Survival of the fittest: Career Advice
Image: lzf/Shutterstock

Survival of the fittest: How to be your best self in your job

14 Apr 2017

Sometimes, being the best at your job is about looking after yourself as much as possible.

At any stage of your career, you might be in need of a little advice. Hunting for a job can be a serious challenge, getting your CV right can be tough and then you finally get called for interview.

At this point, you’ve done a lot of the hard work, but there are still plenty of tips you’ll need to make sure you show off your best self. Luckily, the Careers team here is all about making you shine.

Are you currently on the lookout for your dream job in tech? We spoke to PwC’s Pat Moran about the cybersecurity sector, which is currently crying out for the right candidates. We also found out what it was like to work at Liberty IT.

This week saw more than 300 jobs announced in Dublin, with almost half of them being engineering roles in ESB.

When you are called for a job interview, you’ll probably be nervously prepping how to sell yourself. Suddenly, you’re there and everything is going really well. Then the recruiter says: ‘I think that’s just about everything, unless you have any questions for us?’.

If you’ve ever experienced brain freeze at this point, don’t worry – you’re not alone. However, you should always have an answer to that question ready. That is to say, you should have a question to that question.

Once you’ve gotten through the interview and asked an engaging question or two, you might be delighted to hear that you’ve been successful and that the job is yours.

There’s a good chance that your first day will involve a lot of introductions, tours and paperwork. But you might be wondering how you’re going to get by after that. That’s why we’ve pulled together some handy career advice for how to spend your first few weeks in a new job and really let your skills shine.

Of course, once you settle in and work to the best of your abilities, you have to watch your work-life balance and make sure you’re not overdoing it. We spoke to international speaker, author and coach, Ryan O’Reilly, about how to watch out for burnout in work.

We don’t only seek to help the jobseekers and employees. The HR side of the table has a massive impact on how good an employee’s experiences can be and if you have a positive working environment, you will also have more productivity and a stronger bottom line.

In that spirit, HR professionals need to make sure their employees can trust them enough to tell them if something is wrong. If you feel like they’re not sharing, we have some advice for you.

HR professionals should also be aware of the differing personalities within their team. If you have any introverts in your organisation (and studies show you have plenty), then you should make sure they’re in an environment that will make them thrive.

As always, for more on any of these stories, follow the links below.

1. ‘Any questions?’: What to ask in a job interview

Once you’ve reached the end of a job interview, the recruiter will probably ask if you have any questions for them. Always have an answer ready.

2. Starting a new job? Here’s how to spend your first few weeks

New job? Here’s how to get through those first few daunting weeks.

3. Beware of burnout: How high performers are more at risk

Have you been killing yourself at work lately? You could be heading for severe burnout.

4. Cybersecurity is one of the hottest areas in tech right now

Want to work in cybersecurity? The world is your oyster as the talent shortage puts pressure on the industry.

5. Liberty IT is looking for people with a passion for technology

If you have a passion for technology and want to do more than simply follow a process, you might be the perfect fit for Liberty IT.

6. HR: Can your employees speak freely to you?

Are your employees dropping like flies and you’re left stumped as to why? Is morale down without your knowledge? Maybe your employees don’t feel comfortable coming to you.

7. Google at war with US Department of Labor over pay gap

Google is painting a very different picture to the one portrayed by the US Department of Labor with regard to the company’s gender pay gap.

8. Tech salaries in Northern Ireland surviving Brexit, rising in 2016

A new report into salaries in Northern Ireland has found that various roles in technology are proving robust in the face of Brexit uncertainty.

9. How to accommodate your introverted employees

Introverted employees can be a great asset to any organisation, but only if you help them thrive.

Want stories like this and more direct to your inbox? Sign up for Tech Trends, Silicon Republic’s weekly digest of need-to-know tech news.

Jenny Darmody
By Jenny Darmody

Jenny Darmody became the editor of Silicon Republic in 2023, having worked as the deputy editor since February 2020. When she’s not writing about the science and tech industry, she’s writing short stories and attempting novels. She continuously buys more books than she can read in a lifetime and pretty stationery is her kryptonite. She also believes seagulls to be the root of all evil and her baking is the stuff of legends.

Loading now, one moment please! Loading