Tips for a Successful Job Interview (4mins read)

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Facing an upcoming interview for a new job? While there is much time to prepare before a job interview; there is little time at the interview to create a great first impression and show that you are the best person for the job.

Preparation is important to help you deliver an effective interview. Acquiring knowledge of the job and company and understanding of how your skills match the job criteria will provide a leading edge, and greater chance for success on securing the job. Most companies offer the points for discussion that will be covered in the interview ahead of time, usually in writing.

10 Simple Tips for a Successful Interview

  1. Research the company including the company’s background
  2. Know the interviewers name and the location of the interview, i.e. where the office is based
  3. Develop answers ahead of the interview, i.e. around competency. Develop examples of your ability to do the job and the way you act on the task
  4. Prepare questions to ask at the end of the interview
  5. Re-read your resume and the job spec one hour before the interview
  6. Practice with family or a friend – to listen to the tone of your voice which will help to boost confidence
  7. Arrive early, leaving enough time for traffic jams and to get a parking ticket
  8. At the interview, create a great first impression – give a firm handshake, speak clearly and maintain good eye contact
  9. Strong communication is important – listen carefully and ask interviewers to repeat or rephrase the question if you are unsure
  10. Demonstrate your unique selling point and why you are interested in this job

Preparation is vital and will ensure that you deliver a top-notch interview. “I will prepare and someday my chance will come” by Abraham Lincoln. Strong signs of a good interview include the conversation flowed naturally, the interview time was longer than advised, positive body language of the interviewers and you were provided with more information on the job role. There may have been hiccups on a few answers but don’t let this get you down. Focus on the positives. If it felt genuine and you experienced a lighter note on the conversation this is usually a good sign.

Need help on your job interview with us? Call us today, on 01 8783335 or email sales@3qrecruitment.ie – to chat with a member of our friendly team, to explore your options and receive valuable advice.

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How to Create a Strong CV Profile (3mins read)

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Looking to improve your CV profile? A poor profile can let down a strong resume whereas a great personal statement can make your resume stand out. Your unique profile creates a brief professional introduction of who you are. HR recruiters look for insights into your character on this piece. A strong profile highlights your personal statement and is crucial if you want recruiters to notice your application, and it helps to secure a call for interview.

Tips on How to Write a Strong CV Profile

  • Develop a brief personal statement – a short paragraph, up to 150 words. Your profile is an introduction to your CV. It will need to be positioned at the top of the resume. If it is difficult at first, break it down to into sections, bringing it all together at the end
  • Include your strengths as a professional – soft and hard skills, personal traits relevant to the job, professional skills, relevant key accomplishments including academic and career goals
  • Include powerful adjectives in the content such as ‘dynamic’, ‘diligent’ and ‘motivated’. For example, ‘proficient in MS Office’ or ‘delivered high quality customer service’
  • Use third person – refrain from using too many ‘I’s’ in this section. For example, ‘motivated, reliable, adaptable and responsible professional’
  • Proofread the content – edit thoroughly for any changes. It’s surprising; no matter how many times we read the content there can be one word that has escaped the check! Do a double check and ask a friend to read it

“Sometimes your USP becomes your weak point” – Aditya Trivedi. The profile on your resume is an opportunity to present your unique selling point and a catchy elevator pitch. Ask; ‘Is the profile strong enough to represent me as a potential candidate to land the interview, and secure the job?’ Remember try not to undersell yourself here and be honest. Family and friends will offer great insight and advice here and can help with the finishing touches.

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Tips on Working with a Recruitment Agency (5mins read)

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Are you working with a recruitment agency or considering it as an option as part of your next career move? To get the best possible service, it is important to create a great rapport with recruitment staff. They have specialist knowledge in this area and offer great support on each interaction.

Recruitment agency staff can really assist you to get off to a strong start on your next job and advance your career as a contractor. There are a couple of ways that can boost your relationship with staff members which will speed up and benefit the process. 

Tips to Benefit Relationships with Agency Recruiters

  • Develop a positive relationship

Be honest; let them know your needs on hours and location, if you’re flexible and provide any other important details on your ideal job. It’s ok to decline suggestions and offers. Maintain regular contact with them and advice any updates. This will provide agency recruiters with a better understanding of your needs, and they will be able to find you a suitable role, as they will have all the information to hand. As the relationship develops, the recruiters can provide additional feedback to potential employers on your application, based on their records.

  • Know the job market and your expectations

The supply-and-demand for jobs in the market can change. Recruitment agencies possess vast knowledge of the labour market. If you are looking for a new job, thinking of starting work as a contractor or looking to change your role within the sector, it will be useful to know any changes to jobs in your sector – the effect on rates of pay or changes on training requirements. Recruiters are up to date on this information and will be able to suggest recommendations to advance future applications and may be able to negotiate your salary

  • Find a recruitment agency you are happy to work with

While there are many recruitment agencies, it is important that you feel confident when working with your chosen recruiter. Part of their role is to support you in finding a new job, up-skilling or updating your resume. Agency recruiters are available to fully support your career path – when your contract will be renewed, to answer questions on a new organisation or to chat with if you are experiencing a difficult environment in your current job, resourced by them.  

The role of your recruitment agency is to secure you with employment in a short timeframe, build your skills and improve the experience on your resume. This can save you a lot of time and money. Frequent check-ins with your recruiter will really help you on the road to your next assignment. They will update their system as new information is shared and will be in a better position to support you all the way – preparing your for a new job, securing a job and supporting you while you are working in your new role. 

Call us today, on 01 8783335 or email sales@3qrecruitment.ie – to chat with a member of our friendly team, to explore your options and receive valuable advice.

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Time Management – How to Create a Great Work Schedule (4mins read)

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Do you find the work tasks are getting bigger? Is time management becoming an issue? Most often time management is poor when there is no plan, or goals are not clear. With no plan in place, procrastination can set in and lead to frustration at the end of a busy week. Long-term, the effects will most likely cause stress, anxiety or at worst suffering symptoms of burnout.

Most workers have a limit on their time to complete tasks. This may be higher some weeks due to impending deadlines, extra workload pressure, training new staff or returning back to work after a bank holiday weekend. Common downfalls in time management include allocating too little time to high priority tasks, poor delegation skills or allowing distractions take over limited time. Although it takes time to set this new plan in place, it will be time well spent in the long run!

15 Tips for Successful Time Management at Work

  1. Complete a time audit to understand how you are currently spending your time at work
  2. Develop a weekly schedule planner
  3. Prioritise tasks – schedule high priority tasks at the start of the day
  4. Assign realistic time limits for each task
  5. Group similar tasks together
  6. Prioritise the most difficult task at the start of the day
  7. Learn to say no, when needed
  8. Be aware of distractions and hold boundaries
  9. Build in buffer times to allow for extra time on larger tasks or for work meetings
  10. Use the 4 D’s – Do, Defer, Delegate and Delete when scheduling your weekly tasks
  11. Be flexible – although it is ideal to stay focused, allow for inevitable delays
  12. Set SMART goals, particularly for larger tasks
  13. Colour code the schedule if you enjoy working with bright colours
  14. Choose a smart schedule layout – one that you can easily read and enjoy working with
  15. Up-skill with a refresher course to improve decision making or organisational skills

“The bad news is time flies. The good news is you’re the pilot” – Michael Altshuler. Managing limited time at work will help you to stay focused and work more effectively. The benefits can change your work-life for the better! You will find that you get a lot more done in less time, reduce stress levels and the new schedule will boost your confidence and organisational skills.

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Benefits of Joining a Nursing Agency in Ireland (3mins read)

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Have you considered registering with a nursing employment agency? There are a range of options for nurse’s jobs in Ireland – part-time or full-time. Signing up with a nursing agency offers many benefits to help you with your career decision. They provide opportunities to acquire roles in organisations in Ireland including private nursing homes.

Our nursing recruitment agency works closely with many healthcare providers and regularly put forward a list of suitable nursing candidates for roles within the organisation. These are generally permanent positions.

12 Benefits of Joining a Nursing Agency in Ireland

  1. Flexibility of work shifts including a choice of hours of work
  2. One-to-one consultation with friendly staff who offer support and advice throughout the process
  3. Opportunity to increase earnings, or reduce hours – when needed, and work weekends or night shifts to avail of higher rate pay
  4. Reduces stress in your search for a job
  5. Open to retired nurses as an option to source additional income
  6. If weekend time is precious with family, requesting weekdays only is an option
  7. Opportunity to avail of openings in diverse healthcare settings, and grow your skills and experience
  8. Nursing agencies pay a higher hourly rate of pay and payment is prompt
  9. Nurses with permanent positions can register with a nursing agency to avail of extra hours to boost income
  10. Option to choose place of work, or another position if the position does not work out
  11. Opportunity to explore up-skilling needs
  12. Opportunity to expand existing network circles

“Let us never consider ourselves finished, nurses. We must be learning all of our lives” – Florence Nightingale. Nursing recruitment agencies are a great option to secure regular work that offers flexibility, offers higher pay and opportunity to explore up-skilling needs, and improves work-life balance. Thinking about signing up with a Nursing Agency? Call us today, on 01 8783335 or email recruiter@3qrecruitment.ie – to chat with a member of our friendly team, to explore your options and receive valuable advice.

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How to maximise your hiring process

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How to maximise your hiring process –

It’s a candidate’s market, there are an abundance of jobs open at present and not enough candidates to fill them. While we may not be able to chance the amounts of applications that come in for an open role, what we can do is maximise our hiring process.

Here are some simple steps companies can take to help with the hiring process –

·        Job specification – Ensure that the Job Title, Location, Salary and Hours are clearly displayed on your job advert. Include the duties/ responsibilities that the role involves so candidates will know what is expected of them. Make sure to add in the benefits of working with your company, these can include – pension, health insurance, employee rewards, flexible working or remote working.

·        Advertise on as many platforms as you can – There are many different platforms where a company can advertise their jobs such as Irishjobs, Indeed, Glassdoors. Make sure to utilise all platforms available to you. Advertise your vacancy through your company account on social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. There are also many groups which you can join and post on like LinkedIn groups or Facebook groups. Candidates actively monitor these groups for jobs which may be of interest to them.

·        Application process – Make it as easy as possible for a candidate to apply for your job, simply by having an “apply now” button on the advert or an email contact to send their CV directly. Companies can often look for candidates to fill in a long application document, send their CV, cover letter, and have additional questions on top of these. Some companies even ask for a video application. Candidates get frustrated with all these steps so make sure your application process isn’t too tedious which may put candidates off applying.

·        Phone screen before interview – Candidates can look great on paper, but often times it takes chatting with a prospective employee to know if they are going to be a good match for the role or not. Phone screenings are a great way to find out more about a candidate and what they are looking for before arranging an interview.

·        Be response & have a hiring plan – One of the biggest mistakes companies make is not contacting hot candidates as soon as they apply. Some companies wait a month if not more to contact candidates. I personally had one client contact me after 3 months to arrange an interview with a candidate, the candidate by then, had been working in a new role a number of weeks and was no longer interested. Have a clear, concise recruitment plan is place. Carry out weekly interviews, have a start date in mind for the successful candidate & training plan.  

·        Interview process – An interview is a good way for a candidate to get an insight of what it will be like to work with your company. Give candidates detailed information about the role, your company, the culture, the benefits. Make sure to give a good impression and make the candidate feel comfortable. Use the interview to ask the candidate important questions that are relevant to the role. Also ask candidates if they have any questions at the end of the interview.

·        Interview Outcome – It is important to not keep a candidate waiting after they have had their interview. If you are carrying out other interviews keep the candidate in the loop, even by dropping them a simple email stating that you are interviewing other candidates but will be in touch with them in X number of days regarding outcome. If you know a candidate was not successful right after interview, inform them straight away, don’t leave them waiting for bad news. Give them feedback and insights on what to improve for future interviews.

·        Obtain references – When you are ready to offer a successful candidate the job, it is important to obtain manager/ supervisor references form recent employers before you extent offer.

·        Offer & onboarding – Once you have suitable references extend official offer. Make sure to send the candidate the offer letter, contract, and also onboarding & training documentation.

·        Ask for a Review – It is a great idea to ask applicants for feedback from applicants on how they found the application & interview process. Candidates can leave ratings on your company page on Indeed or Glassdoors. Prospective candidates can then view these reviews and will know that the application & interview process is a pleasant experience.

If you in the Healthcare or Hospitality industry and looking for assistance with your open roles, then give me a call or drop me an email and I would be happy to help.

Charissa Mulholland

Three Q Perms & Temps

01 878 3335

recruiter@3qrecruitment.ie

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The Benefits of Effective Networking

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Effective networking is essential to advance professional development and provides many benefits. It is a fantastic opportunity to expand your business circle, opportunities and personal knowledge. The main elements of networking are based on great communication skills, trust and support. Knowing how to network is a skill that is learned. Developing strategies, over time, will help to make it an enjoyable experience.

Benefits of Networking:

  • Improve career prospects and professional development
  • Provides opportunity to increase knowledge
  • Opportunity to develop new ideas
  • Helps build confidence levels
  • Gain new insights and fresh perspectives
  • Opportunity to develop strong relationships
  • Raises your profile
  • Can result in new opportunities for your organisation
  • Opportunity to further expand your social circle
    • Essential to gain insights into the job market and business world

Developing strategies to improve networking will enhance future opportunities and can advance your career. There are many tips that can help with boosting your morale. Enjoying the sociable experiences of meeting other professionals can bring a positive dimension to the job. Similar to personal relationships, trust is built over time.  

Useful strategies for effective networking:

  • Plan ahead before each networking event
  • Actively participate at networking engagements
  • Try to greet and mingle with as many people as possible
  • Getting to the event early can increase connecting with more individuals – ‘the early bird catches the worm’
  • Staying late can help too
  • Know who is going to be there
  • Practice elevation pitches before the event
  • Bring a small supply of business cards
  • Always follow up on leads after the event, promptly – seek their business card or details, to save a long search after the event.

Networking is an amazing and valuable skill that can bring incredible success and support to your career. It is really important to value and nurture the connections that have been made. It’s important to remember; be genuine with each connection and stay in touch regularly to strengthen the relationship, then trust will follow. “There’s a ton of value in taking the time to build a real human to human relationship” – Mike Allton

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What Employers and Recruiters Look for in CV’s

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Are you unsure of what to put in your CV, or how to structure it? Knowing what details to add can give you a strong lead on being called for an interview! Recruitment agencies and employers look for items that stand out at a glance. These can vary for different jobs. Recruiters are adept at seeking any gaps or discrepancies. The presentation of the CV needs to be considered. The structure to the layout should be clear and easy to read – providing a succinct story, from start to finish. Cover letters are similar to windows of a house. They provide a preview of the CV. It is similar to a sales pitch. Include relevant elements here from your CV, and information that relates to your experience and the job spec.

Some main elements to consider putting into your CV:

  • Previous roles and responsibilities of previous employment, or volunteer work
  • Experience to date – a brief overview
  • Skill-set, including hard and soft skills
  • Results and achievements in previous roles, include any that relate to the job spec
  • Education achieved to date, including course work currently being undertaken or planned up-skilling courses in the pipeline. Evidence of continuous learning is more desirable in an application
  • Keep bullet-points concise
  • Ensure that content is consistent
  • Including a profile headshot provides a personal connection
  • References provide strength to the application, particularly if the recruiter would like to follow up on more information with a third party
  • Including a LinkedIn link can provide additional pertinent information

Remember the CV must be clear in its presentation, easily scanned, and provide the relevant information for the role, including significant keywords. Ensure that dates are accurate and proofread for any typos. Structure the layout so that it’s visually easy to read. HR personnel should be able to review your CV in less than one minute. “Structure is more important than content in the transmission of information” – Abbie Hoffman.

A good cover letter should provide a brief synopsis of the CV and why the candidate is interested in the company, and the role being applied for. Knowing your CV details, and dates, ahead of the interview will provide you with consistency during the interview. Getting these steps right always provides a great first impression.

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Why you should use company reviews in your job search

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Are you currently looking for a new job or considering moving employers in the future? Then we have some useful tips for you to follow before you start applying to prospective employers.

One of the main reasons people leave their jobs is due to a negative work environment. So how can you as a jobseekers ensure that a prospective employer will be a good match? It’s simple – Check company reviews.

What is a company review?

A Company review is a description from an employee or ex-employees about their experience working with a company. They can be used to give us an insight to what it would be like working with a company. Company reviews are available on platforms such as – Indeed, Glassdoors, Monster & More. Companies are usually rated out of 5 stars but employees can also leave comments as to their experience working with a particular employer.

Analyse and consider employee reviews

When viewing company reviews it is important to take certain things into consideration, like what was the date of the review? You want the review to be current. If an employee gave a lower star rating did, they give reasons as to why? You want to ensure that the review was not simply left by a disgruntled ex-employee. Some employees will tell you exactly why they scored a company low and include reasons such as – poor management/ training/ support, poor salary, poor company benefits, toxic work environment etc. If there are positive reviews, make sure to check that what employees consider positive align to what you would be looking for in a prospective employer.

Check for Similar reviews

View multiple reviews to see if there are any patterns or similar reviews. If multiple reviews are commenting on poor management or negative work environment, then this is a red flag.

Compare company reviews

Check out multiple employers and their reviews to see what the differences of working for each would be. While one company may offer a better salary, they may not have good benefits such as pension, health insurance, annual leave etc. See which company best matches up to what you are looking for.

Check Company’s social media pages & website

You can gain further insight to what it would be like working with a particular company by checking out their website and socials. Some companies share content about their staff and events such as birthdays, promotions, employee appreciation days, social outings etc, this is a good way to see what the company culture is like and if a company values and gives recognition to their employees. You can also check to see if they have been re-posting the same job adverts in short spaces of time – this shows a high turnover rate. Check to see if they list the salary & benefits details – a great employer should have nothing to hide!

If you want help with your job search, then call us on 01 878 3335 or email recruiter@3qrecruitment

Charissa Mulholland

Nursing & Healthcare Recruitment Consultant

Three Q Perms & Temps

01 878 3335

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Employment Contracts – Understanding Key Terms and Phrases

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When signing up for a new job, the employee contract can be daunting at the best of times. It includes many terms and phrases that some may find difficult to understand. There are many types of employment contracts including permanent employment, temporary employment, seasonal employment and contracted employment contracts. Employees must agree to the terms when they accept the job, unless they negotiate in advance. Terms typically include elements such as areas of work, holidays, pension, salary, company policy and termination.

Citizens Information is a great source for employees, especially those who are signing contracts for the first time. Their website hosts useful information about employment in Ireland including this link to key ‘Terms and Phrases’ https://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/reference/checklists/checklist_glossary_of_employment_terms.html.

Some terms and phrases included in an employee’s contract:

  • Agency worker – an individual who is employed by an agency
  • Breaks – brief duration periods, for a stretch, cuppa or rest
  • Career break – agreed time from career, unpaid, to care for personal responsibilities or undertake education. Some organisations offer to pay employees during this time
  • Duty of care – by the employer, to ensure the workplace is safe and promotes wellbeing
  • Employee permit – an employment permit is required to work in Ireland for most EEA Nationals
  • Freedom of information – employees are entitled to access government records, under the FOI legislation (freedom of information)
  • Grievance procedure – complaints that require immediate action, and once highlighted there is typically a pre-determined process to work through, for a satisfactory outcome
  • Holiday – paid annual leave including public holidays

Remember, if you’re unsure, contact the employer or HR personnel to query any items on the contract content if you are unsure. They will respond, and answer any queries, and there may be opportunity to negotiate. For additional support, phone Citizen Information Service on 0818 07 4000 Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm. Before signing the contract, ensure that the contract contains what was agreed, and that it is dated and signed by both parties. “It is impossible to un-sign a contract, so do all your thinking before you sign” – Warren Buffet. Once the paperwork is completed, you can start to enjoy the next chapter of your life, in your new career!

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