The best ways to land your dream job
talks to four people who are working in their dream jobs — and who all went the extra mile to land them
Not everyone gets their job in the most straightforward way and sometimes you have to go the extra mile to land a job you really want. There are a range of ways to getting the job you want according to the experts who advocate never giving up. Figures show that 60% of jobs are found by networking but there are many ways to land that killer job.
Shane Hennessy, physiotherapist
I worked with the Kerry GAA team for free to get a break even though I’m a Cork man.
Shane was sporty from a very early age, even playing soccer for the under eight-team when he was just five. He represented Cork at many levels in many different sports and always wanted to work in sport in some way and decided to study physio in Manchester. When he graduated and returned to Ireland he found the jobs market wasn’t in great shape when it came to physio work.
“After studying hard for four years I found it very tough to secure work when I came back to Ireland. This meant I had to think of different routes to landing a job.” An opportunity came up for Shane to travel to Australia and he used some contacts when he was there.
“I got in touch with GAA players who were playing Aussie Rules in Australia and managed to get some work with some top clubs in Australia. You can’t beat the Irish connection. When I came back to Ireland this really stood to me.
“Another opportunity came up to do work with the Senior Kerry Football Team and despite being a proud Corkman I knew the experience would stand to me in my career.
“What I would say is for people starting out is to jump at every opportunity that presents itself. You’d never know where it could lead to.”
Frank Brennan, manager of Republic of Work
I helped assembled Ikea furniture to land a job.
One of the hardest days of Frank’s life so far has been dropping his wife to work and coming home to an empty house.
“I had been working in the health and fitness industry for five years and had just been made redundant. We married in December, followed with honeymoon in January, and Sue had a job organised but I didn’t have anything set up. I’ll never forget dropping her to work and coming home realising I had no work set up. I knew I had to do something about it.
“My mother-in-law saw an ad on Facebook for a job and I said to myself I wasn’t going to wait around to go through the process so I put on a suit, polished my shoes and off I went into the South Mall where this new place, Republic of Work was opening,” said Frank.
When he got there, however, he said there was a sign on the door that said it was opening in February and this was January 24.
“I was so disappointed but then I saw a man walking towards me and I asked him if he was DC, the owner of Republic of Work and he said he was,” said Frank.
“The place was a building site but I knew there was something special about this. I could go home too and tell my mum I got a job on South Mall if I got the job,” he joked.
Walking away he realised he must do what he could to get hired as the manager for Republic of Work so he rang DC while he was still on South Mall and said that he would be back in the morning at 9am to help him put together all of the Ikea furniture that needed assembling.
“We were working 12-hour days getting the place ready, painting walls, taking calls and DC offered me the job of manager and I was delighted,” said Frank.
Deirdre Connolly, PR
I worked for free to get experience.
Working in communications is something Deirdre knew she wanted to do from a young age.
“I worked hard to get to where I am today, and sometimes, it does require a little bit more than a job application and a good cover letter.
“I wanted to work in a communications agency, so when I heard about a job in Cork, I applied. At the time, I was still living in Sydney, so when I returned home, weeks later, the job had been filled. Undeterred, I followed up and met with Renate Murphy, MD of CAMEO Communications, and I even offered to work for free for a month to prove myself.
“And by offered, I mean, begged. I was willing to do anything, I just wanted to get my foot in the door and make myself indispensable to show what an asset I would be for her business,” added Deirdre.
Deirdre ended up working there for three years and now has a high-flying career in PR in Dublin.
Sharon Lombard, iWish
I knew I wanted to be an employee for a cause I really believed in.
Sharon never had one “dream job”. She aspired instead to push herself in all her jobs and the dream one found her.
Her first job was an admin assistant in Fyffes and she quickly climbed the ladder to sales manager at just 21. She married Finbarr at 23 and had her son Finbarr at 27 and James shortly after.
“I now had more distraction than I bargained for managing work and a young family.
“A change of direction was required, I took on a part-time sales role in Penney’s. I had such craic there, I learned a lot.” However it was when Sharon came across not-for-profit enterprise, iWish, that she set about to get involved. She said she knew she wanted to work with iWish and wouldn’t stop until she did.
“I needed a new challenge and coming from a family with a strong “can do” attitude, I told myself I could of course be an event manager, even though I hardly knew how to create a file on the laptop not to mention an entire event. I applied for a job as a project manager for I Wish.
“The iWish event has now gone national, they tell me they couldn’t have done it without me. There was no going back.
“I honed my skills in the industry first and after a year set up my own company 2XE. The business has gone from strength to strength. I now have my dream job.”
ASK THE EXPERTS
1. Take time out, invest in yourself and chat to a life or career coach
2. Go to networking events where you know you will meet people from the company. Remember that 60% of jobs are found by networking
3. Do a killer CV and cover letter and send it even if the company isn’t hiring
4. When you do get to the interview stage — prepare, prepare and then prepare some more
5. Work for free and get in there and knock the socks off them.
“The traditional routes to getting a job are still very important”
Retain ownership over your resume — it’s your IP. Ensure that the resume you submit to the company is tailored in line with the role you are applying for. We would always recommend to create at least three versions of a resume highlighting certain skillsets or experience. Never lie or embellish elements of the truth. Interviewing is a skill in itself so preparation is critical. If actively on the lookout it’s important that you engage with the right recruiter
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