Search Results for 'www.slinuacareers.com/galway'

Q: I am going for a promotion in my job – it’s a public service position, Along with all my job details (i.e. dates worked, positions and responsibilities), there are another 12 sections in the application form where I’ve got to elaborate on what I learned, my greatest strengths, specialist knowledge, examples of self-development, where I showed leadership, how I make decisions etc. I’d want to take a week off work to complete it. Or am I missing something here? – (LT, email).

At Sli Nua Careers, we host quite a few people of various ages on work placement – 40-somethings on back-to-work courses, young adults in college, and Transition Year (TY) teenagers. It is always interesting to see how different people approach these placements, writes Liam Horan, Career Coach, Sli Nua Careers.

Q: I love my work – I get on well with my colleagues, I like my work content, my work is convenient to my home and it suits my home life. I do not want to change job, but I believe I should be paid more for all that I do at work. (EJ, email).

Ask questions. Seriously. “I ask the questions around here, not you” might be the smartass interviewer’s response. But the enlightened one will see questions as your effort to learn more so that you can use your answers to meet their needs. An interview should tend towards a conversation: in conversation, we ask questions. (Just make sure you ask good questions, but that’s another day’s column).

For employers, the stakes are high too. You think it is a disaster if you do not get the job. However, another interview is likely to come along. The employer who hires the wrong person may well have a world of trouble ahead of them, writes Liam Horan, Career Coach, Sli Nua Careers.

During competency-based interviews, candidates are asked questions about specific situations where they have shown themselves have competencies that match the job description. In many instances, it is better for candidates to take the broader perspective by using proven answering methodologies that give more comprehensive answers to both the opening and follow-up, or probing, questions, writes Pearse O’Donnell, Career Coach, Sli Nua Careers.

A regularly neglected or misunderstood area of preparing for a job interview is that of researching the organisation.

Some of us have accumulated the odd ‘skeleton in the wardrobe’ over the course of our careers. Most of these ‘skeletons’ are minor in nature and can be easily explained. However, others can damage your chances of getting that job, particularly if not addressed properly, writes Pearse O’Donnell, Career Coach, Sli Nua Careers.

Going for an ‘inside job’ – no, not a bank heist – can be very trying. In fact, I’m sure a bank heist can be trying too, though it’s not a a career path we tend to recommend.

Q: I didn’t finish my degree because I started working. Now I’m trying to get a new job, and I’m a bit iffy about the fact that I didn’t see out college. Can I skip those years on my CV? (DD, email).