finding it difficult to get decent work in ireland

[iguana2005]

am jsut badk from abroad after 5 years where i left a management job and good pay. left for personal reasons to return home.

am finding it very difficult to get into a similar type job here - actually impossible. am back working for my original employers which is great but realising now i will go no further. have put my cv into bigger companies but to no avail. have even tried cold calling and no response. i feel jobs in ireland are very mush who you know.

Yes i know its a recession but was the original reasong for me leaving 6 years ago. im a great worker, hold diploma, massive personality and well capable. because of this will return to australis next year and am confident that within a year i will be working in a better job again. and i knw of many people in australia who are in great jobs that they would have never come across in ireland.

anyone else feel similar? its very frustrating. most of my friends are working in hospital admin so are looked after permanent/pay/maternity etc..and have no idea of how hard it is to get jobs and do well out of that scene!

[MysticalRain]

I'm in the exact same position. I had decided to leave Ireland for good, but unfortunately I had to return for personal reasons. All I can say is keep trying. I don't thing there is anything more you can do really.

[SIX PACK]

their is 1000's of us in the same boat im a qualified Civil Engineer with 4 years site experience cant get a job in Ireland or Uk. i would crack up only for the woman she keeps me sane lol

[miec]

Ditto here as well, just keep trying is all I can say and maybe have a moan here from time to time. Maybe we should have a jobseekers rant forum

[NOGMaxpower]

Typically Oct Nov Dec Jane & Feb are the worst months to be looking for work. In some cases you can find contract work but only short term in IT and or Finance. All other industries are near impossible to get into.

[MagicMarker]

OP, you should be delighted you even have a job in fairness.

[mood]

I am job hunting and have been told 100 - 200 people are applying for jobs! Things are very difficult. At least you have a job.

[DanGlee]

Definiately enjoy the fact you have a job mate!

I was let go in March from a good IT jobs in big company, was there for over 5 years, have a Masters in Computing and not a sight of a job anywhere!

Its bad times and unfortunately I can't just get up and leave as I have a 5 month old child... so do, really count yourself lucky to be getting more than €204 a week!!!

For the rest of us... we just have boards all day, everyday I would crack up without the Internet / Boards / Facebook / twitter


DG.

[Caoimhín]

Without knowing any of your professions it is difficult to say but have any of you considered starting your own business?

There are lots of incentives such as getting the past few years income tax back if you start a limited company, enterprise Ireland grants, back to work SW allowances. Getting funding of the banks isn't that difficult if you have a solid business plan and a good credit history.

The business does not necessarily have to be in your chosen profession either and there are lots of similar people in your position who might love to join up with you for a venture.

Just a thought.

[kittenkiller]

What would make you so different to everyone else suffering during the recession OP?
There are thousands of people looking for anything out there.
Anyone lucky enough to have a job needs to count their lucky stars and do what they can to hold onto them!

Why wait to move back to Oz?
If you feel you'd be better off over there, head back there.

[KetchupKid]

I'm in the same boat too!! I have degrees, diplomas and years of great experience. I have seen jobs advertised that looked as if the job was made for me, say the job was looking for 10 skills and I'd have 9 or 10 and it's unlikely that anyone else would even have 6-7 of these skills. But despite that I typically don't even receive replies. Are these fake jobs or possibly already filled before advertising?

After being out of work for 4 months now, I'm tired of working for someone else and now also looking to start my own business. The only problem is I don't know what business to start, I have limited capital and during a recession isn't the best time to start a business.

Any business suggestions??

[artful_codger]

Originally Posted by KetchupKid

Any business suggestions??

open a franchise, there are so many opportunities outside of Dublin, but i suspect it's much more difficult than just going to Pizza Hut and the Bank head offices and saying you want to open a franchise But still, smaller towns across ireland are crying out for places like Subway, Pizza Hut, Dominos etc. In the town where i live (Portarlington in Laois, pop. 6,000) there's at least four Chinese takeaways, two indian takeaways and a chipper. What i wouldn't give for a Mexican restaurant or a Steakhouse, or a nice Snooker hall, or for someone to re-open the old Savoy Cinema. Most people don't live in Dublin city, yet they have to go there for things like this.

edit: i'd even like to see a sticky in this forum where people can post suggestions for businesses in their town, and why they think it'd work, and let the entrepreneurs out there see what opportunities are out there.

[kittenkiller]

I'd try to get into private debt recovery if I was to start into a new industry.
It's going to boom in the next few years.

[KetchupKid]

Originally Posted by artful_codger

open a franchise, there are so many opportunities outside of Dublin, but i suspect it's much more difficult than just going to Pizza Hut and the Bank head offices and saying you want to open a franchise But still, smaller towns across ireland are crying out for places like Subway, Pizza Hut, Dominos etc.

A restaurant is something I was thinking about, but not a franchise. I actually hate most of those franchise fast-food places, although I agree in some places there is a need, but many other parts of the country there are too many of these places, Subway seems to be everywhere now and I don' very t think they are very good and many of them don't seem to be doing too well. I was talking to a man who delivers bread to the likes of Tesco and Dunnes and he said their business is booming recently, since people aren't going out to eat as much and bringing sambos to work.

My wife and I are both great cooks and we've thought about the restaurant idea and although we are both educated with loads of management and business experience, other than when we were students, neither of us have any real restaurant experience.

There such a huge mark-up in the restaurant business, it's seems lucrative, but most of them always seem to fail. I know there's a lot of overhead involved but with the right formula it could work. I'd like to start a restaurant with good portions of great quality home cooked meals and a reasonable price, but low prices would actually keep many away. It seems that people only seem to like the high priced poor portions and poor quality pretentious meals. Maybe with the collapse of the Celtic Tiger, the yuppies will revert back to normal people and something like this would have a chance. I'd chance the "Recession Restaurant", but I suppose that doesn't sound glamorous enough.

Any thoughts??

[mood]

Apparently most restaurants fail in the first year. Having no experience in the area would be a problem IMO. Also being a good cook is not enough. You would need to hire a qualified chef with plenty of experience.

Why not open a business in the industry you are experienced in?