job search update

remember when? consulting with a client at NDC last year

No job yet. 

With a personal minimum of 2 job applications per weekday I have reached over 160 applications since arriving in Dublin--although realistically the number is much higher considering the days I complete ten applications. So far 2 interviews, 2 call-backs resulting in cancelled interviews due to my immigrant status, 1 disaster of a career fair, and a whole lot of advice.

At the moment I am concentrating on applying for marketing positions that require social media skills. Thanks to working as a software instructor and running a digital inclusion program  for a non-profit in Minneapolis, I am more than qualified for most of the jobs I find. Most recently I have stopped applying through recruitment agencies after being told by recruiters that they dont have the HR to handle my hiring paperwork. The companies would have to prove to the State that they had the posting up on the FAS (the Irish National Training & Employment Authority) job board for a certain amount of time and that I had better qualifications than all the Irish citizens that applied along with me. In some cases that puts me up against 200 other applicants. The company has to submit actual paperwork proving this is the case and to be honest, I understand why most places are avoiding the extra work. It isn't something I can take care of for them, even though I would fill out my own paperwork for the work permit and pay my own fee for the process.

What's more, over the past two months, most job descriptions have begun to include a clause that applicants must be enrolled in certain FAS programs to be considered. I've come to find out that Ireland is cracking down on its own citizens who have been living on the dole (unemployment) and requiring that recruiters only hire applicants who have been unemployed and receiving state benefits. In my estimation about 75% of marketing job vacancies through recruiters now include this stipulation where previously there were none. I've had two companies ask if I could enroll in the FAS unemployment programs just so they can hire me for a position. Unfortunately as a non-citizen in the country for less than two years, I dont qualify for unemployment.

My current focus is to apply directly to multinational companies who have a dedicated HR department. I'm hoping they are used to hiring non-EEA citizens and wouldn't think twice about adding my paperwork to the pile. This means IBM, Monster, Yahoo, Facebook, Ebay, Dell, Microsoft, Google, etc.

After working with Neighborhood Development Center in the non-profit field for years, part of me feels like a sell-out. Every once in awhile I go back to ActiveLink, the online job board for non-profit organizations--who certainly don't have dedicated HR departments--and peruse the kind of job I wold feel good about doing for 35+ hours a week. Today was one of those days...I applied to a program officer position with the Irish Association of Non-Governmental Development Organisations Dóchas as well as a program coordinator position with Habitat for Humanity Ireland. I know they probably wont hire me but I feel good about it anyway.

words I watch out for on application forms, cover letters, and my CV:

programme

organisation

referee

analyse

computerised

resource centre

"vacancy" is used more than 'job' to mean the available position
"post" instead of 'position'

not to use 'post' as a verb describing the online job board

"one-to-one" instead of 'one-on-one'

"CV" or "curriculum vitae" instead of 'resume' 

"migrant" instead of 'immigrant'

"NGO" is used more than 'NPO'

"social services sector" instead of 'non-profit field'