We stumbled onto the Freshmilk Clothing Website a few weeks ago and we liked it so much that we featured in in our newsletter in the "This month we loved...." section. So when Kevin O'Leary, Co-Founder of the site, got in touch to thank us for mentioning them we wrangled Kevin in to complete our Career Paths questionnaire as well! Thanks Kevin!

If you or anyone you know would like to be featured in this series of blogs just drop us a mail to info@recruitireland.com

Profile

Name: Kevin O’Leary
Age: 33
Birthplace: Cork
Marital Status: Under the thumb.
Children: 1, Leon, 5 months(who doesn’t sleep…ever).
Highest Education: Hard to say.
Institutions attended: CIT, Colaiste Stiofan Naofa.
Academic achievements: Biz Cert, Drama Cert.

About You

1) What is your current role? Co-Founder of FreshmilkClothing.com, bit of everything as we are a small outfit.

2) How did you get into your current role/ industry? By chance really, I’ve always worked as a DJ and about 13 years ago I used to make LANGER t-shirts on the side. Last year I started to make a lot more of my own tees with my business partner and so a site was needed.

3) How many years have you been in your current role/ industry? One year.

4) What other roles did you do before finding your current role? I worked as an actor for 10 years, still dabble a bit. I have always worked as a DJ and still do.

5) What was the worst job you ever had? None too bad to be honest, my last job was a nightmare in the end. I would name the company but it wouldn’t be fair.

6) Did you always want to work in your role/ industry or did you get into it late? Got into it late but always had an interest in the industry.

7) What advice would you give to other people looking to get a career in your industry? Oooh, tough one. Like any industry you can never do too much research before you start.

8) What do you like most about your job? The creative part is the most fun, when an idea clicks you just can’t beat that feeling.

9) Anything you don’t like? Sure, working for yourself means it never stops. If I switch off for a couple of hours in the week I’m doing well.

10) What time do you get up for work? 6 generally, but that’s thanks to Leon(as mentioned above).

11) Where would you like to retire to? Wherever Leon ends up living, so I can ring him on the hour every hour during the night shouting “Revenge is mine!!”.

12) Favourite website(s)? I like keeping in touch with www.peoplesrepublicofcork.com, I am a trainers/sneakers fanatic so www.size.co.uk is my Mecca.

13) What would be your dream job? Playing a professional team sport, if only my knees worked.

14) What are your goals or plans for the future? Professionally to keep working as hard as possible, keep my creativity flowing and my eyes open.

15) And finally, the three luxury items you want if you were trapped on a desert island? A phone to ring Leon at night, every night. iPod, can’t live without my music. A football, to live out the fantasy of being a pro footballer in my head.

You'll find more about Freshmilk Clothing on their Facebook page.

Just a quick blog post to let you know about our current Valentine's Day Survey.

Let us know what kind of plans you have this year and if the ol' recession is going to be affecting how you celebrate Valentine's Day this year. Please share the survey with your friends and we'll report the results closer to the big day. Thanks!

If you are one of these people (like me) who is constantly Tweeting or Facebooking or lurking on some social media or professional networking site our survey results will be of interest.

It revealed that nearly half of all recruiters check their applicants online before hiring them. To be a bit more precise, 46% of recruiters surveyed check up on their candidates, so that means they Google your name and see what comes back, they check your Facebook page, your tweets and your blogs. They also cross check your LinkedIn page with your CV so make sure you are being honest in both places.

What it boils down to is this, if you do tweet or Facebook or whatever and don't protect your updates then at least make sure that anything you do post isn't likely to put off a potential employer or you are ruling out 46% of your applications before you even get to interview stage. A bit of advice, go and Google your name and see what comes back.

Read the full survey results here

Afternoon all

We were chatting this morning about all the "best of the noughties" polls doing the rounds at the moment so we decided to do our own - The Biggest Reality TV Star of the Noughties

Take a look and give it a lash!

'Tissss the seaaaason tooo be jollyyyy, tra la la la laaaaaaaaaa 

Yes folks, like it or loath it it's that time of year again, and every year around this time we run a survey to discover what you do for your Christmas party, what your New Year resolutions are and then we ask if you have done anything embarrassing at the Christmas party, not because its particularly newsworthy, mainly because we get a great laugh in the Recruit office. Mwa ha ha!

This year with all the doom and gloom we want to know what your company is planning on doing. Is you boss still splashing out on the party or is it cancelled? How do you feel about it if it is? What is the likelyhood of you getting a wage rise or a bonus in '09? Go on,  take the survey, let us know. Start the survey here.

PS If you have done anything embarrassing, tell us in the comment box- go on, share the mirth.

Today I decided to do something that I don’t indulge in regularly- yes you’ve guessed it, today I decided to clean my desk. Don’t get me wrong; in the Recruit office I pride myself on having the tidiest desk of them all but it is a rare occurrence to get the Domestos out.

You’ll understand my horror when, upon upturning my keyboard a half loaf of crumbs fell out – along with some other unidentified bits which I don’t really want to analyse.  It got me thinking about what could have grown in there had I left it much longer.  

Then I came across an article that basically depicts a horror story of random keyboard swab tests which revealed some peoples keyboards had 5 times more bacteria than the toilet seat. Yum. 

When lunchtime rolls around I am usually only too keen to bolt out the door for an hour but there is the rare occurrence when I do work through lunch and eat at my desk. Working through lunch is something I do if essential, not out of enjoyment and the dangers of mindless desk eating have been well documented, eat while doing something else and you are more likely to eat rubbish and/or eat more than you intended. Also not getting off your seat for 9 hours can’t be good, but now I have to consider bacteria as well I think it’s the perfect excuse to be absent for the hour. 

Another disgusting thought, I sometimes chew my pen, some unnamed robbers like to steal my pens, and then have a chew themselves then I often retrieve them and mindlessly chew once more. YUK. I think I’m going to dip the whole lot in bleach from now on. 

So what about you? We have run surveys in the past and noticed that some of you don’t take your full complement of holidays  but we’ve never asked if people take their full lunch breaks or eat regularly at the desk- would love to hear what you do throw us up a comment below.

Rebecca

Thanks to all of you who answered our Job Satisfaction Survey.  We had a massive response to this years survey and it turns out that at least half of you are satisfied in your job but that 50% also plan on changing jobs in the next 12 months..... 

Here is the full release:

Job Satisfaction Remains High Despite Economic Climate 

·         One in two employees say they are satisfied in their jobs

·         Workers uncertainty in economy shows with 53% admitting to feeling less secure in their jobs

·         Two in every three workers think it would be difficult to find a new job

·         90% of workers will start looking for a new job online 

29:09:08; Although half of Irish workers are satisfied in their jobs, recent research shows employees feel uncertain about the state of the current economic environment. An employee job satisfaction survey carried out by RecruitIreland.com shows that 53% of workers feel less secure in their jobs resulting from recent economic turbulence. However, 50% still say they think they will change jobs in the next 12 months. When workers were asked to describe the current job market 47% said they felt there were not enough jobs in their field while 26% said there are jobs but they feel more secure staying where they are in the present economic climate. Overall 70% workers thought if they had to start looking tomorrow they would find it difficult to find a new job.  

Money remains a main issue for satisfaction in the workplace with 42% of workers claiming more money would make them happier. It is no wonder when 48% of workers say they spend 30% or more of their take home salary on mortgage or rent and another 10% to 20% going on childcare for those who have children. 1 in two employees are also paying in to a pension but interestingly this has not increased since 2006 when 50% then also claimed to be paying in to a pension. Although money would satisfy more people in their current roles career progression was cited as the main reason why people move,75% of workers claimed this to be the most important consideration when looking for a job.

Location was also a key factor in job satisfaction with 20% of workers saying a change of location would give them greater job satisfaction. The majority of workers still use their car to get to work, 19% are using public transport with only 1% saying they cycle to work.  

Rebecca Clark of RecuritIreland.com commenting on the results said “We appreciate that recent economic activity has caused a degree of uncertainty for employees. In the survey, nearly 30% of workers admitted they would like to change role but they don’t feel there are suitable alternatives.  However there are over 30,000 jobs advertised across all industries on RecruitIreland.com so we would encourage workers to check out the job market for themselves. Workers now have the option to upload their CV on to the site and let the employers come to them. Often for workers it can simply be a matter of getting noticed and getting your CV to right people at the right time.” 

And finally the one question that tests workers true dedication to their job, If you won the lotto would you…… and a resounding 47% said they would stay on in work safe in the knowledge they were financially secure while 1 in 5 workers admitted they would be running towards the nearest exit and leaving work immediately. 

A wee note to let you all know that voting is now open for the Jobseekers Choice Award which basically does what it says on the tin - jobseekers get to vote for their favourite recruitment agency!

There are lots nominated this year and no doubt many of you have come into contact with one or more and would just love to vote and show your gratitude for a job well done - so get voting guys and gals - you have no excuse if your recruitment agency of choice doesn't win on the night and the guilt will just eat you up because who knows, your vote could have made all the difference!!

Best of luck to all the nominees

Prosperity

3Q Catering

CMSE Recruitment

Noel Recruitment

MaryB.ie

Manpower Ireland

Elan IT

Techstaff International

CPL Resources Plc

Jackie Brown Medical

Approach Recruitment

Robert Half International

Hudson Global Resources

Locumlink

Sigmar Recruitment

Adecco

Principle HR

Parc HR Services

Robert Walters Ltd

SOS - School of Sales

ETIC Solutions

FRS Recruitment

Caterassist

Place Me Recruitment

Recruiters

Servisource

Big Fish Recruitment

Computer People

CCP Recruitment