Getting a job without contacts. Is it possible in Ireland?

Mr. Loverman

Bandana boy wrote: »

As gross generalisations go ,i would disagree
For Sure office politics are important if you want to succeed but also so is competency,visibility,pace,attitude and a score of others.
I have never seen somebody who just had the office politics piece sewn up succeed, in fact the opposite is true in my experience.

Well I didn't actually say office politics is the only thing you need to be good at... but in my experience who likes you, who trusts you, who knows you know their dirt, etc., are far more important than how good you are at your job. Humans are emotional...

cricketfan

Bandana boy wrote: »

As gross generalisations go ,i would disagree
For Sure office politics are important if you want to succeed but also so is competency,visibility,pace,attitude and a score of others.
I have never seen somebody who just had the office politics piece sewn up succeed, in fact the opposite is true in my experience.

Regards OP's question
Ireland is a very small place and it is usually quite easy to find somebody's who has worked with your candidate before.
If you cannot ,this is often a red flag ,obviously this does not pertain to entry level jobs.

I have never known anybody who has got me a job ,but I subsequently found out that ref checks were done with people the hiring manager(or a peer in the company) knew personally I had exposure to and not just the ones I provided.

Some very good points here. I'm not known so I thing I'm coming up against that red flag, regardless of how well I do at interview. This is such a small society hence every one I met, regardless of who they are or for that fact where I met them, becomes a networking opportunity.

Another thought. I also find it very exciting, a game almost, in performing as well as I could possibly do. Going into that interview knowing enough about the employer or where they work, and after dissecting the job description, getting a fair idea on what the questions would be. Mostly I find I'm not too far adrift and that has helped my performance, but still no job. It could just be that on each occasion someone else has shown up who has come across as that bit more knowledgeable and have performed better. That's the positives I've got to take out, the darker thoughts - they've employed someone younger or they've heard good things about them from the grapevine. I shoulder on.

Bringbackrafa

OP i completely agree. I firmly believe its all about WHO you know these days instead of WHAT you know. One example I have of this is my friend did a level 7 marketing course. He only got a pass degree and yet he has the best job out of all my friends because of his dad working in the same company.