How to convince interviewer about your change of career direction
By Liam Horan, Public Speaking & Presentations Trainer, Sli Nua Careers Q. I have been working for 20 years as an office administrator and have recently qualified to be a teacher. I am now going for my first interview and I am very nervous as I feel I will be older than the other candidates, […]
Fringe detail can pay dividends
By Mary O’Brien-Killeen, Career Coach, Sli Nua Careers (Claremorris) Q: I’m going for interview next week and I feel I have prepared properly. I have researched the company extensively, got my examples written down on paper, and even got my father to do a mock interview with me (and we didn’t even argue). Is there […]
Crafting a personal statement that does the trick
By Mary O’Brien-Killeen, Career Coach, Sli Nua Careers (Claremorris) Q: I am writing a personal statement for UCAS. I am not quite sure how I should go about it. Can you give me some tips? (LT, email). A: For those who might not immediately recognise the acronym UCAS, it stands for Universities and Colleges Admissions […]
Fail to prepare, prepare to fail
By Mary O’Brien-Killeen, Career Coach, Sli Nua Careers (Claremorris) How important is preparation? ‘If I had eight hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend six sharpening my axe’ (Abraham Lincoln) Preparation demonstrates to the interviewer that you have done your homework and that you have drive and ambition. Good preparation portrays a very good […]
Statement of interest can be a trump card
By Mary O’Brien-Killeen, Career Coach, Sli Nua Careers Q: Yesterday I attended for interview for a marketing role and felt I did well. I’m a new graduate and it was my first job interview. This morning, I got an email from the employer thanking me for coming along. She asked me to email her back confirming […]
Do your research – there are no short-cuts to success
By Mary O’Brien, Career Coach, Sli Nua Careers (Claremorris) A lot of us prepare for interviews in a similar manner i.e. we look at our CV and previous experience and begin the process of trying to match our skills to the requirements of the job in order to answer questions as effectively as possible. This […]
Good luck to our own star pupils!
Over the summer months, we were privileged to work with a large number of teachers and others in the education sphere. Without breaching confidentiality, I can reveal we worked with deputy principals going for principal positions, teachers going for deputy principal positions, teachers going for principal positions, teachers going for full-time jobs, teachers going for maternity […]
Seven issues you must resolve in job interviews
At the outset of an interview training session, I write down seven questions and show them to the client. “These questions,” I tell them, “are the issues that you must answer satisfactorily during the interview. They may not be asked by the interview panel in the form of actual questions, but they represent the standard […]
Making appropriate use of company knowledge
Q: I’m going for interview next week with a company – and I know very little about them. The role is in marketing. I intend to study up on them, but I’m not sure how I should try to weave my newly-acquired knowledge into the interview itself. Any ideas? (LK, email). A: That’s a good […]
Making a presentation during job interview
Q. I have to give a presentation as part of my interview for a sales role and I have never done this before. What can I do to make sure that I come across well? The word presentation creates fear in a lot of people’s minds but you should treat this as an opportunity to […]