Three Q News

New Year, New You – Is part of your New Year resolution to find a new job or advance into a more managerial role in your career? Then you are going to need to prepare for interviews.

Interviews can be daunting, we always want to put our best foot forward, but sometimes our nerves can get the better of us. Interviews can prove even more difficult for those who have only recently graduated and have never interviewed before, or those who have been in their current job a long period of time and haven’t had an interview for several years.

We can’t control our emotions or nerves but what we can do is prepare, after all, knowledge is power!

As someone who has personally struggled trying to control my nerves and anxiety before an interview, I have found some tips which have helped me in the past:

  1. Know the company/ organisation you are interviewing for – A common question employers ask is “Why do you want to work here?”, so ensure you know plenty about your possible future employer.
  2. Fully understand the job description – Outline your own experience and skills which match that of the job description, you can use this to show you are a perfect match for the role.
  3. Prepare and rehearse common questions and answers – You can easily look online for a list of popular question which are asked at interview. As a recruiter I always provide my candidates with a list of questions & topics to research and do interview preparation where we go over these mock style questions.
  4. Prepare questions for the interviewer – Employers will always ask if you have any questions at the end of an interview, this is your opportunity to show that you have thought in depth about the role and company and genuinely want to work there.
  5. Plan your travel – Ensure you arrive to interview early and aren’t rushing; I always advise to be at least 15 minutes early to interview. This gives you time to sit down, compose your thoughts, and even go over some interview prep.
  6. Remember to breathe! – This may seem like such a simple and obvious thing, but as someone who has almost found myself hyperventilating before an interview, I find it helps to sit and take some deep breaths before interview to bring your heart rate down and calm those nerves.
  7. Speak confidently and clearly –I have found that I can speak a million miles an hour which can make it hard for the employer to fully grasp everything you are saying. I make sure to take a few seconds before answering a question and speak clearly and confidently. 
  8. Use the S.T.A.R (Situation, Task, Action & Result) approach when answering questions – This will help give your answers structure and ensure you don’t end up rambling so that your answers are relevant to the question.
  9. Remember to ask questions at the end of interview – Even if for some reason the employer does not ask you if you have any questions, remember to ask those all-important questions you prepared earlier.
  10. Leave a good impression – At the end of an interview, always make sure to smile and thank the employer for the opportunity & tell them how interested you are in the role and how you look forward to hearing any updates about the outcome of the interview.

If you are looking for a new Nursing, Healthcare or Hospitality job and would like some help finding that prefect job or to spruce up your CV & arrange some interview preparation, then you can call me on 01-878-3335 or visit our website for a full list of current jobs –

Charissa Mulholland

Nursing & Healthcare recruitment professional

Three Q Perms & Temps

The New Year can bring great opportunities and exciting beginnings, and is a great time to start new resolutions. The Christmas holidays provides us with time to reflect and see what new things we can start working on over the next year. “Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can. There will always come a time when you will be grateful you did.” – Sarah Caldwell.  We can learn from what worked for us this year and improve on what can work better. New learning and introducing beneficial changes into our lives can have many positive effects in both our personal lives and work life.

As we anticipate and look forward to clearing the cobwebs of the winter season, most of us will start planning new resolutions in our personal lives, such as losing weight, quitting a habit that doesn’t serve us well or improving our fitness levels, at the start of the year. We can also plan for positive changes that improve our working life. Improving this area can greatly improve our personal and family lives. Suggestions that can help will include doing a couple of tasks on Saturday that will ultimately improve our working week, such as:

  1. Plan a weekly menu for each meal including healthy treats. This reduces the amount of trips to the shop and can reduce our weekly spend on groceries, and time spent on trips to the supermarket.
  2. Batch cook dinner meals and freeze them. This reduces the need to phone our local takeaway for a fast meal, when we get home after a long day at work. It is also a healthier option and improves the balance of good food in our diet and significantly improves our wellbeing.
  3. Fill the car with diesel for the coming week. This saves stopping during the week and picking up extra unnecessary refreshments, also reducing weekly spending costs.
  4. Plan our weekly wardrobe for each day of the week. Having key items of clothing can help with planning outfits for the week ahead.
  5. Exercise routines have a greater chance of success if we do our workout before returning home from work. If time is of the essence in the evening, morning exercising is another option. Invest in some good quality rain gear, for rainy days. Then there is no excuse to cancel a planned walk/run. For those of us that are a little less motivated, it is a good idea to call on the experience of a personal trainer to help boost our motivational levels. They can plan a workout programme that suits our needs, thus ensuring that it is the right one for us.

Plan some fun and feel good activities for the weekend. Whether it’s doing some retail therapy, meeting friends for brunch or getting out into nature, the benefits can be amazing. These can really boost the good-feeling factor in us and our energy levels to help us step into spring with a bounce in our step.

While the weekend can be a busy time, with catching up on household tasks and meeting with family and friends, it is important to have some down-time. We all need one day in the week where we can recharge our batteries and bring a little rejuvenation and restoration in the way of self-care. This can include having a Sunday morning lie-in, a long soak in the bathtub, a trip to the spa or getting an earlier night’s sleep. Whatever resolutions we plan for the coming year, improving our quality of life is essential for living a happier and more fulfilled life. We can give our best when life is easier and who knows maybe even inspire colleagues at work.

#NewYearResolutions #Planning #Tips

As we grow on our journey in life, we begin to realise that exploration, self-discovery and learning are an integral part of the process of living. “Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life.” – Sandra Carey. We learn that making mistakes is also part of the journey. They teach us valuable lessons which can propel us into a new direction, one that we never imagined or thought possible. Life’s experiences teach us what we like and don’t like. From this we have better insight to recognise what works best for us at this time.

When beginning a new career, it can be hard to find our feet. We may even feel like we don’t belong or that we haven’t made the right decision. It is only with hindsight that we are wise enough to know if it was the right choice. Either way, we can learn from it. We can also learn from others that we met along the process, if we are open to it. There is no wasted opportunity, only opportunities to learn and self-develop.

Here are some tips to help with starting the exploration:

  1. Recall a time in the past that was similar to this new one. Identify valuable insights that can be applied into this new situation.  
  2. Leave plenty of room for mistakes, there is valuable learning here.
  3. Be open to learning from others. They can be useful guides and teachers along the way that were part of our journey.
  4. Make it a practice each week or month to learn something new. Keep the explorer within alive and life exciting. Try something different and outside our comfort zone.
  5. Sign up with a Recruitment Agency. 3Q Perms & Temps Recruitment Agency is a great source of knowledge to help with exploring options and opportunities, phone: 01 8763335 or email temps@3qrecruitment.ie.

It is only when we trust the process, and ourselves, that we begin to realise where the best options lie ahead of us. It’s as if each step is illuminated with a little more clarity certainty than yesterday held. “The greatest wisdom is knowing that we know very little. when we adopt this perspective, we open our hearts and minds to learn and be inspired” – Ashish Godara. #Wisdom #Explore #NewCareer #Learn