Shops that employee foreign workers / students

japanpaul

Hi
My fiance came to Ireland with me 6 months ago and thinks that her English is now getting good enough to start looking for a job. She is around about intermediate level of English, (can hold short conversations).
Just wondering does anybody know of any clothes shops on the southside of Dublin or South City Centre that are hiring, or have hired foreign friends for part time work, etc?
Going to go to Dundrum on Saturday morning and just hand in a load of CV's and see what happens too.

Thanks

rick_fantastic

not trying to be stereotypical but..........

mcdonalds

ballooba

rick_fantastic wrote:

not trying to be stereotypical but..........

mcdonalds

Why the hell would she want to work in McD's?

Would you like to work in McD's? in all fairness. Last resort.

I'd think centre of town would be nicer and easier to get to than Dundrum. Now is a really good time for her to be looking for work in the retail sector. Christmas is coming and lots of places are looking for seasonal staff. She'll have to go out and beat the streets with a bagful of C.Vs.

QualderWahl

I would imagine that you would need more than an intermediate level of English to work in a clothes shop. An ex- of mine was German and she spoke excellent English. However, she was unable to secure work in a clothes shop / retail. One of the shop managers she approached stated clearly that the overwhelming majority of their customers are Irish and they preferred dealing with Irish sales assistants. Harsh but true I suppose.

Unfortunately the catering industry is probably the best bet for someone with ropey English. I'm pretty sure that there is better out there than McDonalds though !

japanpaul

QualderWahl wrote:

One of the shop managers she approached stated clearly that the overwhelming majority of their customers are Irish and they preferred dealing with Irish sales assistants. Harsh but true I suppose.

This is my worry aswell. One of her friends got a job handing out the "number of item" tags in a department store changing rooms. A bit boring I know but it's a start. BTW, this shop isn't hiring at the moment.

I worked in McDonalds when I was in college and I have to say it was the worst job I ever had, though it did teach me how to work hard. She is 31 and I don't think she would like to be coming home every night stinking of grease.

Ironically in Japan, she worked in the Japanese version of FAS, finding college graduates suitable jobs.
And to say she has an interest in fashion would be an understatement and for the short and longer term she would love to work in a clothes shop.

[Jackass]

Well there's a contrast in who employs who. From my student days (last year..but I enjoy saying my student days ) I know from experience that some places have a policy to only employ chinese/eastern european/african people for the simple reason that they need the job to keep their visa, to pay rent, and to eat! So they'll show up for work on time, they'll work hard and they wont be spoilt brat students who are only working for money to get p!ssed, but have other soruces of money (mates, GF/BF/, paretns) so they are liable to walking out on the job at any time, not really giving a crap, and not feeling they have to do it, so they wont work as hard.

And I think I would tend to agree with it to an extent (although some people would call it positive discrimination)

On the other hand, some busineses try to maintain Irish staff so they can relate to a almost total Irish clientel... take from that what you will

But your fiance dosen't really fall into either catagory, so my sugestion would be for her to go around alone handing out CVs and if asked/interviewed, say she has just relocated to Ireland and needs to start work asap as she is renting a flat. People will either take sympathy or oppertunity...either way, it's a job.

As for where to apply, anywhere. Go around town, and your local shopping area and just hand in CVs in every shop you pass...simple as that...you'll also find a few places with staff wanted signs in the window around town. Dont forget to try pubs/bars/resteraunts also.

Good Luck

lostinsuperfunk

I know it's not glamorous, but Penney's employs lots of foreign staff with varying levels of English. It's better than McDonald's anyway.;)

homeOwner

Maybe she could get a job teaching Japaneese - is there an equivalent to TEFEL?

Or put up an ad in the paper for Japaneese lessons to tide her over until her english improves and she can get a retail job.