With the earthquake in Haiti and the pleas for help, it made me realise how much support jobseekers could provide to non-profit
organisations locally here in Ireland. Charities revenues are down 30%. No matter what your career to date has been, it is likely that your skills would add value to any non-profit.
Why do voluntary work?
- It’s an opportunity to help a cause that is close to your heart. Most charities welcome volunteers with open arms. There are over 600 charities in Ireland ( check out http://www.thewheel.ie ) most of whom would welcome the contribution of experienced, motivated individuals.
- Volunteering can develop your transferable skills as the work can be very varied ranging from care work to meals on wheels to fundraising to retail work
- Keeps you active and out there interacting with people. When you are between jobs, it’s important that you develop a routine and interests outside of job searching!!
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Is a redundancy lump sum payment taxable?
A statutory redundancy lump sum, which under the law must be paid, is entirely tax-free. Only a payment above and beyond the statutory payment (an ex-gratia payment) is taxable –and only when it goes over a certain limit. For information on this, contact the Telephone Information Office of the Revenue Commissioners at 1890 60 50 90.
What is the situation regarding workers on what is called “fixed-purpose” contracts?
The Redundancy Payments Act 2003 safeguards the right to redundancy of a worker employed under a “fixed-purpose” contract i.e. where the exact duration of the contract was incapable of being determined at the beginning. If the contract is not renewed following the fulfilling of the purpose, with the fixed-purpose contract therefore ceasing, a redundancy situation can arise. There is already provision under Section 9(1)(b) of the Redundancy Payments Act, 1967 regarding fixed-term contracts under which a redundancy situation exists where a fixed-term of employment expires without being renewed under the same or a similar contract.
What is the position regarding the redundancy rights of Part-Time Workers?
The Redundancy Payments Act 2003 has secured the rights of part-time workers to a statutory redundancy payment through amending insurability requirements for redundancy to bring them into line with the Social Welfare Acts and the Protection of Employees (Part-Time Work) Act 2001. This is in line with the provision of the 2001 Act that part-time employees cannot be treated in a less favourable manner than comparable full-time employees in relation to conditions of employment. In particular, there is recognition for the rights of workers to statutory redundancy in the following cases – (a) casual employment, (b) subsidiary employment (where a person depends on another employment for his/her livelihood) and (c) employment of inconsiderable extent i.e. very low wage.
Mairead Griffin, Career Coach & Outplacement Specialist, Career Mentors – Phone 01-2160880
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IDA Investment Highlights
- A total of 125 foreign direct investments won
- New companies investing in Ireland for the first time up 11% on 2008
- Investments in Research, Development & Innovation (RD&I) in excess of €500m
- 49% of investments were RD&I
- 69% of investments from existing companies
- Over 4,500 new jobs were created in 2009
- Exports from IDA client companies increased to €110bn
Companies who have announced jobs include……..
Trend Micro
Gala Inc
Alps Electric
Gerson Lehrman Group
Computershare (CGS)
Intel Ireland Ltd.
Hewlett Packard Ireland Ltd.
PayPal Europe Services Limited Helsinn Holding S.A.,
Big Fish Games, Inc
CIRS
Cerner Corporation
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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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How to get the most out of Recruitment Agencies 
- Find out who the best agencies are specifically for your discipline in Dublin.
- Registrar and meet with at least 3-4 maximum. There is little point meeting with 15 recruiters as many have the same jobs
- If possible, try and find out the specific names of recruiters that friends or colleagues have encountered EG you could go onto boards.ie and pose the question on a forum
- 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
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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.
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- Accounting and Auditing
- IT Services / Computer Software / Hardware
- Innovation and Intellectual Property Related Enterprises
- Green Sector Jobs
- Business Services
- Medical/Health
Most of the job search engines, career sites and economists agree that the top growth industries include:
1. IT Services/Computer Software/Hardware
ICT is a key growth sector for Ireland and the availability of highly skilled IT professionals here has attracted many high profile companies that continue to reinvest. In addition, the IT outsourcing market could boom as employers increasingly look to third-party providers in order to cut costs.
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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.
I came across this site that will help you track your job applications http://www.becomed.com
The most important thing is that you’re open and honest with your bank before you get to the point of financial despair. It is critical that you protect your future credit rating as much
as possible. You should speak to your lender before your bills mount up!! Before approaching your bank read the Irish Mortgage Federations Code of Practice on Mortgage Arrears on the www.ibf.ie website. Ensure you have all the facts and entitlements in advance of meeting your bank
Option 1
Request a payment holiday whereby you will not have to make any repayments of capital or interest. This is what you should ask for first.
Option 2
Ask to be moved to interest only until you are back on your financial feet
Option 3
The Mortgage Interest Supplement. provides short term support to help you pay your mortgage interest repayments. You will only get assistance with the interest portion of your mortgage repayments. You will not get help with the portion that pays off the actual loan and house insurance. You should contact your lender to discuss repaying the actual loan.
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Early 2009 Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development survey
•Over half (53%) of those surveyed received a pay increase in 2008 and, of those working for an employer that pays bonuses, 83% received one last year.
• Overall, the majority were satisfied with the size of their pay increase (70%) and
or their bonus but of those who were not satisfied, many felt the amount of their
rise did not keep pace with inflation / the cost of living.
• Although a high percentage of employees received a pay increase and/ or bonus,
the majority believe such will not be the case next year with 43% predicting no
pay rise and 21% a rise lower than 2008, only 19% think their pay rise will be
greater than this year.
• A significant proportion (68%) do not know what they need to do to achieve a pay
rise in 2009, suggesting both uncertainty and that communication around pay
could be improved – nearly half wanted more information about their pay.
• There is support for basing pay around individual performance, experience and
linked to inflation / cost of living.
• Transparency of pay is also something employees favour – over two-thirds would
like to know how their pay increase compared with others and most are also
happy to disclose how much they earn, if it meant that they could find out how
much others earn.
CAREER GUIDANCE, CHANGING CAREER, JOB SEARCHING GENERAL, Uncategorized | admin January 15, 2010 | 
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