How to take the fear out of searching for jobs
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How to take the fear out of your job search

16 Jun 2017

Looking for a new job? That can be a daunting prospect, but it doesn’t have to be.

Are you on the hunt for a new job? It can feel like you’re facing an impossible-to-scale mountain, scarcely knowing where to begin or why someone should even consider hiring you. It can take a lot to set your mind at ease and make you feel confident about taking those first steps.

Sometimes, surmounting that lack of confidence can be something really specific, like upskilling. For those working with code, we took a look at the ins and outs of R programming.

Other times, it can be as simple as nailing your CV. We showed how to perfect the most important part of that document: your skills section.

Make sure to use those new-found skills when you’re applying for one of the many jobs on offer in Ireland this week.

The island saw an influx of jobs, with 731 announced since Monday (12 June). The biggest came from Northern Trust, with Version 1, Promo Pads, Funds-Axis and a host of Northern Irish companies rounding out the rest.

For those interested in more sartorial news, we also looked at jobs that combine fashion and tech.

And if you get offered any of those jobs? Don’t jump at the chance too quickly. There are six important questions you need to ask before you sign on the dotted line.

But what about once you’ve been at the company for a long time? Feel like you deserve a promotion? We pulled together some tips on how to nab one, without having to put in any extra work.

Elsewhere, we looked at the gender gap in the tech sector. We heard from Amanda O’Farrell, a lecturer at IT Tallaght, who is making efforts to raise the number of young women applying for IT courses. This week also saw global professional services firm Accenture pledging to close the gender gap by 2025.

Appropriately enough, we got inside perspectives this week from two women working in sci-tech. Bank of Ireland head of design thinking – and Inspirefest 2017 speaker and panelist – Lesley Tully spoke with us about how design is changing the way banks operate. And Joanne Mackey, a QA professional at Amneal Pharmaceuticals, told us about her surprising career journey from palaeontology to pharma.

And, finally, we took a look at how company culture changes, and yet stays almost exactly the same, in multinationals with offices dotted around the world.

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

1. Everything you need to know about R programming

So many programming languages, so little time. For newbie software developers, or budding data scientists, here’s what you need to know about R programming.

2. How to perfect the most important part of your CV

When you’re looking for jobs, your CV is the first impression you make on potential employers. You need to make sure it’s perfect, from a well laid-out career history to your spelling and grammar. But, if you had to pick one section that was more important than rest, which section would it be?

3. Financial services firm puts Northern Trust in Limerick

Financial services giant Northern Trust is looking to the future. Already armed with 1,000 employees across sites in Hamilton House and City East Plaza, the company wants to bring in 400 new staff over the next five years.

4. Glut of companies to create 182 manufacturing jobs across Northern Ireland

A total of 30 companies have announced 182 jobs across Northern Ireland in various manufacturing sectors, from food production to pharmaceuticals.

5. 5 amazing jobs that combine fashion and technology

Technology is not just sprouting up thousands of jobs in its own field to beckon us over. Instead, it is amalgamating itself into our dream career tracks, and bringing the new jobs to us. All we have to do is find them.

6. 6 questions you need to ask before accepting a job offer

You’ve just been offered a new job. Congratulations! Time to sign contracts, right? Well, maybe not just yet.

7. How to get a promotion without making your day longer

Are you hoping to move up the ladder at work? Good news: that promotion doesn’t necessarily have to involve working harder.

8. Where have all the IT girls gone?

There is a talent gap in tech, matched only by the sector’s diversity gap. Amanda O’Farrell, lecturer at IT Tallaght and the woman behind Become an IT Girl, asks why that gap is there, and proposes a way to close it.

9. Accenture set to close the gender gap by 2025

With so many multinationals under fire for their large gender gaps, Accenture plans to blow them all out of the water with its latest commitment to have a workforce made up of 50pc women by 2025.

10. Design thinking: Where creativity and commercialism collide

From creative arts to fintech solutions, Bank of Ireland’s Lesley Tully has seen the whole world of design thinking take shape.

11. From fossils to pharma: How a palaeontologist returned to the lab

Have you ever thought about pursuing a career in pharma? Joanne Mackey didn’t need a pharmaceutical background to do so.

12. How to ensure your company culture works around the world

Global organisations must strive to have a recognisable, consistent company culture with a little bit of local flavour.

Kirsty Tobin
By Kirsty Tobin

Kirsty Tobin served as careers editor of Silicon Republic from 2015 up to August 2017. When she was younger, she had a dream where she started and won a fight with a T-Rex, so she’s pretty sure she kicked butt at this, too. Passions include eating all the cake, watching more TV than is healthy and sassy comebacks.

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