How to make sure your ‘weakness’ doesn’t damage your job interview chances
By Liam Horan, Career Coach & Managing Director, Sli Nua Careers So, there’s something you feel might go against you in a job interview. It could be a lack of experience in one part of the job, or a software package you haven’t mastered, or a specific qualification you don’t yet possess. Or it might simply be […]
Job forms can take a lot of application
By Mary O’Brien-Killeen, Career Coach & Managing Director, Sli Nua Careers Job application forms are the bane of many a career coach’s life. In theory, they should be absolutely simple to complete – a few questions, inviting you to highlight key competencies and strengths, appropriate blank spaces left to capture all the information, what could go wrong? Lots. The […]
Business card for teacher subbing – good or bad idea?
By Liam Horan, Career Coach & Managing Director, Sli Nua Careers Q: I am a teacher looking for subbing work. I was thinking about printing a business card to hand out when I go to schools. I thought it might help me to stand out. What do you think? Thanks (DR, email). DEIRDRE MAY, LIMERICK: I am […]
How to close the interview with the right question
By Liam Horan, Career Coach & Managing Director, Sli Nua Careers Q: What kind of questions should I put to the interview panel when they ask me “do you have any questions for us?” at the end of the interview. This comes up all the time and I find it flummoxes me. There are questions I would […]
Are Cover letters essential?
By Liam Horan, Career Coach & Managing Director, Sli Nua Careers Q: I am applying for a job. I’ve done up my CV. Do I really need to put a cover letter in with it? And, if I do, what tips have you got? (DC, email). A: We asked three of our career coaches to give […]
How to make best use of attending a career fair
By Liam Horan, Career Coach & Managing Director, Sli Nua Careers Q: I am attending a career fair next week and really want to know the best way to prepare as this is my first one. I want to be get the most out of it if that I can. I have heard horror stories of people […]
How to handle difficult questions about previous employment
By Liam Horan, Career Coach & Managing Director, Sli Nua Careers Q: I am aware that I should not say anything negative about a former employer in a job interview. However I quit my last job because of disagreements with my boss over certain issues with how things were done within the company. He agreed he was […]
How to have an effective CV despite job gaps
By Liam Horan, Career Coach & Managing Director, Sli Nua Careers Q: How do you build a ‘good CV’, if you have lots of gaps in your work history? I know that before selling yourself face to face in an interview situation, you must first persuade them that you’re a valid candidate. I feel with […]
Five ways you can turbo-boost your job search in 2016
By Liam Horan, Career Coach & Managing Director, Sli Nua Careers For many people, New Year means new career. That can be a little shift to the left or right, or a 180 degree pivot into something completely different. Whichever one you are contemplating, there are certain rules to be observed, as outlined here by […]
The best prepared interview candidate I ever came across
By Liam Horan, Career Coach & Managing Director, Sli Nua Careers Q: Can you talk about the best prepared candidate you ever came across – by this, I mean the candidate who was best prepared for an upcoming interview – (LT, email). A: I like the inclusion of the words ‘prepared’, because I am blue in the […]