Financial news Ireland – job market news, recruitment & career trends in Ireland for the finance sector

As the financial crisis really took hold in Ireland towards the end of 2008, financial services professionals understandably hunkered down and attempted to weather the storm. The situation in 2010 is still far from rosy, but jobs are being created again. Why, then, are candidates still in such short supply? A culture of fear is still clearly infecting financial services professionals in Ireland. There were nearly nine times as many... Read more

Yesterday evening, during which was supposed to be a peaceful protest against the bail out of Ireland's banks by the Right to Work campaign, a breakaway group of 100 people charged the gates of Leinster House in an attempt to gain access to the grounds. The resulting melee was nothing to write home about – around three people sustained minor injuries as gardai successfully blocked out the protesters. What's worrying, however,... Read more

Considering the tough job market conditions for financial services professionals in Ireland, I'm a big advocate of proactive search strategies, of taking steps to discover the hidden, or unadvertised job market. Having said this, you would be crazy to completely ignore the 'low hanging fruit' or advertised jobs, and recruitment agencies are a key source of these. Talk of the demise of agencies as a viable job hunting strategy is a... Read more

In Ireland, there's a general ignorance among employees about what their rights are in the wake of redundancy. Although industrial relations laws are comprehensive, they are widely misunderstood and ignored, sometimes deliberately so, by financial services employers. Around 70% of companies in Ireland had to reduce their pay bill in 2009 and this trend is expected to continue in 2010. While the majority of job cuts are legitimate, it's an acknowledged... Read more

When a large number of financial services firms in Ireland enacted recruitment freezes towards the end of 2008, many thought this was likely to be a short-lived phenomenon. But, in spite of some improved sentiment around hiring activity in Q3 2009, few firms are showing any real signs of expansion. There are, however, some sectors that have weathered the storm and continue to offer job opportunities. Fund administration, previously such a... Read more

With job opportunities for financial services professionals in Ireland currently hard to come by, it's no surprise to see increasing numbers looking to live and work elsewhere. But, while the grass is always greener, there's a chance such a move could be both brave and slightly foolhardy. The situation might look decidedly better on the other side of the Irish Sea, but some rather stark statistics show all is not rosy.... Read more

After long-running media speculation, the inevitable job cuts at Anglo Irish Bank are said to be on the cusp of being decided. We just have to wait for the boss (or the government as it's otherwise known) to give the green light. But, if these redundancies do turn out to be voluntary, it could be a very bad move to accept the offer. Anglo is likely chop anywhere between 200-500 heads... Read more

The high volume of applications from senior financial services professionals for relatively junior roles that we've received over the last six months screams one thing – new opportunities in Ireland are few and far between. However, in the last few weeks, small chinks of optimism have begun to emerge and there's reason to believe that there’s an appetite to recruit again. We're just emerging from the annual summer recruitment lull, which... Read more

Requirements for outplacement services have mushroomed over the last 18 months in response increased redundancies across all sectors, including financial services. Essentially outplacement is a service offering support to employers and employees before, during and after redundancy. It can be delivered through a range of formats such as one-to-one coaching or group workshops and aims to aid affected staff's transition to new employment. Some of the more common components of... Read more

Like the dizzy blonde early on in every horror movie, I am ignoring the spooky music and walking down the dark staircase to the cellar. Or, to put it in other words, in the worst hiring climate in decades, I have resigned from my job with nothing lined up to move on to. To put this in context, neither I nor anyone whose bank account I have access to is... Read more

In recent weeks the Irish financial services jobs market has shown some signs of life, but there are still significantly more people chasing a comparatively small number of positions. Competition among candidates for the available roles is the toughest it has been in years and jobseekers therefore need to adopt a different approach applying for new positions. Chief among these is tailoring your CV to the new environment. Be specific... Read more

It’s all very well keeping the ‘shop window’ corporation tax rate at 12.5%, but the tough stance on income tax in Ireland’s emergency budget could have the unintended consequence of erecting a stumbling block to the flow of foreign financial services firms entering the country. Just to clarify, the income levy – controversially imposed in October 2008 - has been doubled in this week’s emergency budget. It rises to 2% for... Read more

“You’re fired”. When Alan Sugar says it on The Apprentice, there’s an element of comedy and a large dollop of theatre. But when it happens to you it’s infinitely less dramatic, but just as likely to spark a range of disturbing emotions. When you’re made redundant, HR usually roll out the line: “It has nothing to do with you personally, this decision is being driven by the business”. But... Read more

On London trains, there is a poster campaign which features uniformed employees battered and bruised. Its purpose is to highlight the increasing levels of physical abuse dished out by frustrated commuters on its staff. What’s the point of me mentioning this, you might ask? Well, in spite of the obvious physical and psychological damage it causes the staff member involved, you have to wonder what the perpetrators expect to achieve.... Read more

The harder you work, the luckier you get. It might sound obvious, but preparation is the key to interview success. Invest time into preparing yourself for interview and you will improve your confidence, your performance and, ultimately, your results. If this is so obvious, why do many jobseekers choose to ignore it? Some are lazy and cut corners or are simply overconfident about their interviewing ability. However, many do... Read more

Considering the time and money spent training employees, it makes sound business sense to redeploy them to other areas of the business rather than making them redundant. Moving an employee sideways to another position also allows them to explore different skills or attributes, which adds to job satisfaction and loyalty to the company. However, obviously this isn’t always possible, and when firms look outside the company to fill a new... Read more

The impact of the current turmoil in financial markets has had a traumatic effect on countries, companies and, most of all, people. In a very short period of time we have seen a dramatic turnaround in the employment market. Companies have had to look at ways of reducing costs and one of the quickest ways of doing this is to lower staff headcount. Firms will not take the decision to make... Read more

Never has a good CV been more important. If you’ve lost your job recently, you will probably need to re-brand yourself to get back into the job market, as an exact vacancy similar to the one you’ve left is unlikely to exist elsewhere. Your personal sales brochure Your CV, or résumé, is the vehicle through which you market yourself and gain interviews – it is your sales brochure. In a... Read more

Around Dublin, software companies are continuing to expand. But well over 50% of their new hires are from outside Ireland. Luckily, Ireland is an attractive place to work (and play), so finding these employees is no problem, at least for now. But how this continued growth in these darkening times, and why the shortage of Irish people to meet it? In the IT boom of the 1990s it was the... Read more

Sometimes your words can come back to haunt you. Four months ago, I was waxing lyrical about how the conservative nature of Irish banks would mean they’re likely to ride out the credit crunch. Now, however, the picture looks decidedly grim. Bank of Ireland’s share price fell to the lowest level in 19 years after it said the deteriorating Irish economy was “adversely impacting” earnings. Allied Irish Bank, Anglo Irish... Read more