I'm looking for a job - July August September

Szymon

I'm a student and I'm looking for a job in Ireland. I'm interested in July, August and September. Good computer skills are my advantage (I study computer science and econometrics), but I can do wide range of jobs (e. g. factory, warehouse and precise physical labours are also welcome). I'm 22 and speak good English. If there's anyone who can help me find a job, please post a message here. As for the place, I don't have concrete expectations (obviously I'm not from Ireland and every city in Your country suits me). Opportunity for earning money is essential for me, but I can work hard for this.
Hope that someone can help me. Thanks for every answers.
Szymon

irishguy

Take a look here http://www.fas.ie/jbframe.htm There is no problem finding a job in Ireland at the moment, mabey apply to a few places a month before you come over or just come here and you should find a job no problem. Also have a look at the sticky for job hunting advice

Black_Couch

Thanks for that link. Plenty of jobs there for part-time but nothing there specifically for the summer. I've been looking for a while now for a decent summer job but no luck! There isn't much advertisement at all for summer jobs. I'm studying Business and was hoping to get some good experience but its quite difficult even finding the places that are hiring!

Cpl/HP , Dont tell them your looking for summer worK only

Bam Bam

supermarkets are always hiring. Lousy pay, lousy hours but it'll tide you over until something better comes along.

Black_Couch

coolsmileygirl wrote:

Cpl/HP , Dont tell them your looking for summer worK only

Yeah but u won't get a good reference out of them at the end!



Working in supermarkets would be similiar to working in retail i'd imagine and I hated retail! Some of the job sites are terrible for finding summer work.

I came across a few internships most stating that u had to be in your penultimate year of study. IBM and rent a car enterprise (not sure what its called) were the only two that didn't require to be in your final year but I can't get commute to Mulhuddart (IBM) and I don't have a car as required by the enterprise rent a car.

Was looking for somewhere not too far from city centre.

Szymon

irishguy wrote:

(...) or just come here and you should find a job no problem. (...)

thanks for Your reply. I also wonder if You could recommend me the city to choose? I dont't know Ireland as good and Your advices would be very helpful. Is Dublin the best for a summer job? Or I should better try other city (e.g. Limerick )?

irishguy

Well if your going to be working in an unskilled job you wont be paid very well (€8 - €12 per hour) so i would recomend staying away from Dublin as it is quite expensive. Any other part of the country would be fine, mabey something in the south east as they get a nicer summer or possibly Limerick

[Jackass]

Do up about 30 CVs, walk around town handing them into places and keep an eye out for shops etc with signs up in the window looking for people...that's what I used to do, shouldn't take you too long, you can find a job in a weekend.

Black_Couch

Part-time jobs can be found easy enough handing cvs especially in retail stores. They have such a high turnover of staff that they'll take on anyone really.

Any other tips for finding decent summer jobs?

Szymon

Thanks for Your advices.

And what about accomodation? Is it necessary to find something before coming to Ireland (I mean via internet)? Or perhaps it won't be a problem to find a flat after arrive? Could You give me a tip for what should I do and what are average costs of hiring a flat (decent, no luxury of course)?

irishguy

Your best bet is to rent student accomodation for the summer you will get it very cheap. Depends on where your going if your going to Limerick try http://www.groveisland.com/ i stayed there for a summer 2 years ago it was €50 per week per room including all bills. Very nice apartments cable+internet and very near city center. You can get even cheaper out by UL but its a bit out from the city center

Szymon

I'm almost decided to come to Ireland (mostly thanks to Your advice ), but I wonder if it's a better idea to go to Limerick or to Cork. I checked the jobs (www.fas.ie) and there are more vacancies in Cork than in Limerick. But I also know that lots of people come to Cork every summer which makes looking for a job harder. Where do You think I have the better chance to find a job? I've heard that in Cork during summer months it can be almost impossible. Is that true?
Besides, I have one more question: how much is a second-hand computer in Ireland? I mean something that can be used for internet only (I'm asking because in the student accomodation there is usually internet access in room, but surely there is no computer, so I'll have to buy some cheap one).

BuffyBot

Check out the FS (For Sale) Computer Hardware forum here on boards - http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/forumdisplay.php?f=452

It should give you some ideas

Stark

Pokemon wrote:

I've heard that in Cork during summer months it can be almost impossible. Is that true?

Yup. I've always found the summer jobs rush to be very difficult. Thank Christ I'm in permanent employment these days.

Civilian_Target

Black_Couch: What do you mean can't commute the IBM, there's a direct bus, or you can cycle.

And Irishguy, you must be a bit out of touch with part-time work wages, €12 is a pretty good wage for most summer jobs in Ireland, I'll be earning €10.35 an hour and working in Dublin this summer, and I'll be earning more than most people I know. It's very possible to live in Dublin on the minimum wage if you live in a shared house.

To the OP - fas.ie is a good recommendation, you might also want to check monster.ie
By your username, you sound eastern european, which may well be a bonus to you, particularly if you're looking for manual labour, especially Poles, Latvians, Lithuanians have a reputation as being good workers, and often Irish labourers don't get a look in unless they have a speciality. Be aware though that you'll probably have to do a safepass course if you plan to do manual work, which takes a day.

Black_Couch

it would prob take me at least 2-3 hours to cycle each way. And there is no direct bus. I would have to get 2 buses taking up to 4 hours a day in commuting.

No thanks!

Sam Vimes

Black_Couch wrote:

IBM and rent a car enterprise (not sure what its called) were the only two that didn't require to be in your final year but I can't get commute to Mulhuddart (IBM) and I don't have a car as required by the enterprise rent a car.

maybe you could rent one from them ?

Szymon

Civilian_Target - yes, I'm from Poland (which is not very difficult to guess ). So you think that Dublin can be a good place for me to find a job? Is it really so expensive? I think that it is easier to find a job in Dublin than in any other city in Ireland, but you know (it's obvious ), first of all I want to earn some money that summer, not only live. If it is possible to live in Dublin on the minimum wage and also save some money, I will have to think about going to Dublin instead of Cork or Limerick. You seem to be a very up-to-date person - do you know any good sites that I can use to find an accommodation in Dublin? And is it really that Poles have a reputation as being good workers? I've heard different opinions and I don't know what to expect after arrive.

irishguy

If your looking for accomodation in Dublin try www.draft.ie but on minimum wage you wont have much money left over in Dublin if you work 40hrs a week you will have €306 - tax & insurance . You will be paying over a 1/3 of your wages before tax on accomodation alone. Once you add everything in you wont have much left unless you do alot of overtime. Its up to you but if all your getting is minimum wage i would say away from Dublin

Szymon

Irishguy, I know that you said that there is no problem finding a job in Ireland at the moment, but last weeks I do nothing but finding information about Ireland's employment market and I'm more and more worried about going to Ireland. I can read everywhere that it's really hard to find an unskilled job in Ireland, especially when being from Poland (the number of Poles in Ireland is growing, and everyone is looking for an unskilled job). Does it make sense for me to go to Ireland? I wonder what is your opinion, because it is rather expensive for me to buy the airplane tickets and hire accommodation. I have to be almost sure that I will find a job, and you seems to have knowledge about the situation on the employment market - that is why I'm asking you.
As you live in Limerick, maybe you can tell me something about Poles living there. I've read that number of Poles in Limerick is quite big and some of them are begging for money on the streets because lots of them can't find a job. I know you can find such question stupid, but I just don't know what to expect after arrive. You must know the realities in your city so you can tell me something about that.
Thanks for all your tips

irishguy

Well there is allot of eastern European people in Ireland especially in Dublin, its true that there is more competition for unskilled jobs also. I worked in a restaurant in Limerick last year there were people from all over the world working there, including a guy who spoke absolutely no English or any other language that was spoken by anyone else in the restaurant, yet he still got hired. Another girl came over from Estonia on her own, got a job +accommodation and started work all within 2 days and she knew no one here. If you are willing to work in restaurants/bars/factories I don’t think it would be hard to get a job. The only thing is that you are coming at the start of the summer and you will be competing with the thousands of Irish students who are also looking for summer jobs, you would really have to be looking for summer jobs around now but that would be hard as you are not here for interviews. There is quite a diverse population in Limerick and even a polish bar that a lot of Irish people go to and everyone gets on (especially with the polish women as they are hot ). There are very few people begging on the street in Limerick and i dont think i have seen any from poland (but there might be). Its up to yourself really but ryanair do very cheap flights so you can got home if you cant find a job, you may want to talk to some polish people and see what they say about finding jobs in Ireland

Szymon

'CE Rates' - what does it mean? And 'JLC Rates' or 'DOE'?

Black_Couch

DOE means depending on experience

mada999

why don't you try mcdonalds...??

Szymon

Black_Couch - thanks. There are now only two left which I don't understand

mada999 - you think mcdonalds is a good idea? I've thought about it, but I don't know the realities (if there is a high staff turnover they have to hire new employees often, but I don't know if it is so?). Is it possible to apply for a job in mcdonalds being abroad? 'For restaurant positions please contact the manager at the restaurant you wish to work in' - this is quotation from mcdonalds website and there is no e-mail address which seems you have to be there for an interview. Do you know something more about getting job in mcdonalds?

Black_Couch

Where are u staying in Ireland for these months?
Find the nearest shopping centre and hand in a cv to every shop in there stating that u can work full time immediately for 3 months. The key to getting ANY job is to TRY everywhere.

Szymon

Yes, I know I have to try that's for sure. The problem is that I can't try at this moment because I'm not in Ireland yet. I'm trying to get some knowledge of what the situation is and where to go. As for your question where I'm staying - u see, this is my problem: Limerick or Cork? I think of these two cities, and I'll choose one of them but don't know which yet. I found an accomodation in both, there is a better offer in Cork, so I think I'll go to Cork, but still not sure because of high competition in the summer months there. Getting some tips for what city to choose was one of the reasons why I started this thread. I really appreciate every your tip because I've never been to Ireland before and every little advice is valuable for me.

Black_Couch

I'd say go to Cork. Bigger city. Easy to get a job there. You don't have to have a job sorted before hand although it would be handier. Just have plenty of cvs printed out. Hand them in everywhere and sell yourself to the manager of each shop. Try this and you'll get a job within a couple of hours I'd say.

lost_for_words

Szymon -

You should consider Waterford, although not as big as Cork, Limerick or Dublin, it has a lot to offer someone coming for just the summer months. As students are gone for the summer you can rent a place really cheap sometimes 30-40 a week, and there is already a Polish community so I would imagine sharing would be quite easy. Seeing as you have such good english and are studying computer science you could try for a job in AOL (call centre) in the technical support department, the pay is good and they run a summer scheme for students so I'm sure you'd get a job easily enough. If not, there are loads of other factory type jobs that you could try for.
A lot of Polish students go to Waterford each year, and i have been told they can earn enough in the summer for them not to have to work during the following college year in Poland.
Best of Luck

chump

I don't think you'll have much luck Szymon.
At the very least you'll have to lie and pretend you're staying in Ireland for the forseeable future.

Also, coming in July is dangerous as all the Leaving Cert students have hit the streets at that stage soaking up any left over casual jobs.
And this year will be tougher than most considering the growing number of foreign nationals.

Maybe look somewhere else/ come earlier / or if your good-looking & up4it become a dancer (I'm assuming your female of course)

Szymon

lost_for_words wrote:

A lot of Polish students go to Waterford each year, and i have been told they can earn enough in the summer for them not to have to work during the following college year in Poland.

lost_for_words - that's exactly what I intend to do
I've bought the tickets to Cork (I'm flying with my girlfriend together). We'll be there 15th June. Fortunately I've not paid for the accomodation yet so I can go to Waterford and try there. You see, I'm reading posts that are written in the Polish community's in Cork sites, and I'm frightened! They say that it is impossible to find a job there at the moment. Lots of people are there for few months now and are looking all the time and they find nothing. So it seems to be a nonsense to go to Cork. If you say that Waterford is a good idea, I will think about it. In fact, I have no big choice. I'll be very grateful if you could give me some more detailed information about Waterford ('... there are loads of other factory type jobs that you could try for...' - is it really that there are factories in this not very big city?). Besides, I've heard that people from south Ireland have difficuld accent, especially in Cork. Is it in Waterford also? As for my level of English, I think I have good English when reading and writing. I understand almost everything but sometimes find it hard to express myself quickly and distinctly (this is my second aim for this summer: improve my speaking English. The first one is to earn money of course:) ). And where are you from? Do you know Waterford personally?

lost_for_words

For accomodation try www.daft.ie and select the short-term option once exams are over most landlords who rent to students will be advertising, or you could try the local newspaper The Munster Express which is available at www.munster-express.ie where you can look at renting and also jobs. If you come prepared with cvs you (and lots of them) you should find something. There is Hasbro (that make the toys), Bausch and Lombe (contact lenses), Aventis, Honeywell, and more in the Industrial Estate which is easily accessed by local bus. If factories don't work out, like I suggested before there is AOL and similar call centres. Aside from that you could try hotel work, just look up a list of hotels in the area and apply to them, maybe working in a kitchen or something like that. As someone else suggested there is always McDonalds who are always taking people on and given that the cost of living in Waterford is less than other cities (although it will be much higher than Poland) you should be able to save a lot.
For general info try http://www.waterfordtourism.org/
For work try www.irishjobs.ie
Try here for some local links http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=198536

lost_for_words

oh and the waterford accent isn't half as bad as the Cork one

chump

And remember most importantly to let on that you will be around until at least Christmas...

Szymon

Your posts are very useful:) thanks. I'll try all that you've written about.
Are you from Waterford? It looks like you're living there (lots of details in your post). It is good if so, because you must know the situation if you live there. And if you know the situation and still advice me going to Waterford, the situation must be rather good:)

And remember most importantly to let on that you will be around until at least Christmas...

Is it really so big difference for the employers if you're staying for 3 months or for longer? I can stay in Ireland even for a year (I can take one year off in my university, that's no problem) if I only find a satisfactory job.

BuffyBot

Is it really so big difference for the employers if you're staying for 3 months or for longer?

For most jobs, yes. Employers like to see some "commitment" from a prospective employee.

lost_for_words

Yeah I am from Waterford, advice is only based on what others have experienced here, and maybe I'm a little biased
You don't have to actually stay for a year, but if you are asked in an application form or in an interview it is better to say (lie if you have to) that you are staying permanently. An employer doen't want to take somebody on if they are going to be leaving soon after. Once you are employed it won't matter, just hand in your notice two weeks before you leave you don't have to give a reason, and that way you will get a nice reference too

Szymon

lost_for_words - one question for you. Such place: CARRAIG HEIGHTS, GRACEDIEU - is it good location for me? I try to locate it on the google internet map but I can't find it. Can you recommend this place to me (you know better where I need the accommodation in Waterford in order to have good possibilities for finding a job)? Is it in the walking distance to the city center, tesco, mcdonald, bus station and so on?

Szymon

So, in 10 days I'm going to go to Ireland. Are there any useful tips for me? Anything more I should know before the trip? Something that you haven't written yet, but think that is such important that should be written? Or generally any things that someone wants to tell me?

lost_for_words

hello again,
Gracedieu is a nice area alright and easily accessed by the town bus system, but I would reccommend trying to get somewhere a little more central as it means you will have easier access to most parts of the city and the suburbs too where the factories etc are.
You could always try supermarkets for jobs, such as Aldi, Lidl, or some of the bigger ones like tesco, shouldn't be too hard to get jobs there and the pay isn't too bad, make sure you say that you are staying in Ireland though, nobody wants to take on someone for just three months. When it's time to go home just give your employer a weeks notice, and you will be fine.
Waterford is small enough to get around easily so I cant see you having any problems there. If you need photocopying (for cv) go to Astral, it's a secretarial service in the Book Centre (in the middle of town you can't miss it). If you need internet access there is a internet cafe on the quay opposite the clock tower (these names will be familiar when you get here), I think there is another one opposite the cinema too.
Be sure to set up a bank account as most employers will want to pay you directly into that, try www.aib.ie and see what information you will need to set up the account. Unlike some European countries you can go into any branch of your bank, anywhere in the country, and do all your transactions there (i.e. withdraw/deposit/ send money to your account in your home country).
If you get stuck or can't find something send me a PM if you want and I'll see if I can find some answers for you, other than that enjoy your summer

Szymon

hi lost_for_words
actually there was the opportunity to hire a room in gracedieu but someone was faster than me. Now I intend to stay in the student apartment ("The apartments are found on Ballytruckle Road, just 5 minutes from the city centre" - this is what a man from Manor Properties wrote to me). What do you think about Ballytruckle Road?
Thanks one more time for your advice. I'll send you a PM if I have a question that you could answer.

chump

Szymon wrote:

hi lost_for_words
actually there was the opportunity to hire a room in gracedieu but someone was faster than me. Now I intend to stay in the student apartment ("The apartments are found on Ballytruckle Road, just 5 minutes from the city centre" - this is what a man from Manor Properties wrote to me). What do you think about Ballytruckle Road?
Thanks one more time for your advice. I'll send you a PM if I have a question that you could answer.

Szymon I've been looking for a job for the same months as you, I start full-time job in Sept., and to be honest it's very tough.
You have to look for a temp job really, and there just aren't any - what with all the students getting off and all the immigrants, and the fact that most casual work jobs are filled already. All I'm saying is - it's v. tough. SO be aware.

All in all I've been onto 15 odd agencies for temp work, I'm irish with plenty of experience and good education and only 2 of them have any time for me and are doubtful there will be anything, as there just isn't the temp jobs - and they've told me themselves any chance I have, that there are so many foreign workers looking for similar work, they haven't much of a hope

Szymon

chump, where are you from? I know that in the big cities competition is very tough, but maybe in Waterford (as it is not so big and maybe the number of immigrants is not so big as well?) is better? Anyway, thanks for being honest. I thought not to go to Ireland but don't know if giving up before I try is good. I also thought about going to England instead of Ireland, but think that your country is much more worth seeing it, even if there are difficulties to find a job. I've read lots about its history and really think that it will be interesting - to get to know the country and the people. I decided to try, altough it may be really expensive for me. I've already bought the ticket to Poland and if I don't find a job in one month, I will go back. If I find - I'll stay for longer.

Hope that I'll stay for longer, altough I know that it won't be easy.

If you have any other comments I will read them with pleasure

lost_for_words

Szymon wrote:

hi lost_for_words
actually there was the opportunity to hire a room in gracedieu but someone was faster than me. Now I intend to stay in the student apartment ("The apartments are found on Ballytruckle Road, just 5 minutes from the city centre" - this is what a man from Manor Properties wrote to me). What do you think about Ballytruckle Road?
Thanks one more time for your advice. I'll send you a PM if I have a question that you could answer.

Yeah Ballytruckle is fine, close to town, the local park and there is a tesco around the corner.

Szymon

nice good to hear it.

Szymon

In 2 days I'm in Waterford. I've prepared 100 CVs. Hope that it won't be necessary to prepare the next 100 . Thanks for all your tips. I maybe write something when I'm in the place. If I find a job, I'll write about it for sure :rolleyes:

lost_for_words

Best of luck!! Also I've been told that Statoil (petrol station) is taking on staff and apparently a lot of Polish people are working there so it might be worth looking into. If you got the apartment in Ballytruckle there is a Statoil very near there.

Szymon

Thanks I'll try there.

Slippers

Szymon wrote:

'CE Rates' - what does it mean? And 'JLC Rates' or 'DOE'?

CE means Community Employment http://www.fas.ie/services_to_jobseekers/community_employment.html
There is also some general information about coming to Ireland here: http://www.fas.ie/services_to_jobseekers/Know_Before_you_go/jezykpolski/home.html

Szymon

Thanks for that link