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)

One trend I have noticed is that agencies are throwing money at online marketing such as google adwords and online job boards in order to ride this period of economic turmoil. Are these giving you the results you need? Why not try a different tool to access the online market?

To cut the the chase – I will offer online advertising for recruitment agencies in the form of a SEO optimised post on their company or a number of SEO optimised job posts. This site has approx 200-250 visitors a day and with a url containing the words “HR” and “Recruitment” and over 100 relevant posts you can be sure the traffic is relevant to your business – quite possibly employers which is what you need!!

Why am I doing this? – Firstly it could benefit our readers as quite a few are looking for jobs but there are many employers who could find benefit in your services. Secondly – after you see the results you will realise that it could be worth the small investment to pay for advertising!!

I would also point out that we have 6 other similar sites with a combined daily traffic of approx 1200 during the week.

I look forward to your replies.

We will be back early January.

59pc of companies surveyed indicated that redefining how staff will need to operate was ‘critical’ to 2009 HR strategy.

47.6pc indicated that redeployment of staff as an important strategy to implement in the current economic climate.

67.9pc of companies surveyed indicated that succession planning would be key in identifying who within their organisation would be retrained in 2009.

57.9pc reported cut back of 25pc or less in recruitment, training and development budgets.

16.2pc identified an immediate requirement to cut staff through voluntary or forced redundancy. Is this your organisation? Outplacement Services can support.

44.7pc of organisations surveyed revealing they have no immediate plans to reduce the intake on their graduate/management development programmes.

Ageism in Ireland

Not only is the government targeting the elderly by trying to wipe out medical cards but it also looks like employers are not treating older workers too well either. The equality authority revealed that their most common complaint in 2007 was age discrimination.

Emigration & Immigration– Ireland 2008

Recent Emigration and Immigration figures should not be a surprise to anyone. Below is an outline of what you should already know. Noone is moving to Ireland, everyone is moving to Australia and those left in Ireland are breeding like rabbits to make up for the reduction in immigrants and increase in emigrants. Certainly on days like this Oz seems a great place to be.

26,000 less immigrants came to Ireland in last 12 months to April 2008 according to CSO

83,800 moved to Ireland down from 109,500

45,000 moved abroad with OZ the most popular destination 11,300 to OZ

Population increased – highest births since 1980 – 72,300

Tech Sector Jobs

The skills gap for the Tech sector has been estimated at 7,000 forcing organisations to look abroad to find new staff. I find this very surprising and would ask – why is facebook moving to Ireland? This gap will get worse as there are fewer grads taking up computer, engineering or technical courses. Probably because they have decided to go to Oz like everyone else.

Interviews Ireland

We are always interested in commenting on various HR & Recruitment Services in Ireland.

And YES it is free – for Now!!

We get about 250 hits per day and this could be useful traffic for your company.

Outplacement Services Ireland
Psychometric Testing Ireland
Career Coach Ireland
Interview Coach Ireland
CV Professional Ireland

Get your CV and Interview Skills up to date and land a job with a great company with exciting opportunities.

HR SOLUTIONS offer a wide range of services including Documentation, Training, Recruitment & Selection, Compensation & Benefits and HR cover for absent staff. Based in Oughterard, Co. Galway HR SOLUTIONS was set up by Edel Kelly. She has extensive HR Training, Qualifications and over 10 years industry experience.

If you would like to contact HR SOLUTIONS please see contact details below.

HR SOLUTIONS
YOUR LOCAL HR PROVIDER
Portacarron, Oughterard, Co. Galway.
(091) 552336 (086) 3600620
edel.kelly@gaelic.ie

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