How are people searching for jobs? (Or should I stay or should I go?)

Vag

Like a lot of people here I am looking for work, but things look bleak to say the least and so I am considering moving abroad if I can’t find something soon. I am just curious as to what peoples job hunting routines are? For example, each day I check the likes of jobs.ie, gradireland, irishjobs.ie, publicjobs.ie, Linkedin etc.
All I seem to ever see are jobs as door to door salesmen, charity muggers, recruitment consultants, movie extras, chefs (which I am not) etc. Having read a lot of peoples experiences on this forum I am very weary of jobs advertised by recruitment agencies that may or may not even exist and so I exclude their listings in my searches.
Every so often a decent recruitment drive/competition or graduate internship (with the possibility of a paid job and not the slave labour offered by Scambridge) will appear such as Central Bank, DAA etc. but these are few and far between. Are there any more of these legitimate ones on the horizon that anyone knows about?
Is there some other website/resource I am missing out on? I knew things were bad but if this is seriously the job market I am outta here!

bee06

I use Indeed.ie, it's basically google for job adverts so you get all the job websites in one place.

Vag

Ah cool thanks, I had forgotten about that one actually!

Vag

Bump

Jim2007

Vag wrote: »

I am very weary of jobs advertised by recruitment agencies that may or may not even exist and so I exclude their listings in my searches.

Minimizing the number of opportunities you have on the off chance they might not be genuine does not seem like much of a strategy, espically when one is having difficulty identifying opportunities in the first place! Developing a strategy for dealing with agencies would be a better approach...

Mr. Loverman

simoon86 wrote: »

Agencies are crap, never use them, go to Linkedin instead.

I don't agree. I have gotten previous jobs via agencies.

For sure there are some bad ones, but giving up on them altogether reduces your chances of finding a job.

Martin567

Jim2007 wrote: »

Minimizing the number of opportunities you have on the off chance they might not be genuine does not seem like much of a strategy, espically when one is having difficulty identifying opportunities in the first place! Developing a strategy for dealing with agencies would be a better approach...

One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different result each time. Dealing with agencies can be very much like that.

When you find yourself ringing or emailing agencies up to four times over the space of several days before they can be bothered to respond, you know you're wasting your time. To be honest, I find talk of developing a strategy to deal with them to be very glib when getting them to engage with you at all in the first place can be almost impossible.

Jim2007

Martin567 wrote: »

One definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting a different result each time. Dealing with agencies can be very much like that.

When you find yourself ringing or emailing agencies up to four times over the space of several days before they can be bothered to respond, you know you're wasting your time. To be honest, I find talk of developing a strategy to deal with them to be very glib when getting them to engage with you at all in the first place can be almost impossible.

Well if emails and calling are getting you no where then it is time for a new strategy.... definition of insanity and all that!

I'm over 50 and I got a medical disability, so not very employable and I spent 3 months job searching last year. I worked the agencies and managed to get 9 first client interviews, which eventually led to 3 job offers. The thing is I started out by visiting the agents in person, collecting direct phone numbers, mobile numbers and private email addresses. I dropped in from time to time for a coffee just to keep me in their mind when job specs landed on their desks.

Expecting someone who probably gets 500+ emails a day to get back to you is unrealistic, they are just not going to get through them everyday.

professore

Agencies are in general really bad.

You disparagingly refer to Scambridge, and there are crap ones out there, however there are a lot of employers who are looking to hire someone and it's a cost effective way to try them out. Even if not, they might know other companies who do need a permanent staff member. When I came out of college in 93 I offered to work for free with several companies to gain experience.

The best way to get a job is to prove yourself motivated and good at it to an employer - that is rare enough to put you ahead of the other candidates, regardless of qualifications or experience. So I'd suggest getting a Job Bridge position, but carefully select it.

Vag

Thanks for the replies. However, I am more interested in making sure I am utilising all the online job resources available to me rather than debate the pros and cons of recruitment agencies. So if anyone can add any to the above list mentioned in my original post, that would be great.

Also Jobbridge is simply not an option. I don't mind starting on the bottom rung of the ladder - provided there is a ladder to climb and it's not just a dead end. I need to get paid for work. I am quite happy to emigrate before I would do a Jobbridge scheme.

Drake66

Do a jobridge in a big company and impress them. As someone already said the bigger companies will use it as a trial period and you can push for a paid position

Jim2007

Vag wrote: »

Also Jobbridge is simply not an option. I don't mind starting on the bottom rung of the ladder - provided there is a ladder to climb and it's not just a dead end. I need to get paid for work. I am quite happy to emigrate before I would do a Jobbridge scheme.

Well unless you have very good qualifications and experience, you are going to find it is just as hard to find a job abroad as it is at home, with one added disadvantage - you will be a foreigner! It is true that most European countries at least, have lower unemployment rates than Ireland, but that does not mean it is easy to walk into a job. Over here the unemployment rate is around 3.3%, but according to the statistics it still takes on average about 9 months for someone with experience to find a job and for foreigners the figure is even higher - around 14 months.

Vag

I absolutely agree, it is not going to be easy to get a job abroad but I am still willing to take my chances elsewhere.

misterx12345

I also agree with you, even though it's not easy to find a job as foreigner, you will at least have much more possibilities.
I know friends that moved to Belgium without even knowing the Dutch language.
They had a family relative and thus could stay there in the beginning.
After couple of very awful jobs, they are now living quite good with a proper job and also learning the language.
Just avoid expensive counties like Norway

Jim2007

misterx12345 wrote: »

Just avoid expensive counties like Norway

Well Switzerland is a very expensive country, but a recent survey found:

- The average unemployment duration is 7 months

- People apply in average 46 times before getting a job

- for 57% of candidates an average of 1 in 5 applications lead to an interview

- unsuccessful applications are caused in 2/3 by company not making an offer and 1/3 the candidate declining the offer.

hfallada

Jim2007 wrote: »

Well Switzerland is a very expensive country, but a recent survey found:

- The average unemployment duration is 7 months

- People apply in average 46 times before getting a job

- for 57% of candidates an average of 1 in 5 applications lead to an interview

- unsuccessful applications are caused in 2/3 by company not making an offer and 1/3 the candidate declining the offer.

Switzerland isnt in the EU. OP will have to apply for a working visa

Jim2007

hfallada wrote: »

Switzerland isnt in the EU. OP will have to apply for a working visa

In most cases for EU citizens it is simply a matter of going to the local government office with a copy of your employment contract and one will be issued.

The bilateral agreement between Switzerland and the EU makes it more are less like the EU when looking for work, at least for the moment.