This is how it starts

Losing a job is not easy. Of course it is not true for the first day, week, month, or two. Oh, it feels more like a blessing. You can spend in bad as much time in the morning as you want to, watch all your favorite TV soaps (or start to watch one), eat, walk, bath, talk with friends when you want to and as many as you want to, and simply do nothing for the whole day. It seems like you deserve a rest, after so many sleepless nights, stress and constant fight for survival at work. There is no greater pleasure then feeling of calm happiness and peace when you open your eyes in the shinny lights of the warm sun, still in the charm of a wonderful dream. At the beginning this sudden freedom gives you wings of new opportunities, forgotten dreams, and hobbies. There are so many things in this life that you can do, want to do but never had a time for that. I remember how it was for me at the beginning… I had to buy a diary in order to put into schedule all things that were in my mind and I wanted to do. All my forgotten passions came to live – I wanted to dance, play piano, ride a horse, read books, and watch TV. I thought that would be not enough time for me to do all of that…
Unfortunately those feelings didn’t stay for long. At the first evening night when all members of my family was gathered and started to talk about their day accomplishments, success, problems, people they met at work…. Strong feeling that something missing in my life came along. I could clearly see difference between me and the rest of the world. Not much to share… (unless of course about this very tasty dish I cooked and how I managed to do that). First thoughts of misery came into my mind. It got worse. Due to this crisis I could not find a job. Potential employers seem to hide somewhere away from the eyes of people. And then again, most of my things in the “to do list” required money… now I could see problem and constant worries filled in my heart. Obsessed with the necessity of getting job and money I was knocking into doors of potential employers. Probably because of my eagerness that was written in the eyes, or just because of great competition, they all refused me. Which made me worried more….
Worries are not gone… But it got better, since I decided to take advantage of my new life. I was looking at my life from the perspective of stranger that would want the same life as I have for him/her self. And new opportunities started to arise. I came down and now I continue to do things I want to do, just looking with the hope to the future.

The best places to look for job if you are not EU

It is very difficult to find job if you are Irish, but if you are not EU and need work permit of any kind it is even harder. Although there is one advantage that you can use – knowledge of your native language. Start looking for a job in:

Customer support for your market
Companies that both present in Ireland and your home countries
Companies that supply or buy goods from/to your country
International business associations
Any big multinational that may plan to open a branch in your country

Work permit for non EU

With today economic situation in the world and in Ireland exactly it is getting almost impossible to receive work permit/spousal work permit/ green card, etc.

Back in 2000-2007 Ireland was one of the most welcoming countries for non EU to look for job. Since demand on worker was much higher than actual amount of people living in Ireland. It was wonderful back that time. People keep on saying that Ireland took almost everyone who was asking for job.

Now it is so different. Since economy in decline, and number of working places is decreasing dramatically. Irish government want to ensure that Irish citizen (or EU) would get a job first. It is understandable – country want to protect its people. So starting from 1 June of 2008 it is almost impossible to get work permit if you are not EU due to new set of rules and procedures.

Although those who arrived before that date, still have a chance. If you have managed to find job that is 35 hours per week in good company, work permit will be issued in the course of two weeks maximum. In case you have found job that is only part time, procedures may take longer, since they need to double check all information.

Check list before going to work outside EU

If you decided to work outside the Eu check following information before going:

What are the visa/work authorisation requirements?
What employment protection measures are in force (unfair dismissals, maternity leave, etc.)
What health care facilities are available to me?
Am I required to have any vaccinations before I can travel?
What accommodation/tenancy rights are in force?
What is the tax situation? Does Ireland have a tax agreement with the country?
What is the social security position?

Going to work outside the Eu maybe a great risk and a great benefit all together. Some of the countries would have poor tax system or almost no social security. The best advice would be to find a job in the country you want to go before actually going there. It is very handy. Since your employer will propose you benefits, accommodations, etc. Keep in mind that you always can return back but if you don’t give it a chance, you would never know how it is.

Ability test as part of interview process

While passing interview to one of the multinational or financial companies you may find yourself at the stage of interview that would be conduct in the form of ability test. This test is designed to test your initial ability to comprehend information and basic of logical thinking. Usually it consists from two- three parts.

Part number one is verbal test. You are given information in the short texts which follows by set of true/falls/not given questions. Sometimes it is very tricky, because questions that are by logic needs to be true or falls simply not given in the text. To answer correctly it requires careful reading. Although when I was passing this test it was 30 min for 60 questions, which is 15 texts to read. The best advice would be – try to read as much as possible and fill in answers even if you haven’t finish reading.

Part two is numerical test. Don’t be scared since only basic understanding of graphs and tables problems would be required. Again time would be too short, so don’t try to solve all problems. Those which require a lot of calculations or thinking can be solved at the end.

Third part is logical test. It will test your ability to logically see consequence and dependency between figures shown. I didn’t had this part of the exam, but it is always better to be prepared to everything.

The best web site that I found in order to prepare to the ability test is:

http://www.getsmartfirst.com/Numerical_Reasoning_Test.html

Remember for different positions they have different minimum pass score. Although taking this test without preparation may be difficult. Most of the questions and problems in proportional tests and real ones are alike. Knowing how to solve problems will give you required speed so you can perform better.

Example of cover letter

There is a two types of cover letters as two types of approaching company. Sometime it is highly important to personalize as much as possible your cover letter and Cv to the exact job you are interested in and feel you have great potential with it. The other choice is to write standard cover letter and Cv in order to approach as many jobs offers as possible and let the numbers play its game.

Example:

Dear Elaine, (state name of the person you are writing to. It is always nice to show that you done some research, know what you are doing and interested in company and job)

I am writing this letter to apply for Customer Services Administrative assistant role (it is very important to show that you know what you want. Even if there is no exact position opening in the company and you just want to send your CV for future considerations name specific departments you are interested in). I would like to continue my customer support career in order to create value for the company. (Why you want this job or work in this company? You may want to show your consistency in work experience and key skills)

I have unique combination of administrative and customer support work experience, and have strong knowledge of problem solving, excellent communication manner, and dealing with regular administrative tasks (event/project organization, paper work, computer skills, and etc.) (Here you want to talk about your key strength. Use strong adjectives while talking about your qualifications. Talk more about skills which exactly correspond to the job description. Use bond front to underline your experience)

Please see my CV. I would be happy if you contact me for interview. (Use smooth and nice closing of the cover letter. In case you are sending cold mail you may want to state exact day when you would like to follow up – that would give you a chance to talk with them one more time).

Best regards,

Anastasia