network to cut down bottlenecks in data transfer.

The Irish telecoms equipment design company was named to lead the Government’s programme to build Ireland’s Exemplar Smart Network. Intune’s programmable fibre optic platform will form the foundation for creating a next generation smart and green communications infrastructure for Ireland. Minister Ryan said the network would give Ireland world leading technology and a first mover advantage in the establishment of a smart economy, helping Ireland leapfrog its international peers in digital infrastructure.

This announcement is positive news off the back of the announcement last week that Intel was cutting 294 jobs at its plant in Leixlip. Interestingly I was out there last week and the general feeling among those I spoke to was that there was little surprise with the news. This still does not make it any easier for those who lost their job.

The Irish Recruitment sector has coped on and the first Irish Social Networking site Jobs Market is rapidly growing in popularity. The Irish Job boards have no answer to a free service offered to everyone from Jobs Market web site. Some job sites have opened up and are offering free advertising to all employers, to try slowing down of the candidates leaving to the social media sites.

Candidates publish their Profiles and even blogs, and Employers publish their Jobs and company profiles and again blog posts. Anyone can connect to anyone, and candidates can decide if to accept the offers to connect from the Employers.

A subscription free site Jobs Market is best positioned to help Irish economy and get the available workforce in contact with the right employers.

ESB has announced the creation of 3,700 GREEN JOBS. IKEA is holding final rounds of recruitment for the grand opening of its Republic store in July (expect plenty of competition!!).

Around the country there was more job loss misery with news from XILINX & New Oceans Limited in Dublin, Irish Dresden in Limerick, BeoCare & Beru Electronics in Kerry and Agilisys Contact Services in Clare. A total of 300 jobs to be lost with the above announcement with many of jobs lost is very badly affected regions.

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)

The latest figures from the Central Statistics Office show that 20,000 people signed on to the Live Register in March. This brings the seasonally adjusted total to 372,800 which represents a record high.

The CSO says that in the year to March, there was an unadjusted increase of 173,279 on the Live Register – up 87.5% – which is also the biggest increase since records began in 1965. The figures also reveal that the unemployment rate rose to 11% last month from 10.4% in February. More men than women joined the Live Register last month, with 13,600 males and 6,000 females signing on.

Mr Cowen has already predicted that total number on the register could reach 450,000 by the end of the year. If the current rate continues that figure is to be reached well ahead of Mr Cowen’s predictions if things continue as is.

I note that there are quite a few online initiatives to generate ideas for solving our ecomonic problems -any comments from you would be welcome.

Each workshop is limited to 15 places so book now to avoid disappointment – email paul@measurability.ie or via booking for contact us

Staff referrals – Many organisations tap into their existing staff resource and some of the larger organisations offer staff incentives to refer a friend. This is huge in the US but for some reason Irish workers are reluctant to refer friends. This is still worth a try.

PR & Marketing – You can get your name out there. Most SME’s never attract speculative applications because nobody has heard of them. Initiatives like a BLOG would increase your online presence. Any you know what it does not have to cost a lot. If you need information about increasing your online marketing.

Networking – You have tried your existing staff. So try staff that have left in the last number of years. They may come back or the may know someone. You can also try you customers and employers to see if they have any referrals.

Analyse youself – Take a look at your recruitment process, company image and even the benefits and packages you have to offer – introduce a bit of creativity here. Look at what you competitors are doing and try to keep one step ahead.

Bear Stearns employees about 150 staff in Dublin across Bear Stearns Bank and Bear Stearns Dublin Development Centre.

This is certainly not good news for the Banking & Finance sector in Ireland ot the Job market in general. This sector is viewed as a key pillar of the jobs market. This is further evidence that the troble in US is rippling to Ireland.

It was reported yesterday that 34,000 banking jobs have been terminated on Wall Street in the last 9 months.

Depuy set up operations in Cork in 1997. They introduced the Supply Chain function to Cork in 2002. They currently employ 600 staff in Ireland.