Search Results for 'Tralee'

Q: I play sport at a high level for a prominent inter-county GAA team. I am currently in the process of applying for a new job, and I fear the employer will think that I’ll be rushing away from the office every second evening for training, meetings and matches. That’s not actually the case – I am a very good manager of my time and in previous jobs, I always came in early in the morning or stayed late in the evening to make sure I got my work done. How should I transmit this in the interview? (FD, email).

It was always going to be a tough task for the Mayo hurlers to maintain their place in division 2A of the National Hurling League this season.

When going for a job interview, the tendency is to look to what you have done in the past – but you might only be telling half the story they need to hear, writes Liam Horan, Career Coach, Sli Nua Careers.

Q: I run my own business but want a change. I went for a job interview last week. Despite my best efforts at convincing the panel that I will unplug myself from the business, I believe I failed to convince them. They kept coming back to how I would juggle both even though I made it clear I have a management structure in place that allows me to step away. And I am really keen to step away! Should I have told them I am selling the business, even though I am not? What do you think? (DC, email).

Q: I am going for an interview for a job in my local county council. I’m told I should know stuff about what the council does but, to be honest, I haven’t much of a clue. I’m not politically minded, more of a ‘live and let live’ type woman. Where do I even start? (ER, email).

Q: In a recent job interview, I was asked a very unusual question: ‘how did you prepare for this interview?’ I didn’t know what to say and muttered something about reading their website. In fact, I had put in a huge amount of preparation, including speaking to somebody who works there and doing two sessions with a career coach, but I wasn’t sure I should reveal all of that. Would it show that I was lacking something? (AC, email).

Q: The closing date was today. Last night, after much procrastination, I finally opened the application form and started to fill it out. And I failed. Between competencies, experience, and exact number of months worked in jobs I held 20 years ago, and lots more besides, I just couldn't get my head around it at all. Is this a common experience? I hate missing out on this job opportunity but I had no alternative. (AC, email).

Q: There’s a company I’d really like to work for – two jobs that interest me have recently been advertised there. They even have the same closing date. Should I go for one or would it be a good idea to apply for both? (EC, email).

Q: I work in a small, tightly-knit sector where everybody knows everybody else. Companies are very jealous of each other’s successes. I recently went for a job interview with one of our main rivals and was amazed the panel spent so long trying to get me to talk down my current employers. For obvious reasons (i.e. because I’m trying to leave), I couldn’t talk my employers up too much, but I didn’t feel at all comfortable badmouthing them and declined to do so. Should I have entered into the spirit of it because that’s what they wanted me to do? (AC, email).

Whether or not it has impacted upon you yet, there is no doubting the fact that a workplace revolution is currently underway. The phrase ‘the future of work’ has become mainstream and enlightened organisations are focusing on how they can cope with the challenges of the new order, while workers, too, are trying to figure out where it’s all going, writes Liam Horan, Career Coach, Sli Nua Careers.