Irish Job News - News on Jobs for Ireland

Origina, an IT services and and consulting firm have plans to add up to 60 new jobs in the next two years. This will bring the numbers who work for Origina to 120. The €3million investment is to help to bring the company to be a competitor to the traditional consulting firms. Origina, formally known as Unitech, will use €100,000 of the investment to rebrand the company and align the brand across Europe. Created in 1998 to meet the need of data storage management, Origina now offers project management, infrastructure and IT consolidation services. In the past they have also partnered with some of the bigger global brands like IBM , VMware, Orcale and Red Hat. The majority of these new jobs will be tech related positions and will at the headquarters in Dublin.

Medtronic (www.medtronic.com) have annoucned plans for wordwide cuts in their staffing. Up to 1,100 jobs worldwide are expected to go, which is almost 3% of it’s workforce. Thankfully this comes with a good note for Jobs in Galway , as Medtronic are moving their endovascular manufacturing operation from Santa Rosa, California, USA to Galway . The endovascular division makes stent grafts to treat aortic abdominal aneurysms. It is also moving some of it’s operations (diagnostic and cardiac rhythm disease management) to Holland.

Medtronic specialises in medial technology for chronic diseases. They manufacture products and therapies and services to alleviate pain and enhance peoples lives. Each year over 6 million people world wide use Medtronics services in the treatment of heart disease, diabetes and vascular illnesses.

The DETE (Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment , www.entemp.ie) has published some frightening figures on Irish redundancy rates. Year on year the number of reported redundancies in April rose by 47% between 2007 and 2008. The majority of these job losses were in the construction and manufacturing sectors, making up almost half of the reported redundancies. Up to April this year, there was more than 11,000 redundancies reported to the DETE. This figure is 27% larger than the same 4 months (January to April) in 2007. Standardised unemployment rate remains unchanged at 5.5% in April, according to the CSO (Central Statistics Office) and there is now 158,600 people on the live register (seasonally adjusted) , of these 58% were male. These news statistics come also with bad news from the Exchequer . As of the end of April, the tax take figures are around €736 million off their targets. Areas that had lower than expected revenues include the Capital Gains Tax and stamp duty receipts. These make up about €400 million of the loss. Micheál Martin, the minister for Enterprise Trade and Employment was quoted as saying that there currently is a “rebalancing” taking place in the economy.

So with all the doom and gloom in Ireland, and the apparent stagnant housing market in Ireland, it seems like the economy is starting to slow down. Now that unemployment is up, more redundancies are happening than previously and less people are selling their houses, the Celtic tiger is truly asleep.

A crazy news story from Italy today, apparently yesterday there was an official website publishing all the salary declarations and tax contributions for everyone in Italy. The tax authority’s website was overload by zealous Italians wondering how much their neighbours to big soccer stars earn.

The website was suspended within 24 hours of going live after an official complaint from the Italian’s privacy watchdog. The reason for publishing the details according to the Italian Finance department, well it was supposed to increase the country’s transparency. This has come just days before the administrational change in the government to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Some say the website was a way of getting back at the incoming government. More from the BBC.

Yesterday DELL (www.dell.com) announced that they will be cutting 250 Irish jobs from the plants in Dublin and Limerick. Overall the company employs 4,500 people in Ireland and this figure reflects just over 5% of their Irish staff numbers. Areas of DELL effected include sales/marketing/finance/tech support as well as other admin roles. Most of the job losses are expected to be in Dublin. Dell refused to confirm or deny further job cuts, but they did say that the other European operations will experience similar losses.

These redundancies have been announced in a period where DELL have experience double digit growth world wide, but they still need to cut costs. It is not yet clear whether DELL will reduce numbers further in Ireland, but with the current economic climate we can only speculate that it will more than likely happen. Dell has said that they will reduce their numbers by more than what the announced in May 2007. Last year we heard that the figures for losses of DELL in Ireland were to be around the 450 mark.

Here are some of the top news stories hitting the papers over the last few days:

Good news comes for Xilinx (www.xilinx.com) who say that they are increasing their customer support division in Dublin. It should result in about 20 new jobs for the site. Their Dublin site is their European headquarters and is host to 400 employees.

An estimate from the Galway City Tribune [1] says that there has been almost 500 redundancies in Galway since the start of the year. It cites that the hardest hit is the construction industry. The SFA (Small Firms Association) is quoted as saying that on average there has been 613 jobs lots per week in Ireland. This pattern of increasing unemployment is starting to look worrisome for the economy.

Last week DELL announced that they were cutting jobs in the US. In fact almost 1000 jobs were lost with the closure of a desktop PC factory in Texas. So far DELL has already cut 100 Irish jobs from their staff of 4,500. Last year DELL looked for voluntary redundancies at their plant in Limerick.

And another multinational Google, announced job cuts. This time it’s in their recently aquired advertising company DoubleClick. Again it is not likely that any Irish Jobs will be lost, in fact Google are looking to hire up to 150 staff at it’s European headquarters in Dublin right now.

Last year we mentioned that Genzyme in Waterford had plans on expansion. Genzyme (www.genzyme.com) employs around 10,000 people in the United States alone. They are a Massachusetts based company, based out of Cambridge near Boston. Producing drugs since 1981 to fight rare genetic disorders, kidney disease and cancer.

It now seems that the initial 52 jobs increase, will look more like 170 jobs (over 300% more than we reported). The plant will then employ around 600 people, who are responsible for manufacturing various pharmaceutical drugs like Renagel used in chronic kidney diseases.

Pharmaceutical Jobs

So if you are looking for a pharmaceutical job in Waterford, it’s time to dust off your CV.

Ryanair has announced that they will be cutting up to 40 jobs in their Dublin offices next month. These jobs are in the Telesales area. The Low Cost Airline reported that only 1% of their bookings were now done online and it no longer made sense to keep their most expensive call centre in Dublin open. Calls will now be redirected to their German and Romanian call centres.

Dell Job Cuts

In other job worries, DELL are planning on closing their Austin, Texas plant, with almost 1,000 job losses. This is part of the plan by DELL to reduce global numbers by up to 10%. To date there has not being a menion about about DELLs Irish operations in Limerick & Dublin, where they employ roughly about 4,000 staff.

Today has been a great day for Galway, today there has been two separate announcements about new jobs in Galway. Green Isle Foogs Ltd. are going to invest over €5 million in Portumna, Co. Galway. They will create up to 70 new jobs with the help of Enterprise Ireland. It is planned to expand their frozen pastry factory, and this will be done over the next 3 years. The jobs will be in production management, and direct production, as well as various support roles. And Thermo King (www.thermoking.com), a refrigerated transport company are to expand their operations at their Galway site. Up to 20 new jobs will be created, many of these will be in the research and design of the next generation of ‘environmentally friendly’ transport products. So if you are looking for a job in galway, things are looking good !

Last week there was a security at Ireland’s Largest online recruiter. Jobs.ie reported that last Thursday, March 27th, there was a security breech of their website and a number of CVs were stolen. Obviously these CVs contained a number of personal details and in the wrong hands these details could be used for illegal activities. One report mentions that up to 60,000 Irish CVs were stolen in this breech, which it is said were mostly archived CVs as opposed to current ones.

These CVS would be of great interest to criminals who steal identities, as there are plenty of personal details on a CV. This is not the first such attack, recruitment websites have been targets of previous hacking attempts, last year Monster.com was hacked. There is an announcement on Jobs.ie website which states:

Dear Jobs.ie Customers,

This notice is to bring to your attention a security breach that took place on the Jobs.ie website on Thursday evening.

If you have not received an email from Jobs.ie then your details have not been affected but we urge all our Users to follow the following safety tips:

1. Do not disclose personal banking information
2. Don’t share your passwords with anyone.
3. Don’t open suspicious email attachments.

I would like to extend my sincerest apologies to all our Customers who have been affected by this and assure you that we are taking every measure to insure that this won’t happen again.

A dedicated 24 hour customer helpline has been set up to deal with any further questions or concerns you may have. Please call +353 (0)1 680 8699 or email info@jobs.ie

Yours sincerely,

Huw Taylor
Jobs.ie - Recruitment Made Simple

Jobs.ie has also offered a helpline support for the people effected by this. Brian Honan from BH Consulting (www.bhconsulting.ie) commends Jobs.ie for being so upfront and honest about the whole situation. It is good to see that they had a quick turn around from detecting it, and letting their customers know. Don’t worry about our sister site JobsInIreland.ORG, doesn’t store the CVs, rather it sends the CVs directly to the employers, and none of your personal details are stored on our server.

For more, read the Jobs News report from Silicon Republic.

More good news for Ireland and the digital media industry, the American company EyeWonder (www.eyewonder.com) is to relocate it’s European offices to Dublin. EyeWonder said that the availability of highly skilled graduates and workforce was the main factor for moving to Ireland. Other similar companies like Blizzard have chosen to move to Cork last year, citing the same reasons. Barry Bedford, the Managing Director for the UK and Ireland said,

“We have established this sales and customer support operation to provide a better service to our international customers, and Dublin offers an ideal location due to its excellent infrastructure, multi-lingual capability, highly-skilled workforce and ease of doing business.”

EyeWonder produce online rich media and video advertising  since 1999. They already have some open positions on their careers section for  jobs, like a Rich Media Coordinator.  And there are plans to have up to 30 people working in their Dublin offices, mostly in sales and customer care positions.

There is a new project we’ve been working on in the last few days/weeks, it’s called Jobs In Ireland . ORG, and aims to be a free platform to advertise Irish Jobs. In the past two weeks there have already been 50 jobs posted from various recruiters. Jobs in Ireland also offers the capability to individual companies to advertiser their in-house jobs directly. The site is obviously useful for both employers and jobseekers, one without the other doesn’t really make sense.

Here mascot for the site, it’s a cute little red haired fellow. One of our goals is to keep the site as simple as possible, and using it could not be easier.

Advertise Irish Jobs for Free

Here is a run down on how it works:

• Job Seekers :
  • Browse or search the site, and find a job that you like.
  • Click the apply link at the end of the job advert.
  • enter your name / email address and write a quick introduction about yourself
  • click browse and locate your CV.
  • and hit SEND

You application will be sent directly to the employer and they will get back in contact with you. No need for a middle man !

If you are an Employer you will need to follow the following steps:

• Employers :
  • Click the “Post a New Job”
  • Fill out the details for the Job
  • enter your name / email address and company website
  • and verify your advert
  • if it is your first time advertising, your first job posting will be checked by someone.
  • All further job postings will happen automatically, without the need to be verified.

So there you have it ! Click now to visit Jobs In Ireland . ORG

Hi, my name is Ralph Depping and I’m a programmer with S3, last year I wrote a blog post with some tips for people going for Tech Interviews. I’ve found myself in a few, and I thought I would share the tips. Maybe you can check my blog EmbeddedInCork.net where I cover many topics, from programming insights to news in the embedded software world.

Tips for Tech Interviews

Nothing here is revolutionary, rather it’s some advice based on my own experience of attending a number of technical interviews for embedded jobs.

1. Be on Time

Although this is one of the more obvious points regarding interviews it is still worth re-stating. Allow plenty of time to find the correct location, taking into account possible traffic delays. Also make sure you know where the interview is actually taking place. One recruitment company sent me to the offices of the company instead of the hotel where the interview was being held. Fortunately the hotel was near the office and I had enough time to make the short trip and still be on time. On a related note don’t show up too early. It may make people uncomfortable to have you sitting around for a long time at reception.

2. Make a Good Last Impression

The old saying regarding the importance of “making a good first impression” also applies to “making a good last impression”. I’ll always remember a test the BBC carried out. They showed two different versions of the same interview. In the first instance the interviewee started well but finished poorly. In the second instance the interviewee started poorly but finished well. One half of the viewing public saw the first version and the other half saw the second version. The public were then asked if the interview went well for the interviewee. It turned out based on the public votes that leaving a good last impression is more important than making a good first impression.



3. Avoid Technical Jargon

Although it’s a technical interview avoid using too much jargon. The person will be more impressed with your ability to describe the work you’ve done in a clear and concise way than trying to dominate the conversation with obscure technical waffle. Remember that you may know more than the person interviewing you in a particular area but you won’t score many points by trying to show off.

4. Can I Work With This Person?

One of the key questions that both sides to an interview should be asking is “Can I work with this person?”. Ticking all of the experience and educational boxes is rarely enough to ensure a successful working environment. An interviewer will be wondering what it will be like to work with you on a daily basis. Ensure that during the interview you don’t loose sight of what the day to day working conditions will be like. Think of a couple of questions in advance that will highlight a typical working day. Is it high pressured or relaxed? Do people tend to spend lunch together or do most people just grab a sandwich and eat it at their desk? Try to relate to the people at the interview as they may end up being co-workers in the near future.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a while since we’ve had some holidays, so this week are off to the sun. While we are away in sunny Florida, I have am bringing you some guest posts from other authors. So sit back an enjoy what we bring to you this week ! Tomorrow we will be bring you a cool article about some Tips for Tech Interviews.

If you are trying to contact me about CV Reviews do accept my apologies and I will get back and help you out once I get back home.

There is unlimited information about how to get a job but very little on how to leave a job. Most people think it is easy to leave a job but anyone who has navigated this route will understand that it does not always go to plan. Parting company can be a difficult experience for the employer and the employee. I have experienced it myself when what I thought would be a clean break turned a bit nasty. This can throw away years of friendships and loyalty. Jobseekers must plan their next move but equally they must put a bit of planning into their departure to ensure it is smooth and stress free. There are a couple of key points to consider.

When you are leaving play it straight.

If you make a decision to leave – then leave. It is essential that employees never use the threat of leaving to improve on their current situation. If you have a problem with your current situation or terms at work then discuss these openly and try to resolve. Sometimes an employer cannot resolve your issues so you will have to accept this and move on. Using the threat of leaving as a tool to get what you want is not advisable.

Make your exit formal – put it in writing

Documenting your departure will ensure that there is no confusion. It also makes it definite. You should tell your employer verbally but have a written document to support this and make copies available to the relevant parties such as your manager and HR. Try to hand the letter to your manager or HR in person, this insures that you can see their reaction straight away, this gives you the option to talk to your boss about the reasons why you are leaving the company.

Keep it simple and don’t get personal.

Most jobseekers have valid reasons for departing and these can vary from one person to the next. I advise clients to keep there reason for leaving basic. For example “I am seeking to test myself in a new environment”. Providing the real reasons for leaving can play into the employer’s hands giving them ammunition to try to make you stay. There is also no need to get personal and kick your employer when they are down. You are leaving the organisation so personal attacks against your boss, other employees or the company will not serve you.

Don’t stay for counter-offers.

Employers often will try anything to stop an employee from leaving – everything from pulling on their heart string to offers of untold riches. Ignore them!! They may be tempting but 80% of employee who stay for counter offers leave within a year anyway. This would suggest that the situation does not change. Also bluffing your exit, with the idea of getting a better position or wage, is not recommended.

Credits

Article by Paul Mullan of Measurability.ie. Measurability offers Career Coaching to individuals (Career Direction, CV Design & Interview Coaching) and Assessment Solutions for businesses to improve their recruitment decisions.