Search Results for 'Ballinrobe Co.'

Q: I have been working as office manager in a company for the past three months – without actually getting the stripes. The situation was that the previous office manager took ill and they recruited me on a temporary basis to take over the job. Initially, there was some resentment among the other three people in the office – at least two of whom might have felt they should have got the job. But that has now dissipated and we have a happy working environment. One of the two even confided in me that he was glad I had come in as he didn’t feel he would be able to do the job as good I can. Anyway, that’s not my reason for writing to you. What’s bugging me now is that the job is now to be filled on a full-time basis. I had hoped I would get the job without it being advertised, but it has been advertised locally in the media. What should I do? Does this mean they don’t think my face fits? (RK, email)

— Think and talk through beforehand what you’d like to say, but avoid any temptation to learn answers off by rote. Rehearsed answers will lack passion and authenticity, and create a new pressure for you on the day as you try to remember what you’ve learned. Trust that your natural flow will click in and serve you much better than learning off your answers.

Q: I did a job interview last week. Two of the interview panel were fine, but one of them was downright rude. If he wasn’t looking out the window, he was tapping his biro on the desk. I’m pretty sure I caught him suppressing a yawn at some stage. I nearly asked him if he didn’t mind concentrating, but I resisted the temptation. I got the Dear John letter two days later. I regret now not giving him a piece of my mind. (Mary, email).

Job interviews are not unlike boxing matches: you can have all the plans and strategies you want, all the shapes and all the moves, the slides to the side and the dummies, but you have to remember that there is somebody else in the ring too.

I believe in the value of what is rather dryly called peer-to-peer learning. A good book to read on the topic is Paolo Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed. We have been reared to put our faith in the ‘expert’ model – what is called in America the ‘sage on the stage’ model.

Due to the current turn in economic events, many people have found themselves toying with the idea of returning to education. Whether simply to do a top-up course in their present field of expertise, or to start a fresh on a completely new career path, it is important to note that there are options out there to suit every situation.

Patricia Maloney, who 22 years ago founded the first private college to provide a repeat Leaving Certificate programme in the west of Ireland, has teamed up with a leading career training company to establish its first Galway city office.

Q: I have some job interviews of late, but without any joy. I think my mistake is that I talk too much, often without really thinking about what I’m saying. It’s like as if I feel the most important thing is not to be seen to lose my train of thought. I’m actually quite a reserved person usually. Any pointers? (Larry, email)

Q: In a job interview last week, I was pushed quite hard by the employers on the question of what I knew about the company. The business in question is a reasonably large supplier of products to the business sector. I was surprised that they seemed to think I should know all about their product lines and target markets? (Joe, email)

Q: I have just qualified as a teacher, and, like so many others, I am trying to get on the employment ladder. I realise it is a very difficult task right now, given the economic circumstances. What advice would you give me? (Teresa, email)