Three Q Recruitment

Don’t take our word for how good nursing in Saudi Arabia is…See what the nurses who have actually done it have to say

2012-03-08T12:24:00.000Z

Jennifer, Registered Renal Nurse

"My name is Jennifer and I am aRegistered General Nurse, Registered Renal Nurse and a qualified trainer. I amcurrently undergoing my Health Studies Degree through distance learning forwhich the company I work for in Saudi Arabia has been very supportive. I have worked for this company for over threeyears now and this is my second time working in the Kingdom. I have workedwithin a Renal setting for over 15 years in different places including,Ireland, England, Dubai and Saudi. I have enjoyed many years of working withindiverse multicultural environments, especially in my position in Haemodialysisand Peritoneal Dialysis units as well as the Nephrology Clinic. I maintain abalanced lifestyle here as I enjoy both sports and travelling. I also have myhome in Ireland and get to spend quite a bit of time there with family andfriends throughout the year.”

“Imaintain a balanced

lifestyle here as I enjoy

both sports and travelling”

Vera, Burns and Plastic SurgeryNurse

y name is Vera and I was born andbrought up in Ireland and later trained and worked in nursing in UK. I workedin various parts of the UK over a twenty-year period, obtaining manyqualifications along the way in nursing. One of my qualifications was in Burnsand Plastic Surgery Nursing (Non-Cosmetic) which is my great love as I havefound this area of nursing to be very rewarding. I decided I needed to broadenmy horizons, and share my experience, so I moved to Saudi Arabia, tellingmyself that I would stay two years, but the two years turned into 12 years andI would not change that. The company has given me great opportunities, both inmy professional and personal lives. I have gained vast knowledge in thismulticultural environment. Since I've been in Saudi, I had the opportunity toundertake both my Nursing degree and my Master degree in Management. Thecompany encourages education for us all. Nurses are well paid here and becauseof this we can afford to travel extensively to where our fancy takes us.

“Nursesare well paid here

and because of this we can

afford to travel extensively

towhere our fancy takes us”

Joan, Emergency Nurse

Hi, my name is Joan. I'm from Ireland. I previously worked as an emergency nurse in a large hospital in Belfast. I was looking for a bit of an adventure and decided to go to Saudi Arabia for one year only. Two years later, I'm still here and planning to stay for a while — and why not!? Since I've been in Saudi, I had the opportunity to travel and save a lot of money. I plan to buy a house back home soon. The only problem is finding one I want. I work 12 hour shifts, so I get to travel home on average every 6 weeks, when I catch up with friends and family. For anyone thinking about coming to Saudi, I'd say...go for it!

“I get to travelhome on average every 6 weeks, when I catch up with friends and family.”

Please note: Photos used arestock photos

Nurses can save €150,000 Tax-Free!

2012-03-07T10:54:00.000Z

Our client is based in Saudi Arabia and is acknowledged as the best hospital to work for in the Middle East. They have been recruiting nurses from Ireland since 1985.

The current Head of Nursing there is from Ireland and was first recruited in the 1980s.

The main difference with our client and other hospitals is the accommodation and general living conditions which are far superior to any other hospital in the region. This is mainly due to the fact that our client is an Oil company that operates its own medical facilities therefore the package is based on oil company lines not just a single hospital.The salary, living and recreational facilities are the best in the Middle East.

The average stay for nurses is two/three years after which you will have definitely have saved at least €150,000, whilst still having a great social life.

Usually nurses then either return home with enough for a deposit on a house or continue travelling to other countries often to hospitals in Australia or US recommended by nurses they have met in Saudi Arabia. They arrive there with money that can help them adjust more easily into their new lifestyle.

If you are thinking of working abroad then please talk to us first before you commit to a position that is not as attractive. Our client will visit Ireland in April or March if there is enough interest from nurses from Ireland where you will be able to speak to people who have lived and worked in the location we are recruiting for.

For more information, contact Alan on 01-8783335 or visit our Working Overseas page on our website.

Working as a Renal Nurse

2012-03-06T12:05:00.000Z

The 14th Annual Irish Nephrology Nurses Association Conference - "The Evolving World of Nephrology Nursing", took place last Sunday March 3rd in Beaumont Hospital, Dublin. This article looks at what exactly it is to be a nephrology or renal nurse in Ireland today.

A Renal or Nephrology Nurse cares for patients of all ages who are experiencing, or are at risk of, kidney disease. It has been a recognised speciality in nursing jobs for over 35 years.

As well as the main focus being on the patient’s kidneys renal nurses also deal with every organ system in the body, calling for a holistic approach to patient care that is both challenging and rewarding.

The field is very much driven by technological and educational advances, making it a dynamic nursing job with a wide variety of career opportunities for nurses at all levels.

The roles of a nephrology nurse can work as include the following:

Staff nurse, hospital or outpatient settings
Haemodialysis/peritoneal dialysis nurse
Vascular access coordinator
Nurse manager
Transplant coordinator
Organ recovery coordinator
Nurse practitioner
Clinical nurse specialist

Associations:

The Irish Nephrology Nurses Association was established in 1999 as a non-profit organisation in order to bring together all nurses involved in the care of nephrology patients. These include nurses working in nephrology wards, haemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis and renal transplant units. The mission of the association is to promote a high standard of quality care for renal patients and their families through education and research.

Sources: www.inna-ireland.com, http://www.nursesource.org/nephrology

Working as a Scrub Nurse

2012-03-01T12:41:00.002Z

The INMO Operating Nurses Conference 2012 takes place on Sunday March 10th 2012. So, what exactly is a scrub/operating nurse and what kind of work are they involved in?

A scrub/operating/theatre nurse is specially trained to work with surgeons and the medical team in an operating room. Their main duty is to provide support in the operating room and patient care outside of it as well. The job title derives from the fact that the nurse is fully “scrubbed in” for surgery, meaning that he or she has used special soaps and wears sterile garments so that they can work in an operating environment.

It is a very demanding, but also quite rewarding, nursing speciality. Experienced scrub nurses, who are familiar with a wide range of procedures, are a highly sought after specialism both in Ireland and in overseas nursing careers.

Scrub nurses are formally known as perioperative nurses. This type of nursing involves patient care before, during, and after surgery.

A scrub nurse’s duties include handing operating instruments to the surgeon, keeping an eye on the patient's condition during surgery and using specialist operating room equipment.

In Ireland, you must first qualify as a registered general nurse before pursuing training in operating room work. Salaries for scrub nurses are often higher than those of RGN’s due to the specialist nature of the work and the fact that sometimes they can be asked to work unsociable hours for emergency surgery.

Source: wise-geek.com

1700 Nurses to retire from HSE - Your Options Upon Retirement

2012-03-01T11:55:00.001Z

Over 1,700 nurses and midwives have now retired, as part of the 3,800 staff, in total, leaving the health service. Many of these are early retirements also. Traditionally, retirement is a time to rest after a life of hard work and service and to do the activities that you have always wanted to but never had the chance, whether it be travel, spending more time with your family or taking up a hobby.

In reality, nowadays, the options available upon retirement are much more varied and attainable for retirees.

Paid or Voluntary Work

Sometimes the transition from full-time work into complete retirement can be overwhelming so you may be able to ease into your retirement by doing some part-time or voluntary work. For nurses, very often a nursing home job in your local community is the perfect answer to this. Most protection of employee’s legislation in Ireland does not have an upper age limit so if you are working in retirement, then you have the same employment rights as everyone else.

Learn a New Skill

Very often, retirement may just mean a change of career rather than complete retirement. As a nurse, it is likely that you have spent most or all of your working life in the same profession so retirement offers the perfect opportunity to expand your horizons skills-wise. If you would like to continue to work but in a new occupation courses designed specifically for retired people are plentiful in Ireland in areas such as computers and TEFL.

Travel

Many people use retirement as a time to see the world. Your nursing experience can be useful when travelling also if you choose to volunteer as you travel. Obviously, disposable income will play a big part in the amount of travel you do while retired. Alternatively, you may even want to retire to another country.

Hobbies and Pastimes

Ireland is the perfect place for an active retirement and organisations like ARI and Age Action promote leisure activities for retirees. You may choose the time to spend more time with friends and family or take up a new hobby like sport, art or computers.

To plan your entire retirement in advance there are numerous courses available. Contact The Retirement Planning Council of Ireland for more information.

Sources: INMO, Citizens Information

7 Reasons Nurses Should Work Overseas

2012-02-23T16:07:00.001Z

Nurses are some of the most in-demand professionals in the world. Due to the nature of the work, it is of the utmost importance for the hiring company to look for the best nurses in the world to fill their nurse jobs. As with many other professions, Ireland is home to some of the world’s most highly skilled medical professionals and for that reason many countries come looking to this country to fill their nursing recruitment needs. But why should you consider continuing your nursing career abroad?

1. Recession
Let’s face it, Ireland is deep in recession at the moment and according to most ecomomists we don’t look likely to emerge from it for at least 5-10 years. So, it might be time to consider working elswhere ot ensure job security and optimum salaries. The main countries that recruit nurses are either out of recession already or were never in it in the first place like Australia or Saudi Arabia.

2. They Need You!
As previously mentioned, nurses are in-demand worldwide at the moment. If you were to start looking for a new nurse job right now it is highly likely that you would be inundated with vacancies across different specialities in this country and abroad. The more specialist the role, the more in demand it usually is. Generally, midwives and pyschiatric nurses are more in demand abroad than registered general nurses.

Image: Wajahat Mahmood,Flickr

3. Location, Location, Location
Sun, temperatures constantly over 20 degrees celsius and some of the most exotic locations imaginable. It sounds like a dream work scenario for most people but for nurses this is very often the case. Places like Australia and the Middle East not only offer a great climate but some of the most cosmopolitan and vibrant cities and communities in the world.

4. Home away from Home
With the warmer weather comes, inevitably more laid back lifestyle. Of course, having a higher income means higher disposable income also so that you could live a lot more extravagantly than if you remained in Ireland. As well as that, places like Saudi Arabia offer nurses purpose-built communities, specifically designed with western influences to make it feel like a home away from home.

5. Money can't buy happiness?
Although most nurses will tell you that salary is not the reason they chose their profession, it certainly does help having as much money as possible. In the middle east nursing salaries are mostly tax-free. This perk means that many people re-locate abroad to save and then return home with a large nest egg.

6. Facilities
With constant media coverage in Ireland about the poor service and facilities provided by the HSE, it is often a big incentive for nurses to re-locate to regions with world-class facilities where sometimes work doesn't even seem like work.

7. Extra BenefitsThe salary is not the only reason you may consider a nurse job overseas. Often the hiring company will arrange accomodation, visas, flights and also cover medical expenses. Even some of the highest ranked nursing jobs in Ireland do not include a benefits list as such.

Why Midwifery could be the nursing job for you?

2012-02-23T12:46:00.000Z

Why Midwifery couldbe the nursing job for you?

Many people assume thatmidwifery is all about the birth of a child, but while this is obviously themost exciting part, the role of the midwife is much more extensive. It startsafter the pregnancy has been confirmed and continues until around 10 days afterthe birth, sometimes longer.

Midwives have a supporting and caring role, not justfor the pregnant woman, but her family too, especially her partner. This isparticularly true in the first pregnancy when mothers-to-be have hundreds ofquestions about the changes that will happen to their bodies.

Before the birth amother-to-be has regular scans using high-tech equipment, as well as bloodtests, urine samples and general health check ups. This allows the midwives to monitor the health of both mother and baby,as well as checking for a range of genetic abnormalities.

During labour and the birthprocess, the woman and her birthing partner require both medical monitoring andgood old fashioned reassurance from their midwife during this traumatic, butrewarding event.

After the birth, themidwife nurse’s job is to helps to care both for the new baby or babies and themother. This can involve helping the mum to breastfeed, monitoring her healthand tending to any injuries caused during the birth, and monitoring the baby’svital signs. It could involve looking after premature babies in incubators.

What arethe important midwifery skills in nursing ?

A midwife nurse will needpatience for this job, a caring approach, a good sense of humour (and the skillof knowing when humour really is not appropriate!) and the ability to relate toall sorts of people without making judgements. A thick skin may also be neededat times of stress within this nursing job.

Communication is a key partof midwife nurses job along withskill and can range from placating worried new patients or keeping a woman inlabour as calm and as focused as possible. Not to mention reassuring theirbirthing partner.

Why pursuemidwife as your chosen nursing job ?

Midwifery is an importantskill that will always be required within the nursing profession and it meansyou will be employable for nursing jobs all around the country, and will be ina good position to get work overseas.

You will be there at themost important time in a person’s life and while the baby will not rememberyou, the proud parents certainly will!

There is the nursingjob for a wide range of working environments from home visiting and homebirthing to working in a busy delivery ward, or premature baby unit.

Action Plan for Jobs 2012

2012-02-14T11:58:00.000Z

As a recruitment and employment agency, we are most interested in yesterday's unveiling by the Government of the Action Plan for Jobs 2012. No doubt, so are all of the struggling small businesses and over 300,000 unemployed people in this country right now.

As member of the Small Firms Association, we have been provided with a summary of the main points in the action plan. These are listed below. All-in-all, there are thankfully some very strong signs that this government is making job creation a real priority.

Main points from the plan:

The Taoiseach has made it his overall objective to make Ireland the best small country in which to do business by 2016.
The aim is to have 100,000 more people working by 2016 and 2 million people working by 2020.
There will be a new plan drafted each year until the goals are realised. The one unveiled yesterday was for 2012.
All 15 Government Departments and 36 Agencies of the State will be involved in delivering 275 distinct actions in the 2012 plan.
A Monitoring Group comprised of the Department of the Taoiseach, Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the Department of Public Expenditure and Forfas will oversee the action plan and report to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Recovery and Jobs quarterly.
7 Principal Areas will be addressed by the 2012 Action Plan:

Competitive Advantage - Innovation, Costs, Skills & Infrastructure
Supporting indigenous start up businesses
Assisting the growth of indigenous businesses
Attracting inward entrepreneurial start-ups
Developing the impact of foreign direct investment
Developing community-based employment initiatives
Exploring and exploiting sector-specific opportunities including manufacturing, health, green, ICT, cloud computing, digital gaming, tourism, financial services, shared services, education, construction, retail and arts.

Some of the Key Actions we are promised in 2012 are:

The Development Capital Scheme to address a funding gap for indigenous companies prospects for jobs and export growth.
Restructuring of the enterprise boards to better target and support Irish companies with job creation potential.
Help small businesses win contracts by making public procurement more accessible.
Greater funding and development for management in Irish companies with the goal of creating better company performance.
The Partial Credit Guarantee for SMEs struggling to gain access credit to go live.
The Micro Finance Fund for lending to micro-businesses to go live.
Innovation Fund Ireland for Irish high-tech business investment to go live.
The Diaspora Finders Fee Initiative to attract inward investment to go live.
The Strategic Investment Fund to help investment in the infrastructure of the Irish economy.
The Research Prioritisation Plan to apply government research to areas showing potential for job creation.

The government has conceded that there are no quick fix solutions to the problems of our economic situation but has promised that job creation is at the forefront of their plans to achieve economic stability once again with the Taoiseach's ultimate goal of making Ireland the best small country in the world to do business.

Working In The Irish Catering & Hospitality Industry

2012-02-09T15:21:00.001Z

The demand for hospitality workers is increasing globally. As per the trends, customer confidence is coming back to the hospitality industry and the forecast remains brighter than in recent years. Tourism, hospitality and leisure industries are considered as one of the largest employment providers in Ireland and incorporate areas such as accommodation, leisure activities, supply of food and beverages, tourism services and organising of events and conferences. The number of hotels in Ireland has increased over the last few years and the urge for recruiting experienced and skilled hospitality professionals in these sectors is still high even in the midst of this economic downturn.

Ireland’s hospitality industry offers excellent working conditions and competitive salaries as well as a variety of beautiful towns and cities to choose from. To land in your perfect hospitality job such as Executive Head Chef, Head Chef, General Manager, Sous Chef, Chef De Partie, Restaurant Manager, Conference & Banqueting Manager, Food & Beverage Manager, Bar Manager, Catering Assistant, Kitchen Porter etc. in Ireland, you need to have the necessary skills and experience. Many colleges around Ireland offer courses in hospitality management, culinary skills and other related subjects.

The best place to start looking for catering and hospitality jobs in Ireland is the online jobs boards. You will see a range of vacancies on the large jobs boards such as Jobs.ie and Irishjobs.ie but there are also industry-specific jobs boards such as hoteljobs.ie. Besides the online jobs boards, vacancies can be found in local and national newspapers and social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. There are also specialist recruitment agencies that operate in the Irish hotel and catering sector.

Landing Your Dream Nursing Job

2012-02-06T11:17:00.000Z

Landing your dream nursing job in this tough economic climate

Even though nursing is one of the fastest growing professions, in this tough economic climate nurse job seekers face stiff competition like never before. Now more than ever the number of nurse job seekers is very high and the employers will be selecting the most qualified and experienced candidates who meet their needs. While this may find it harder for you to land in your dream job you can still find a nursing position if you are determined, experienced and update yourself about the latest recruitment trends existing in the industry.

The following tips may help you to identify and land in your dream nursing jobs.

Searching strategy for nursing Jobs

The first thing you have to consider is to be aware of all search practices and venues that may help you to find the opportunities around you. Networking online and offline will help you to do this. Social Media Networking sites offer a lot of potential for this. In addition to that online searches by understanding your exact requirements and keywords can tailor your search results. Such Google searches can help you to identify your tailored opportunities. Nursing conferences and meetings are ideal platforms to network and connect with people to share information and identify the right opportunities. Traditional and Virtual job fairs are other venues to find your nursing job opportunities.

Broaden your horizons

It is absolutely necessary to look at various options as you don’t know from where the right opportunities will come. For a fresher it is necessary to gain experience and for an experienced nurse it is necessary to update their skills and specialisation through research and further education. This will improve your expertise and satisfy the employer job requirements.

Preparing a unique CV

Unique CVs can grab attention of employers as most of the recruiters do not spend much time on each CV to assess it. A well written resume can address this issue as it is specific to the job requirements in terms of qualification and experience. The achievements in previous positions can be well outlined so that the recruiters will definitely pay attention to that. Use a Cover letter even when submitting the CVs online.

Appearing for Interview

When you appear for the interview you’ve the opportunity to sell yourself in person. The following tips will help you to excel in your interview. You’ve been invited to interview as your resume has created a positive impression.

1. Stay focussed to create a good impression in person

2. Exhibit professionalism

3. Neat in appearance

4. Show positive attitude and enthusiasm

5. Be knowledgeable and give specific answers

6. Know more about employer

7. Follow up after the interview

Whether you’re fresher or experienced nurse be professional, positive, prepared and knowledgeable to be recruited in a new position in nursing.

Reference:

http://www.nursingworld.org/careercenter/resources/ToughEconomy.pdf

The Agency Worker's Directive - Simplified!

2012-01-17T11:25:00.000Z

It is easy to get bogged down in the details of the Agency Workers Directive legislation which came into Law in Ireland in December 2011. Luckily, our friends over in Collier Broderick have put together a very brief and concise overview of the directive and have allowed us to publish it here.

Temporary Agency Workers - Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011
What is the Temporary Agency Work Bill which was published on 16th December 2011?
The Temporary Agency Work Bill arises from EU legislation – the Temporary Agency Workers Directive – which is an EU Directive, agreed in November 2008.

It is the third piece of legislation in the European Union's employment law package to protect “atypical” working. The other two pieces were the Part Time Workers Directive and the Fixed Term Contractors Directive. Both of these Directives have been enacted into Irish legislation already.

The main purpose of the Temporary Agency Worker Directive of the EU is to ensure the protection of temporary agency workers through the application of the principle of equal treatment, which already applies to fixed-term and part-time workers, and which, through this Directive is extended to agency workers.
The EU Temporary Agency Workers Directive (2008/104/EC), published in November, 2008, was to be implemented into Irish law by the 5th December, 2011. However, the social partners in Ireland failed to agree terms to enable its enactment by this deadline, and the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mr Richard Bruton, announced that legislation to transpose the Directive into Irish law would be published by the 16th December, 2011 to give legislative effect to the Directive, and this legislation would be backdated to the 5th December, 2011.

Thus, the Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Bill 2011 was published on 16th December, 2011.
This briefing notes sets out the overall contents of the Bill, who it affects and how.

Definitions of ‘Agency Worker’ and ‘Employment Agency’
The following definitions of ‘agency worker’ and ‘employment agency’ are important to understand, as those who falls within the scope and outside of the scope of the Bill will largely be determined by these two definitions.

What is an Agency Worker?
According to the Bill, an ‘agency worker’ is a person “employed by an employment agency under a contract of employment by virtue of which the individual may be assigned to work for, and under the direction and supervision of, a person other than the employment agency.”

The key words here are ‘under the direction and supervision of, a person other than the employment agency’.

What is an Employment Agency?
An ‘employment agency’ according to the Bill is “a person (including a temporary work agency) engaged in an economic activity who employs an individual under a contract of employment by virtue of which the individual may be assigned to work for, and under the direction and supervision of, a person other than the first-mentioned person”

Could a company be an ‘employment agency’ under the definition in the Bill, even though it is not a registered recruitment agency?
The definition of ‘employment agency’ above may encompass certain companies which are not registered as employment agencies but which are effectively acting as employment agencies under this Bill.

Who does the Bill apply to? Who does the Bill not apply to?
It applies to temporary agency workers who are employed by an ‘employment agency’ under a contract of employment and are assigned to work temporarily for, and under the direction and supervision, of another firm.

Thus, although it is not explicitly stated in the Bill, the following may be excluded from the scope of the Bill:
• Self-employed contractors - if they provide their services directly to the company where they work or if they are placed by an Employment Agency but they are not under a contract of employment with the Employment Agency

• Managed service contracts or outsourced contracts – persons who work for a company who provides the employees and their services to another company, but who remain under the direction and supervision of their employer, not under the supervision and direction of the company where they work

What about Permanent Agency Workers?
Permanent agency workers are excluded from the scope of the Bill in respect of pay only. All other aspects of the Bill will apply to them e.g. working conditions, facilities, etc. (see later).

A permanent agency worker is a person employed by an employment agency under a ‘permanent’ contract of employment (contract of indefinite duration), and who is assigned to work for, and under the direction and supervision, of another firm.

What about contractors who have limited liability companies?
The Bill does not expressly or implicitly exclude contractors who have limited liability companies. This needs further clarification.

It may be that contractors who have limited liability companies are in fact ‘agency workers’ employed by an ‘employment agency’ (their own limited liability company) who work under the supervision and direction of the organisation where they work.

What about employees of contractor companies?
The Bill does not expressly or implicitly exclude employees of contractor companies who are placed on a third-party site and who are under the direction and supervision of the third-party. This needs further clarification.

Thus, it may be that employees of contracting companies, such as, electricians, installers, etc., who are employed by the contracting company, who then places them on an other firms site, under the direction and supervision of that firm, may be agency workers and fall within the scope of the Bill.

What does it mean for Agency Workers and Employment Agencies who fall within the scope of the Bill?
According to the Bill, with effect from the 5th December, 2011, all temporary agency workers are entitled to equal pay and equal treatment in terms of a variety of working conditions as if they were directly recruited to the same job by the Hirer company.

It also means, that permanent agency workers are entitled to equal treatment in terms of working conditions (but not equal pay) as if they were directly recruited to the same job by the Hirer company.

What does ‘equal pay’ mean?
Equal pay includes:
• Basic pay, and

• Any pay in excess of basic pay in respect of:
o Shift work
o Piece work
o Overtime
o Unsocial hours worked
o Sunday work

This is the definitive list of ‘pay’ items included in the Bill.

Elements of pay which are specifically listed in the Bill and which are to be excluded from any calculation of pay are:

• Sick pay
• Occupational Pension schemes, and
• Financial participation schemes e.g. share options

What is not specifically excluded in the Bill and which may therefore cause some debate are:

• Bonus payments
• Maternity top-ups
• Medical insurance
• Permanent health insurance
• Benefit in kind

Further clarification on these items would be helpful in the final Act.

Although, it is noted that the Department’s own FAQ on the matter states that everything that is not included in the definition of pay above is excluded from the definition of pay.

It states:

“For example, the following elements of a possible remuneration/reward package are excluded from the definition of pay in the Bill:

• Occupational pension schemes
• Financial participation schemes
• Sick pay schemes
• Benefits in kind
• Bonuses”

What does ‘equal treatment’ mean?
The Bill provides for equal treatment of temporary agency workers and permanent agency workers in respect of the following terms and conditions of employment:

• Working time
• Rest periods
• Rest breaks
• Night work
• Annual leave, and
• Public holidays

Is there anything else included in the meaning of ‘equal treatment’?
The Bill also provides that temporary agency workers and permanent agency workers will have access to the facilities of the hirer company. This includes facilities such as canteen, car park, or other similar facilities, childcare facilities and transport services.

What else is included in ‘equal treatment’?
The Bill also provides that temporary agency workers and permanent agency workers should be informed about vacancies if employees in the Hirer company are so informed.

Who should the ‘equal pay’ and ‘equal treatment’ be ‘equal’ to?
The agency worker is to be provided with equal pay, and equal treatment, to a comparable employee.
All five elements of the following test must be met before an employee of the Hirer company can be considered a ‘comparable employee’ to the agency worker:

(1) The direct recruit must be employed by the hirer company.
(2) The two must work at the same location or, if they work at different locations, their work must be “directed and supervised by the hirer from the same place”.
(3) Both must do the same work under the same or similar conditions or each is interchangeable with the other in relation to the work.
(4) The work done by the direct recruit must be the same or similar in nature to that done by the agency worker and any differences between the work done or the conditions under which it is done by each must not be significant.
(5) The work done by the agency worker must be equal in value to, or greater in value than, the work done by the direct recruit, having regard to such matters as skill, physical or mental requirements, responsibility and working conditions.

What if there is no comparable employee?
What if there is no comparable employee in the Hirer company? For example, a Hirer company has never directly recruited or never intends to directly recruit this category of employee or this type of role?

It would appear from the Bill that if there is no directly comparable employee that a ‘hypothetical’ comparable employee is required. This could do with further clarification in the final Act.

What way do you account for skills, experience, qualifications, competencies?
Is the comparable employee the employee in the Hirer company with the same set of skills, experience, qualifications or competencies? Or is it the equivalent of the employee when starting on day 1 of the job (i.e. can’t be compared with an employee in the Hirer company who has say 10 years in the company, even though the agency worker has 10 years outside the company)? There are many questions that still need clarification here before the Act is finalised.

Who is the employer?
The Bill provides clarity that the employment agency, not the Hirer company, will be deemed to be the “employer” of the agency worker.

The primary redress therefore for an agency worker will be against the agency which employs them, not the Hirer company.

However, in the event that any fault lies with the Hirer company (such as where it may have inadvertently provided incorrect details of the pay of comparators) then liability will pass to the Hirer company.

How is an employment agency to know what the applicable terms and conditions in the Hirer company are?
The employment agency should request of the Hirer company information in relation to the pay and relevant working conditions of comparable employees to the agency worker.

The Bill proposes that this is retrospective to the 5th December, 2011.

What should the Hirer company tell the Agency?
The Hirer company must provide the agency with

“all such information in the possession of the Hirer as the employment agency reasonably requires to enable the employment agency to comply with its obligations under this Act in relation to the agency worker.”

This part of the Bill does not appear to be retrospective and therefore is only enforceable on enactment of the legislation.

What are the remedies and redress mechanisms for the agency worker?
The agency worker would make a complaint to the Rights Commissioner. Appeals would go to the Labour Court.

What are the penalties?
The employment courts have options such as:

• Recommend a course of action
• Re-instatement or re-engagement (where there has been a dismissal), or
• Compensation up to 2 years remuneration

This is in addition to making good any difference in pay and working conditions.

Who is liable in proceedings?
The employment agency is responsible, as the employer, for ensuring that equal pay and equal treatment in terms of working conditions which are under the control of the Hirer such as rest breaks (including annual leave and public holidays) and working time, is provided to the agency worker. This is the case notwithstanding the fact that rest breaks are not under the control of the agency.

The Hirer is responsible in relation to access to the company’s facilities.

The Hirer is also responsible in relation to the provision of information on vacancies.

What if Hirer doesn’t provide the information or doesn’t provide the correct information?
The Hirer company must provide the agency with:

“all such information in the possession of the Hirer as the employment agency reasonably requires to enable the employment agency to comply with its obligations under this Act in relation to the agency worker.”

In any claim by the agency worker, if the alleged contravention is as a result of a failure on the part of the Hirer company, then:

“the Hirer shall indemnify the employment agency in respect of any loss incurred by the employment agency that is attributable to such failure”.

Next steps

Employment agencies and Hirer companies need to review and assess their own situation in relation to the proposed Bill.

Source: Collier Broderick

Creating S.M.A.R.T. Career Goals in 2012

2012-01-06T11:24:00.000Z

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Realistic

Timely

Specific: A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal. To set a specific goal you must answer the six “W” questions:

*Who: Who is involved?

*What: What do I want to accomplish?

*Where: Identify a location.

*When: Establish a time frame.

*Which: Identify requirements and constraints.

*Why: Specific reasons, purpose or benefits of accomplishing the goal.

CAREER EXAMPLE: A general goal would be, “Get a New Job.” But a specific goal would say, “Get at least 3 interviews by March.”

Measurable - Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of each goal you set. When you measure your progress, you stay on track, reach your target dates, and experience the exhilaration of achievement that spurs you on to continued effort required to reach your goal.

To determine if your goal is measurable, ask questions such as……

How much? How many?

How will I know when it is accomplished?

CAREER EXAMPLE: If you have attended 3 interviews by March you have achieved that goal. The fact that you gave the goal a set figure i.e. 3 it makes it measureable.

Attainable – When you identify goals that are most important to you, you begin to figure out ways you can make them come true. You develop the attitudes, abilities, skills, and financial capacity to reach them. You begin seeing previously overlooked opportunities to bring yourself closer to the achievement of your goals.

You can attain most any goal you set when you plan your steps wisely and establish a time frame that allows you to carry out those steps. Goals that may have seemed far away and out of reach eventually move closer and become attainable, not because your goals shrink, but because you grow and expand to match them. When you list your goals you build your self-image. You see yourself as worthy of these goals, and develop the traits and personality that allow you to possess them.

CAREER EXAMPLE: When setting your goal of 3 interviews by March, consider what you will need to do to achieve this and the time that will be needed. You may need to apply for 10+ jobs before achieving 3 interviews. If this does not seem attainable make the goal more achievable e.g. 1 job interview by March.

Realistic- To be realistic, a goal must represent an objective toward which you are both willing and able to work. A goal can be both high and realistic; you are the only one who can decide just how high your goal should be. But be sure that every goal represents substantial progress.

A high goal is frequently easier to reach than a low one because a low goal exerts low motivational force. Some of the hardest jobs you ever accomplished actually seem easy simply because they were a labor of love.

CAREER EXAMPLE: “I will have started a new job by June” – If you achieve your goal of attaining 3 interviews by March, then it would be reasonably realistic to assume that you will have started in a new role by June. However, saying you will be started in a new job by March may be unrealistic as your first goal was set to only achieve interviews by then.

Timely – A goal should be grounded within a time frame. With no time frame tied to it there’s no sense of urgency. If you want to get a job, when do you want to get it by? “Someday” won’t work. But if you anchor it within a timeframe, “by June 1st”, then you’ve set your unconscious mind into motion to begin working on the goal.

Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe that it can be accomplished. Additional ways to know if your goal is realistic is to determine if you have accomplished anything similar in the past or ask yourself what conditions would have to exist to accomplish this goal.

T can also stand for Tangible – A goal is tangible when you can experience it with one of the senses, that is, taste, touch, smell, sight or hearing. When your goal is tangible you have a better chance of making it specific and measurable and thus attainable.

CAREER EXAMPLE: The goals were set with timeframes - “3 interviews by March” and “new job by June”. These goals are also tangible. The tangible result will be you signing your name on your new employment contract!

(Source: topachievement.com)

The Latest Report on Female Entrepreneurship

2012-01-03T11:44:00.000Z

Cora Barnes, Managing director of Three Q Recruitment, is a past participant on the Going for Growth programme which focuses on female entrepreneurship.

A new report about that topic was carried out by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) and focuses strongly on the gender dimension of entrepreneurship. The authors are extremely well regarded academics in the general entrepreneurship area, as well as that related to gender.

The report gives a good realisation that the situation in Ireland is not unique in this regard. In innovation–driven economies like ours, women have had consistently lower growth aspirations than men and women compared to men are likely to have less positive attitudes about their personal capacities and have less well developed relevant networks. The Going for Growth Programme is designed to address this situation.

Nikki Evans and Grainne Barry – two members of the Going for Growth programme are pictured on the cover of the report and captioned in the inside cover page. That arose from Paula Fitzsimons speaking with the authors at the early planning stage and advocating that they should include faces of real entrepreneurs on the cover to emphasise the point that entrepreneurs are people and not statistics, as there are a great many statistics in the report. Paula Fitzsimons is National Director of the Going For Growth Programme in Ireland.

A profile for Going for Growth is included on page 16 of the GEM report and is accompanied by Nikki’s photo. The report has global circulation and is part of the strategy to raise the profile of Going for Growth internationally.

Cora Barnes is a past participant in the programme and is also in the network of women who have actively continued to keep in contact after the original program and will be taking part in round table discussions of topics in 2012.

A full copy of the report can be found here

Latest Medical & Healthcare Jobs News

2011-12-16T16:26:00.000Z

5,000 digital healthcare jobs could be created in Ireland by 2020

The recent economic impact study by Trinity College economist Constantin Gurdgiev estimated that 5,000 new jobs could be created.

The International Healthcare Services Centre (IHSC) idea, which last year was a runner-up in the Your Country Your Call initiative, is the brainchild of former Intel digital healthcare executive Joe Dalton.In recent months, Dalton established his own technology start-up Intellehealth as a joint venture with Dutch electronics giant Philips to enable remote monitoring of chronic conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes.

Read more about this article:

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/item/25032-5-000-digital-healthcare/

Study finds more young people becoming nurses

Significantly more young people are becoming registered nurses, reversing a 10-year decline in the number of nurses entering the profession and easing some concerns about a looming nursing shortage in the United States according to a new study released in the December issue of Health Affairs.

Read more about this article:

http://www.healthcanal.com/public-health-safety/24137-Study-finds-more-young-people-becoming-nurses.html

Ten Common Mistakes in Sales

2011-12-13T15:00:00.002Z

To be able to excel in a sales job, it is important to avoid the most common sales mistakes

Trying to get everywhere – If you work in field sales, don't spend all your day travelling from one client to another. Divide your targets into geographic clusters by town or county and arrange your meetings or presentations in that way, targeting a different cluster each day or week.

No research – You may be cold calling but at least have a minimum amount of research done on your prospect before doing. There is nothing more frustrating for a potential client than someone trying to sell to them who knows nothing about their company or it's needs.

Not Following up – Keep in contact with lapsed clients through regular marketing communications. You have a head start with these customers as they already have a relationship with you. Not following up on all enquiries is a serious sales sin!

Dull and Boring Presentations – Presentations and demonstrations can sometimes be the most uninteresting of sales techniques. They will only be remembered if they are memorable. The more interaction the better, speak with your audience, not at them.

No Progress – Sales should be all about making a closer step towards closing the deal through each and every interaction with a potential buyer. A good way of making sure this happens is by setting a minimum and maximum objective to achieve from each interaction, agree actions and timeframe with them for the next steps.

Poor Time Management – Every sales activity you do should be allotted time based on how much sales that activity can potentially bring in. For example, a trade show where you could meet hundreds of potential customers should be given a lot more time and effort than a single presentation to a relatively small prospect.

Forgetting about Referrals – Never close a sale or bring on a new customer without asking them to refer their friends, family and colleagues onto you. Word of mouth is still an extremely powerful form of marketing.

Being Afraid to Close – Knowing the right moment to close the sale is often the most daunting of tasks for a salesperson. Just say to yourself that the worst answer you can hear is 'no' and it won't seem so bad. ABC – Always be closing!

Not Asking Enough Questions – People love to talk about themselves and their companies so they would be delighted to answer any questions you have and remember, the more you know about them, the more likely you will be able to convince them that your product/service can fulfil their needs.

Poor Attitude – If you are serious about a career in sales you need energy, enthusiasm and a willingness to learn and adapt. Your attitude will rub off on your prospects during your sales meetings and presentations so if you're not happy in sales, get out because your performance and results are likely to suffer.

Source: salesjobs.ie

The Recruitment Industry as we enter 2012

2011-12-13T14:27:00.002Z

A new survey by recruitment software developers, Arithon has revealed some interesting statistics on the recruitment industry in Ireland at the moment.

70% of recruitment agencies and consultants surveyed revealed that they are making more or less the same number of placements as this time four years ago. This shows that after the initial slowdown of the industry caused by the recession, companies are again beginning to enlist the services of agencies when recruiting new staff. 88% of these placements are now for permanent positions.

Jobs boards are still the primary source of candidates and CVs for recruiters, closely followed by their existing database. Just under half of those surveyed have used LinkedIn to source potential candidates for their vacancies.

Focusing on the changing technology in the recruitment industry in Ireland, it was revealed that 90% of recruiters believe that jobseekers will use their phone to search for jobs in 2012. This may see a trend of new recruitment and job seeking applications being developed in the New Year.

All of the recruitment consultants surveyed use a smartphone with the Apple IPhone being the overwhelmingly popular choice.

Over 70% of those surveyed also need access to their database when out of the office, proving that the tendency to work-at-home or while on the move is certainly not disappearing anytime soon.

Source: Arithon

IT Professionals work longer hours

2011-12-09T10:05:00.002Z

A new report has revealed that IT professionals are expected to work overtime for no extra pay. Over 60 per cent of those questioned in an IT employment survey said employers expect them to work longer than their contracted hours for no extra pay.

53 per cent also confirmed that their salary has been cut in the last 12 months. Career progression is the biggest motivation for job change, slightly ahead of salary.

This survey shows the IT industry is pushing for greater productivity gains from existing staff but where opportunities still exist for new IT recruits, 31 per cent of respondents said that their employer will be hiring in the next year.

Opinion is split on the quality of the respondent's experience of recruitment agencies. 40 per cent of IT professionals have had their salary expectations misrepresented to employers by an agency. 36 per cent said their CV was submitted to an employer without the permission. Only 17 per cent of respondents said that agencies were either "good" or "very good" in understanding their career aspirations, highlighting a substantial divide between candidates and recruiters.

The survey highlights trends in the tools used by candidates when job seeking. Online resources such as jobs boards are used by 21 per cent of respondents while general internet searches and social media are primarily used by 16 per cent of candidates. Word of mouth remains popular with 17 per cent citing it as the key channel to find opportunities.

Source: Irishpressreleases.ie

New Café for Dementia Care Professionals

2011-12-07T17:15:00.000Z

A new café dedicated to families of those with dementia and Alzheimer’s has been launched in Donnybrook, Dublin 4. Held in Avila Carmelite Centre, Donnybrook the free of charge evening was open to people with dementia and their families, and health and social care professionals/volunteers.

At the venue there was a talk from a Health & Social Care professional, meetings and shared experiences and cups of tea & cakes.

They are also currently holding an appeal to collect china cups. If you have an old china set or a mis-match of china cups and saucers and you are happy to donate them to a worthy home at the Alzheimer Café please contact them via their website http://www.alzheimercafe.ie/

Palliative Care Report

2011-12-07T16:39:00.003Z

A new report on primary palliative care has been released by the the Irish Hospice Foundation (IHF), the Health Service Executive (HSE) and the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) recommending a series of measures to be adopted to enhance the ability of GPs and primary care teams to deliver quality care to people dying in the community.

The Primary Palliative Care initiatives to be pursued over the coming year include:

Creating a system to identify and respond to patients with palliative care needs in the community

Developing a palliative care summary to update GP Out of Hours Services with relevant background information on the changing needs of dying patients

Clarifying the extent and means to access advice and information from specialist palliative care on a 24 hour basis

Encouraging professional bodies involved in training and development of primary health care staff to signpost existing education and training options in palliative care.

Unlike other countries, Ireland has no formal framework to support the delivery of palliative care by primary care teams.

The report contained the findings of a survey undertook in 2010 which found that the majority of 182 primary care healthcare professionals registered a significant desire for more training in palliative care.

The report also highlighted longer-term recommendations to fill significant gaps in service provision such as the need for flexible out of hours nursing; better communication systems between primary, secondary and tertiary care providers, more psychological support for patients and families, timely access to specialised equipment and formalising palliative approach to care within private healthcare sector

Launching the report, Dr Brian Maurer, who is the Chairman of ASH Ireland, remarked: "All healthcare professionals have to come to terms with the fact that despite our best efforts, some of our patients will die. The aim must then switch to ensuring that the individual has the best care in their last year of life. To enable this to happen, we need coordinated care planning and communications between all of the individuals involved to ensure the patient enjoys a good quality of life and does not have to endure any burdensome interventions. Caring for a patient at the end of their life is one of the most challenging experiences for a healthcare professional. The initiatives we are launching today will help GPs, nurses and other healthcare professionals to respond sensitively and confidently to the needs of our most vulnerable patients when they need us most."

Source: Irish Hospice Foundation

How to Choose the Nursing Home you want to work in

2011-11-29T10:46:00.002Z

As specialist recruiters for the nursing home industry, Three Q has become aware of the many considerations candidates have when choosing a nursing home to begin or advance their career in. With that in mind we have compiled a list of FAQ's and concerns regarding nursing homes and how to address them when looking for a staff nurse or other nursing home job.

Location – This is the deciding factor for many job seekers looking for nursing home vacancies. Many want a nursing home conveniently located to where they currently live while others have set their sights on certain counties, cities or towns and look for nursing homes in that locality. A good starting point are the websites www.nhi.ie, www.nursinghomes.ie, www.retirementservices.ie and www.myhomefromhome.ie as they list nursing homes by county so that you can shortlist desired nursing homes in the location you are looking for.

Size – Do you want to work in a small intimate nursing home or a larger company or group operator? Different candidates want to work in different settings. Search for your shortlisted nursing homes on the internet and see if you can find information on how many beds, patients and staff they have. The HIQA report for the nursing home you are interested in will usually have this information.

Benefits – What extras do you receive by working in the nursing home? Health insurance, free or subsidised meals on duty, uniforms, paid holidays etc. are all aspects to consider. Nursing homes in the private nursing home sector will all have all their own standard operating procedures when it comes to these things.

Amenities - Is the Nursing Home convenient for shops or other places you may want to get to?

Reputability – With a growing number of nursing homes closing in the past year due to inadequate HIQA inspection results, it is important to consider whether you can give yourself some job security by looking to work in a nursing home with standards. If they are a member of the national industry body, Nursing Homes Ireland, this shows a level of commitment to care but also read previous HIQA inspections on the nursing home you are interested in. These are published on the HSE website.

Latest Hospitality and Catering Sector News

2011-11-28T12:27:00.001Z

Pub Trade look for legislation

The Vinters' Federation of Ireland (VFI) marched on the Dail on the 17th of November to call upon the government to acknowledge their concerns facing thousands of pubs throughout Ireland. The smoking ban and drink driving legislation has contributed to pub jobs dropping by 30,000 from over five years and 1500 pubs closing down.
The VFI used the protest to highlight the changes they want to see brought in through legislation that will help the pub trade namely, increasing the VAT exemption threshold from €75,000 to €100,000, a reduction in excise, rent rates reductions and for publicans who use seven and nine seater vehicles to transport patrons to be able to offset the VAT/VRT as a business expense.

Source: Hospitality Ireland

Culinary Visitor Centre for Meath

A Culinary Visitor Centre is being planned for County Meath. The Meath Partnership is planning the €1m centre where visitors will be able to see demonstrations of food manufacturing and cooking and can buy local produce. Chief executive Michael Ludlow says that the Cente will be a focal point of excellence and will drive culinary and food tourism activity in the County. It is a boost for catering and hospitality jobs in the area also, providing up to 40 full-time jobs and a further 20 part-time roles during peak season.

Source: Irish Times

Congratulations to Award Winners

The Irish Hospitality Institute Annual Hospitality Management Awards took place on Thursday 24^th November at the Four Season's Hotel in Dublin. Below is the list of winners on the night. Congratulations to all!

Hospitality Manager of the Year 2011– Hotel - Martin Mangan, General Manager, Conrad Dublin

Young Hospitality Manager of the Year 2011 - Shane Downey, Director of Operations, Conrad Dublin

Hospitality Manager of the Year 2011– Human Resources - Gillian Chambers, Human Resources Manager, Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa, Galway

Hospitality Manager of the Year 2011 – Catering - Martina Flood, Catering Director, Aviva Stadium

Hospitality Graduate of the Year 2011 - Lewis Quinn, Shannon College of Hotel Management

Hospitality Manager of the Year 2011 – Environmental - Andrew Mullen, Maintenance Manager, Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa, Cork

Hospitality Manager of the Year 2011 – Rooms/Revenue Division - Nicola Cunningham, Front Office Manager, The Court Yard Hotel, Lexlip

Enrolment in to the College of Fellows - Edward Stephenson General Manager, The Westbury Hotel.

- Raymond Keaney – Tallaght Institute of Technology

- Joe O'Brien – Tullamore Court Hotel

- John Brennan, Chief Executive, Jurys Inns Group

5 Marketing Career Tips

2011-11-22T14:59:00.002Z

Marketingprofs.com has put together a detailed guide on career advice specifically for marketing professionals or jobseekers looking for marketing jobs. We have highlighted the main points from that guide below and given it our own expert opinion.

1. Know what you want and what you don't

A well-trained marketer starts every campaign and project with a clear and tangible goal. The same should apply for your marketing career. Take time to document your goals – where do you see yourself in 5 years etc. Not only will this focus you on the type of jobs to search and apply for, but the answers are useful to have as they are often asked at interview stage.

2. Assess your skill set

Take a look at your skills and determine which are most relevant to the current needs of your current or potential employers. Marketing is a profession that is highly dictated by technology advancement which often means that those looking to advance their careers in marketing need to continually upskill in this new digital age we live in. Social media, online marketing and graphic design are just some of areas that can be specialised in and courses are available to upskill in all of these fields.

3. Build your personal brand

You are a marketer, so therefore you know a thing or two about branding. But, have you ever considered building your own personal brand when job seeking? You are essentially trying to sell your CV and yourself so in one sense you can build a strong brand identity through your name. An engaging LinkedIn profile, networking, industry body memberships and past successes can all go a long way in getting your name recognised in the sectors you want to work in and remember just as it is in business today, your online presence is just as important as your offline one as many employers will now check LinkedIn and Facebook profiles to assess their potential employees.

4. Don't try to tick every box

Ask yourself, if you were to win the marketer of the year award next year, what would you win for? Take this strength and build your CV around it. It is much more impressive to an employer if you are outstanding at one marketing discipline that they have a need for than to be mediocre at twenty different marketing activities. You can be Ireland's most successful pay-per-click executive but that probably means that you are not the most creative copywriter also. Your strengths should be highlighted from first application all the way through interview and second interview, giving a much higher likelihood that you will be hired.

5. Think outside the box

As a rule of thumb, marketers are expected to have some creative spark. Apply this creativity to your marketing job search. Simply sending a cover letter and CV is unlikely to make you stand apart from the countless others clogging up the hiring manager's or recruitment consultant's inbox. There are countless ways to do this and each one should be unique to you. Imagine how impressed a hiring manager would be to be able to check out your own personal website or be given some memorable piece of marketing material rather than just the traditional CV and cover letter.

Source: marketingprofs.com

Head Chef Loyalty

2011-11-22T12:23:00.002Z

Over the past year, Three Q's catering division has noted one recurring demand from their clients when recruiting for Head chef vacancies – continuity in service.

Obviously, the typical traits of suitable experience, excellent culinary skills, ability to lead a team and manage a kitchen and knowledge of food hygiene and costings are all still hugely important. However, nowadays hotels and restaurants are looking for more than just that – they want a chef who has proven his loyalty to similar companies.

Typically, this means a minimum of 3 years continuous experience in the same Head Chef/Executive Head Chef position in the same company. From our experience, a chef with a CV that consists of moving from one role to the other after less than this amount of time in one company are far less likely to be called for interview by a client than one has an unbroken amount of time with the same company.

Hotels and restaurants value loyalty from their staff and will compensate this loyalty with promotions, opportunities and salary increases. Head Chefs who are looking for a new position should consider whether this loyalty is visible through the entries on their current CV.

How to get a Sales Job

2011-11-22T11:13:00.002Z

The type of people that sales jobs suit are usually those who like communicating, are good at presenting to an audience and are great at persuasion.

Whether you are new to a career in sales or already in that field and want some more pointers on how to perform at interview, this article is a good go-to-guide for anyone aiming to land a sales or business development role.

Firstly, you must consider what you want to sell and what type of company you want to work for. Is it a product or service that you would prefer to sell or have experience in selling? What industry sectors interest you or have you experience in? Would you like to be involved in field sales, telesales or sales support? Answering these basic questions will focus you on the type of sales position you want to secure.

A key aspect of a career in sales is believing in what you are selling. If you are uninterested or unenthusiastic about the product or service you are trying to convince someone to purchase, then it is highly unlikely that they will buy from you. Unless you are passionate about what you are going to sell, you shouldn't sell it.

A good idea would be to create a profile of your ideal sales job and employer. Then you can start identifying suitable potential roles and employers.

In preparation for a sales job interview, it is wise to consider what a new sales person means to an employer. Invariably, this usually means increasing the bottom line. This should be in your mind during all of your interactions with your potential employers. Impress them with examples of pitches or marketing materials, mention your past successes in generating revenue or profit and constantly speak about the potential money they could make by hiring you.

Some people are natural born salespeople. They have the right mix of charisma and closing skills and a sales career was inevitable for them. If you are not that person it doesn't necessarily mean that you cannot work successfully in a sales environment. There are plenty of training courses available in the areas of presentation, closing, cold calling, customer relationship management etc. so that you can hone your skills and learn how to become an effective salesperson.

In conclusion, the following broad guidelines should be followed when looking for a sales job:

Create a profile of your ideal sales role and employer and only apply for positions that meet this criteria

Always talk about the potential revenue you can generate by an employer hiring you and give examples.

If you are not a natural salesperson attend training courses on the areas you need to improve on and highlight these on your CV

Remember, it is a sales job that you are applying for so use your sales skills to sell yourself to your employer. Pitch your CV with an impressive cover letter, use your 'elevator pitch' to open your interview and always follow-up after the interview. Finally, close the deal by getting the job!

Complaining About Irish Health Services

2011-11-16T13:48:00.001Z

Sometimes, complaining about health services in Ireland can be confusing and daunting. Who do I approach? Where do I go? Is there a central complaints body? There has been a need for information regarding healthcare complaints in this country for some time now and finally there is an answer!

www.healthcomplaints.ie, a new website, was recently launched and is dedicated to information on where and how to complain about health and social care services in Ireland.

Amongst the information on there is facts on:

Where to call to complain:
- There is a national information line which is open from Monday-Saturday, 8am-8pm – 1850 241 850
- The Office of the Ombudsman is open from Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm – 1890 223 030
Who to complain to:
- The person in charge of delivering your treatment or care
- A complaints officer
You can receive a free guide – 'Where and how to complain about health and social care services in Ireland' which includes:
- A directory listing regulators and agencies who deal with healthcare complaints
- A directory of advocacy services (support services who will listen to your complaint and direct you to the appropriate agency)
Tips on how to complain correctly
What agencies, regulators and industry bodies are involved in Healthcomplaints.ie
Your patient rights

Nursing Homes By the Numbers

2011-11-16T12:57:00.001Z

Having recently attended the Nursing Homes Ireland Annual Conference we thought it might be an idea to put together the ultimate fact sheet on the Irish Nursing Home Industry. So here it is in numbers!

20,600 – The approximate number of residents in nursing home care in Ireland today.

70 - The percentage of long-term care beds the nursing home industry accounts for in Ireland

21,000 – The number of people employed in the sector

2008 – The year Nursing Homes Ireland (the representative industry body) was formed after a merger of The Federation of Irish Nursing Homes, The Irish Nursing Homes Organisation, Nursing Homes Association South East and Nursing Homes West.

7.3 – The percentage increase in the amount of the Irish population aged over 65 since 2002.

2050 – The year the amount of over 65's in Ireland is expected to have tripled by.

24.8 – The number of over 65's there are in Ireland for every one nursing home bed.

18,883 – The number of registered nursing home beds in Ireland in 2007

60 – The average percentage of turnover spent on staff costs by Irish nursing homes

49,000 – The number of people expected to be suffering from dementia in Ireland by 2016.

0.67 – The percentage of GDP that is spent on elderly care services by the Irish government.

What are your options when you’re Unemployed?

2011-11-16T12:38:00.001Z

Have you ever considered the range of Social Welfare options available open to you if you should unfortunately find yourself unemployed? This handy list is to-the-point and lets you know all the information you need in a nutshell.

Back to work Enterprise Allowance – for someone who has been unemployed or on sickness benefit for at least 12 months and you start a business. It allows you to retain part of your social welfare payments, tax free for 2 years.
Short-term Enterprise Allowance – This can be claimed by anyone who is eligible for Jobseekers benefit and starts a business. It has a max length of 1 year and only applies when you have been on benefits for 3 months
Back to Work Tax Free Income – Claimable if you are returning to work after 12 months or more of unemployment or sickness. Your employer can also double write-off against tax
Work Placement – This is organised by Fas and is open to anyone out of work. The JobBridge scheme entitles you to retain your social welfare payment and an additional €50 per week. You only retain your payment if you have been on Social welfare for 3 months or more
Community Employment – This offers up to 20 hours of unemployment per week for people aged 25 or more that have been on social welfare for more than 12 months and have not worked 30 days in the year. The payment is €208 a week.
Back to Education Allowance – You can claim this if you are undertaking a full-time course at second, third and postgraduate level and if you are at least 21 years old (18 if out of education for 2 years and 24 for postgrads) and on social welfare at least 3 months for second level, 6 months for VTOS or 9 months for Third Level. It is claimable immediately if you have been given statutory redundancy.
Third Level Grants – These are available from local authorities for full-time third level courses. The student receives a grant and no registration fees. To qualify parent's gross income must be under €41,110 in the previous year.
Jobseekers Allowance – Can be claimed by single people living at home and not in education. Payment is capped at €100 a week for those under 22 and €144 a week for under 25s. It is assessed on 34% of the parent's disposable income.

Nursing Homes Ireland Annual Conference - A Retrospect

2011-11-16T12:08:00.001Z

The Irish Nursing Home Industry recently descended on Dublin for this year's Annual NHI Conference and Care Awards.

The Citywest Hotel and Conference Centre played host to one of the sector's key events in the calendar year. Three Q Recruitment were on hand and here, we bring you our take on the guest speakers and the hotly debated topics of the day.

Speaker Highlights

Desmond O Neill – geriatrician and stroke physician at TCD

Desmond O' Neill focused his speech on the importance of up skilling and not only being humane when providing a service but being competent. When looking at how we get to where we want to be, from the current state of Nursing Homes Desmond discussed the necessity to develop a sense of personal and moral agency. His speech was insightful and encouraging. The heart of his speech focused on the need to develop consistent standards, continuous professional development and moving from task orientation to people orientated medicine.

Freek Lapre – president EAHSA (European association of homes and services for the ageing)

Freek Lapre outlined the future challenges in healthcare focusing on the five key principals of nursing homes:

Preserving dignity
Nurturing spirits in life
Comforting in partnership
Encouraging diversity in housing and services
Adopting a carefree and modern approach

He discussed in detail, the Dutch health Insurance system where deinstitutionalisation, integration and informal care are the epicentre of the progressive system in place in Holland. Frank highlighted the necessity for change now that we are faced with a climate of increasing elderly and decreasing government budget.

Professor Rose Anne Kenny – champion of ageing research TCD

Anne has been working on TILDA (Irish Longitudinal study of Ageing). TILDA not only aims to help move Ireland to a "hub" for ageing research but it has also created employment within age related research since its launch ten years ago. In terms of how TILDA will help the nursing home sector, it aims to not only establish the overall well fair of the ageing demographic but predict trends in the need for care of the elderly to help nursing homes prepare for the increase in older individuals in the coming years.

Geraldine Fitzpatrick – Principal Officer Department of Health

Geraldine focused on the point that the department of Health are committed to continue investing in elderly care in the coming years. They intend on investing €1 billion in long term residential care and €350 million into home care/home help packages to reach over 65000 people. She acknowledged the fact that the average length of stay in long term residential facilities has increased and that a focus now needs to be on trying to keep people in their homes for longer. Along with this focus, the dementia strategy is due to launch in 2013. Finally Geraldine discussed the importance of restraint free environment, which everyone agreed with and are determined to achieve in the coming months.

David Sheard – Chief Executive, Dementia Care Matters

By far this was the most inspirational speech of the day. For those members who attended and had the privilege to see David Sheard speak so passionately about dementia care I am sure you would agree, and for those who were not able to attend I recommend listening to him if you ever have the opportunity. David's focus was on person centred care and its importance within nursing homes. He has spent his career breaking down the perceptions of individuals with dementia, and has devoted himself to creating environments where they feel safe, are active, and accepted for who they are. It was clear from him speech that everyone left feeling excited about the opportunities they had within their nursing homes to make a difference. He, along with other speakers that day also touched on the importance of moving away from task orientated activities to person orientated care.

Health Insurance When Moving Abroad – What Cover to Choose?

2011-10-18T16:05:00.001+01:00

Keeping with our theme of re-locating for work this month, we thought it would be a good idea to look at the insurance options open to those who are planning to move abroad.

Insurance, quite obviously, is an essential feature to consider when emigrating for work. Having attended the recent Working Abroad Expo, Three Q's medical team were delighted to speak with Mary Deignan, a Global Product Specialist from VHI Healthcare.

Current Irish healthcare plans do not cover trips abroad longer than 6 months. VHI can provide a Global offering to its those looking to re-locate abroad for more than 6 months and intending to return to live in Ireland at a later date. There are three simple questions you need to ask yourself to find out which cover is best for you:

Where am I travelling to? – Europe, Worldwide (excluding North America, Canada and Caribbean) or Worldwide (all countries)
What level of cover do I need? - Level 1 (medical expenses up to €100,00,000) or Level 2 (medical expenses up to €1,500,000)
Do I need any add-ons? – travel insurance, dental insurance

Other benefits provided include smooth transfer from current policy, no matter who the provider is, cover while on visits back to Ireland and access to all medical facilities worldwide.

For more information on VHI Global click here

At the moment Three Q are recruiting for Restaurant Managers and Construction Professionals in the UK and New Zealand respectively. If you would like to learn more about our overseas vacancies contact us on 01-8783335 or international@3qrecruitment.ie

Healthcare Recruitment – The Live Experience

2011-10-18T15:14:00.001+01:00

Three Q Medical's recruitment team recently attended the Working Abroad Expo in the RDS, Dublin on Wednesday 5^th October.

The event is the UK and Ireland's only recruitment exhibition dedicated to the domestic & overseas recruitment of Health Sector related Professionals.

Health boards, government officials, employers, recruiters and service providers from Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Canada, Europe and Ireland descended upon the RDS to meet Nurses, Medical, Allied Health, Dentists and Social Care professionals at all stages of their career.

Some of the famous exhibiters included Commonwealth Bank, VHI and The Department of Health for Western Australia.

"It was all about the Doctors" said Cora, Three Q's managing director. She referred to the fact that GPs and Specialists were the professions most in demand at the exhibition. Having spoken with experts from Head Medical, a Scottish specialist medical recruitment agency, Three Q learned that they have noticed a 500% increase in interest from Doctors looking to work overseas. The agency highlighted the fact that the need for experience was the drive for the doctors to go elsewhere as Irish career opportunities in the sector at the moment were limited.

For more on the event visit www.healthrecruitmentexpo.com

To learn more about working overseas visit our dedicated guide here

Our Spare an Hour Campaign

2011-09-14T09:36:00.002+01:00

Over the last month, Three Q has been running a Spare an Hour Campaign in aid of the Irish Red Cross efforts during the current famine crisis in East Africa. We asked each of our staff members, including both our office staff and temps, to donate one hour of their wages to the campaign. The company promised to meet the final amount that was raised, doubling it.

The Irish Red Cross are currently trying to increase their relief efforts to the hundreds of thousands affected in Kenya and Somalia. They have already supplied clean water to over 85,000 people and now plan to provide supplementary food, distribute seeds to farmers and install mobile health teams.

We were delighted to raise €540 through the generosity of our own staff. This was then doubled meaning Three Q donated a final amount of €1,080.20 to the Irish Red Cross in aid of the East African Famine. We know this money will go to great use in the stricken areas of Africa and were proud to be able to do our part for a great cause.

The Three Q Team with our donation to the Irish Red Cross

Taking Care of the ABC’s

2011-09-02T12:08:00.002+01:00

September always reminds us, as an agency that supplies emergency and temporary staff relief, just how important our services are to some companies.

The traditional time for back-to-school sees many parents in need to take some time off to prepare their kids for the imminent return of their school routine. Traditionally during this time, we see a surge in requests for chefs, catering staff and care assistants from clients looking to cover shifts from their permanent staff where they needed to take annual or emergency leave.

It serves as a reminder that temporary employment agencies certainly do hold an important place in the human resourcing strategy for many companies.

Jobs Index by Sector for the Quarter 2 of 2011

2011-08-09T11:04:00.001+01:00

Irishjobs.ie provides stats regarding vacancy trends in the Irish employment market. The IrishJobs.ie Jobs Index measures jobs advertised online across the main recruitment websites in the country. Below we have decided to dissect the latest report focusing on the three sectors that we operate in – Catering & Hospitality, Medical & Healthcare and Professional Services.

Catering & Hospitality

Based on company advertisements from April to June 2011, the Hotel and Catering sector shows resurgence in Q2 2011 compared with Q2 2010 (+26%)

This may be due to a seasonal variation, as traditionally the summer months in this sector are busiest for recruitment, but any positive change in this industry, which suffered badly when the recession first hit, is a good sign

Medical & Healthcare:

A small negative occurred in job advertisements in the medical sector between Q1 and Q2 of this year. However, when compared with the same periods in both 2009 and 2010 we can see from the chart below that this industry has recovered well from the recession occurred in Q2 2011.

% Change %Change %Change

Q2:2009- Q2: 2010- Q1: 2011-

Q2:2011 Q2:2011 Q2: 2011

Medical Professionals & Healthcare 39 20 3

Table: Changes by Industry, positive changes in blue and negative changes in red.

Index is Q2:2009.

Professional Services

Within the broad spectrum of professional services, Management (+30%), and IT (+45%), are the main growth areas whilst there are still definite decreases in Construction, Architecture and Property (-29%). 80 per cent of corporate jobs posted to IrishJobs.ie are new jobs rather than replacement jobs. The report also notes that Accountants are in huge demand in Galway at the moment with nearly 40% of all jobs advertised in Galway during Q2 being for that profession.

The author of the IrishJobs.ie Jobs Index is economist
Dr Stephen Kinsella of the Kemmy Business School at the University of Limerick.

Source: Irishjobs.ie

Professional Services Average Salaries

2011-07-20T15:09:00.001+01:00

Have you ever wondered are you being paid the same as the rest of your fellow industry professionals?

When you work in a professional service position such as accountancy, customer service, sales/marketing, HR, IT and administration your salary should reflect an industry standard.

Each year, Irishjobs.ie commissions several recruitment agencies to carry out Salary Surveys that reflect the average sector pay. We have selected a range of positions below relating to professional services candidates and what pay you should expect.

Accounting

JOB TITLE	ROI € Annual	ROI € p/h
Financial Director	90,000 - 160,000	74.40 - 137.00
Financial Controller	70,000 - 110,000	57.00 - 90.00
Finance Manager	65,000 - 85,000	54.00 - 70.00
Financial Accountant	45,000 - 60,000	37.00 - 49.60
Management Accountant	45,000 - 60,000	37.00 - 49.60
Project Accountant	55,000 - 70,000	45.50 - 57.00
Cost Accountant	45,000 - 65,000	37.00 - 54.00
Financial Analyst	45,000 - 65,000	37.00 - 54.00
Systems Accountant	60,000 - 70,000	49.60 - 57.00
Internal Auditor	50,000 - 65,000	41.35 - 54.00
Newly Qualified Accountant	45,000 - 50,000	37.00 - 41.35
Fund Accountant	40,000 - 50,000	33.00 - 41.35
Finalist	38,000 - 45,000	31.40 - 37.00

Source: Irishjobs.ie

Sales/Marketing

JOB TITLE	Base €	OTE €
Sales Director	70,000 - 120,000	80,000 - 140,000
National Sales Manager	70,000 - 90,000	90,000 - 120,000
Regional Sales Manager	60,000 - 80,000	80,000 - 100,000
Sales Manager	50,000 - 75,000	70,000 - 90,000
Business Development Manager	45,000 - 70,000	55,000 - 85,000
Key Account Manager	35,000 - 50,000	40,000 - 60,000
Senior Sales (5 - 10 years' exp.)	40,000 - 50,000	50,000 - 65,000
Mid - Senior level Sales (3 - 5 years' exp.)	30,000 - 40,000	35,000 - 55,000
Marketing Director	70,000 - 110,000	N/A
Marketing Manager	45,000 - 75,000	N/A
Senior Marketing Executive (5 - 10 years' exp.)	40,000 - 60,000	N/A
Marketing Executive (3 - 5 years' exp.)	30,000 - 40,000	N/A
Senior Product / Brand Manager (5 -10 years' exp.)	50,000 - 70,000	N/A
Product / Brand Manager (3 - 5 years' exp.)	40,000 - 55,000	N/A
PR Communications Manager	40,000 - 55,000	N/A
Marketing Analyst	40,000 - 55,000	N/A

Source: Irishjobs.ie

Office & Admin

JOB TITLE	Dublin € p/h	ROI € p/h
Office Manager	21.00 - 30.00	20.00 - 28.00
Office Junior	15.00 - 17.00	14.00 - 16.00
Senior PA / Executive Assistant	23.00 - 32.00	22.00 - 30.00
Junior PA / Executive Assistant	20.00 - 25.00	19.00 - 24.00
Receptionist (3 - 5 years' exp.)	18.00 - 21.00	17.00 - 20.00
Receptionist (0 - 2 years' exp.)	16.00 - 19.00	16.00 - 19.00
Project Co-ordinator	21.00 - 28.00	20.00 - 26.00
Administrator (3 - 5 years' exp.)	18.00 - 23.00	17.00 - 22.00
Administrator (0 - 2 years' exp.)	16.00 - 19.00	16.00 - 18.00
Team Secretary	18.00 - 22.00	17.00 - 21.00
Medical Secretary	20.00 - 24.00	19.00 - 22.00
Legal Secretary	21.00 - 25.00	20.00 - 23.00
Audio Typist	18.00 - 22.00	17.00 - 20.00
Customer Service Representative	17.00 - 21.00	16.00 - 20.00
Data Entry Administrator	15.00 - 19.00	15.00 - 18.00

Source: Irishjobs.ie

The above salaries should give you an indication of the kind of income you should be receiving. You can use them as a benchmark when evaluating jobs with advertised salary levels. For more details on the above salary surveys and others visit Irishjobs.ie

The Value of Recruitment Agencies

2011-06-09T10:00:00.001+01:00

Listening to a well-known national radio programme recently, the Three Q Medical team overheard a frustrated nursing home owner complaining that he could not find the right nurses for his establishment.

The proprietor described how his response rate to advertisements had been low during a recent recruitment drive and those that did reply were not suitably qualified or unsuitable for his company. Considering the high level of unemployment in Ireland and the uncertainty of working in the public sector at the moment, he was baffled as to why it was so difficult to find the right people.

Hearing this, empathising with the frustrated owners needs and knowing we had suitable nursing candidates, the Medical Recruitment Team acted fast and contacted him. It turned out that Three Q had been pursuing this Nursing Home for business since 2008 regarding both catering and medical staff. However, each time, cost concerns deterred the owner from trialling Three Q's services or, indeed any other agency.

The difference this time was that it was clear by the radio interview that this client had a definite need which we could provide the solution to. Our Lead Medical Consultant, Brenda contacted the gentleman again, sending him information and requesting an opportunity to meet with him.

By going out and meeting with the proprietor and his Director of Nursing, Brenda secured a position on the Nursing Home's Preferred Suppliers List. In fact, they granted Three Q Recruitment exclusivity – no other recruitment agency will be used by this nursing home.

Brenda got to work immediately on the three vacancies the client needed to be filled – a Clinical Nurse Manager, a Senior Staff Nurse and a Staff Nurse. Within 48 hours of the initial client meeting, an interview had been arranged for the CNM role and placement occurred the following day. Two more interviews have since been arranged for the other two open positions with high likelihood of placements also.

So what does all this teach us?

Act fast once you hear of an opportunity and make sure you can satisfy the client's needs
With client support, professional service and commitment, agencies can and do deliver
Persistence pays off!

What value does joining a professional body have for your Jobsearch?

2011-05-09T12:07:00.001+01:00

A professional body or industry association is a non-profit organisation seeking to further a particular profession, the interests of individuals engaged in that profession, and the public interest in that field. Below are some of the reasons why joining the body that represents your profession can be beneficial to you during your jobsearch.

Meet like-minded people
An opportunity to showcase your experience through peer to peer discussions or public speaking.
Being a member of the professional body in the industry you want to work in appears as an attractive item on your CV.
The professional body will have contacts in industry so that you can see firsthand what opportunities are currently available
You will have access to experts within the field – speakers at member events, other members, sponsors
Discounts or free books and magazines on your field, access to webinars and members-only webpages.
Often the professional body will run exams and courses where you can become further certified in the area you are interested in.
You can gain some valuable work references for your CV from other members and/or those who run the organisation.
Being a member will allow you to meet your competition for the jobs you are applying for
Exclusive or early notification of job opportunities

Useful organisations in Ireland to become a member of during your jobsearch:

Catering & Hospitality:

Irish Hospitality Institute (IHI) www.ihi.ie
Catering Management Association of Ireland (CMAI) www.cmai.ie
Panel of Chefs Ireland www.panelofchefsireland.com
Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) www.hsmai.org

Medical & Healthcare:

An Bord Altranais (ABA) www.aba.ie
Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisations (INMO) www.inmo.ie
All Ireland Gerontological Nurses Association (AIGNA) www.aigna.ie
Irish Association of Directors of Nursing and Midwifery (IADNAM) www.aidnam.ie

***There is also usually a body that represents each specific field of nursing***

Top 5 Jobseeker Apps for your Smartphone

2011-04-15T15:28:00.001+01:00

Jobseekers, like everyone else must keep up with the times. There are now thousands of apps for your Smartphone that help you find and apply for the perfect job for you. App is short for Application software and in a nutshell is computer software designed to help perform singular or multiple related specific tasks on your Smart Phone. We have reviewed the best of the rest below to help you in your jobseeking in the modern age!

Txtajob.ie
This free app allows you to apply for jobs through your phone. It also allows employers and agencies post job ads and manage their vacancies while on the move. You can receive a job alert through your phone the moment it is posted...allowing you to be the first to send your CV.
Careerbuilder.com
Another free tool, designed for the Iphone, this app using the iPhone's built-in geolocation technology, automatically determines the city you are standing in and then allows you to find a job using a simple keyword search. Within moments, you receive a list of all applicable jobs nearby.
LinkedIn
With versions available on the Blackberry, Palm Pre and Iphone, LinkedIn's mobile app allows you take your professional connections with you. This handy app will allow you to network while on the move and removes the need for a business card. Although, it is not exclusively for jobseekers there are many benefits that LinkedIn offers to those looking for work like introductions and their own jobs board.
Resume Pro by Vurgood Applications
This apps helps you to build your CV or Resume from scratch. It includes examples of different categories of CV and saves in PDF format which you can then send for job applications and you do this all from your IPhone. It is the only app on our review which costs – just over €2. Compared to what CV writing services charge, it may be worth the investment if you are a novice at putting your CV together.
Monster Iphone App

Much like the careerbuilder.com app, Monster's allows you to easily search and apply for jobs from your Smartphone. You need to have a Monster Account but if you do you will have all the functionality of the website on your phone. A new feature now also lets you perform a job search without having to first login.

National Healthcare Conference - what we thought

2011-03-30T16:03:00.000+01:00

Brenda and Aoife, our specialist medical recruitment consultants, recently attended one of Ireland's biggest Healthcare Events - The National Healthcare Conference in the Burlington Hotel, Dublin 4.

They've provided us with their thoughts on the day and what they took out of it for use in our recruitment process.

Brenda was particullarly impressed with the speech by Pat O’Byrne – Chief Executive, National Treatment Purchase Fund. The NTPF (National Treatment Purchase Fund can provide free treatment to public patients in Ireland. They have so far treated alomost 200,000 patients. The aim of NTFP is make sure there is no need to wait any longer for hospital treatments.

"With previous waiting times at 2-3 years the NTFP are doing great work in getting the median time dow to 3 months", Brenda said.

In reference to the Nursing Home Sector, which Brenda is most prominently involved in recruitment for, she noted that:

HSE Nursing Home are Obliged to Advertise their Price Lists under the Nursing Home Support Scheme ACT 2009
Currently there is pricing agreements in place with 450 Private Nursing Home nationwide under the Competition Law ACT
There are 20,000.00 beds in the nursing homes section nationwidecurrently worth 850 million annually

Junior Medical Consultant, Aoife Kelly, who also attended had the following thoughts to add:

"With the proposed introduction of universal health insurance there will be major changes in the health system however how these will be introduced is yet to be seen. The new Minister for Health, James Reilly, is leading towards a more community based health system which will allow people to be treated closer to home. The Minister believes that this will cut the current inappropriate use of labour that currently exists in the Irish healthcare system."

Other interesting points brought up at the National Healthcare Conference include:

1 in every 4 Irish people suffer with some mental health aliment during their lifetime. The new minister is looking to make mental health facilities more community based also.

Ireland have an increasing aging population as our life expectancy increases – 10,000 people received home help last year

There are currently 450 private nursing home s in Ireland

Aoife was most impressed with speaker, Tom O Callaghan – Living Health Clinic

"He was Innovative in his thinking of how he developed the primary health clinics in Mallow. Living Health's services vary from : GP’s to xrays on site to Psychologists, Dieticians, Speech and Language Therapists, Chartered Physiotherapists , Diabetes Nurse Specialists, hearing specialists, Podiatrist/Chiropodists. They also have a gym on site. They aim for prevention as well as treatment. This appears to be the way of the future" said Aoife

She also alluded to the fact that Pat Kenny did an excellent job chairing the afternoon discussion and got all the panel and the floor involved. "He was very impressive " said Aoife.

Three Q will be attending more industry events troughout the year so watch this space!

Jobcare supported globally, nationally and locally

2011-02-23T12:15:00.000Z

Last night (Tuesday 23rd February), Cora Barnes, MD of Three Q, addressed a gathering of supporters of Jobcare, an organisation for the long-term unemployed that we offer ongoing support to. She spoke of how even a relatively small local company can play their part in supporting the good work Jobcare does.

Jobcare are also supported by Accenture, a global management consultancy firm through their Skills to Succeed, corporate citizenship initiative. Accenture's policy is about educating people around the world – building skills that enable them to participate in and contribute to the economy and society. For more visit their website

Ulster Bank were also in attendance on the evening and queried how they could be of assistance to the community employment group. They offered suggestions on training and upskilling opportunities the Irish bank could offer to Jobcare members. For more on Ulster Bank's work in the community see their webpage

Of course, as we have previously discussed in this blog, Three Q have continually supported Jobcare since 2009 and we plan on making 2011 a highly successful year for the partnership. We were delighted to see how the important work of this organisation is supported by company's large and small from multi-nationals to SME's. To see the other work carried out by Three Q in the community visit our CSR page on 3qrecruitment.ie

Catex Reviewed

2011-02-15T12:35:00.003Z

Last week, Ireland's premier exhibiton for the catering and hospitality industry took place in the RDS, Dublin. This year a record number of visitors (over 9,000) flocked through the doors to see over 200 Exhibitors. The event ran over 3 days and on top of the exhibitions there were seminars, workshops and competitions. Congratulations to the winners of the following competitions, a credit to their art:

Irish Bartender of the Year - Pat Thomas
Irish Barista of the Year - Vicky Fitzhenry
Restaurant of Nation's Award - Team Italy (Team Ireland came in at a respectable third)

Cora and Charlotte from Three Q ventured out to take in the sights and sounds of Catex last Thursday with targets and must-see exhibitors in mind. And where did they end up?...the most 'important' section of the whole exhibition - The Chocolate Creations and Tipperary's Liam McCarthy. Cora refused to be pictured with the trophy but Charlotte, a Tipp native was proud as punch to be pictured with it. With regards to the fantastic choc display "it was a collection of the finest confectionery I've ever come across" said Charlotte, Three Q's lead catering Consulant.

Charlotte and her coveted Liam McCarthy Cup

Some of the Amazing Chocolate Art on view at Catex

For more on the event, see http://www.catex.ie/

Three Q was everywhere in Quarter 4!

2011-01-12T09:15:00.000Z

Usually, as we enter a new year, we focus on the year ahead and put the previous one behind us. We are going to make an exception and take a look back at November and December 2010 for Three Q - as no amount of snow and Christmas shoppers could stop us from being all around Dublin at industry events!

Friday 26th November - Jobcare - Jobclub Firday - The Recruiter's Perspective
Cora spoke at one of Jobcare's weekly Jobclub events about how recruitment agencies are dealing with the large numbers of jobseekers currently looking for work and gave advice to Jobcare's unemployed members on how to go about jobseeking that will achieve real results.

Wednesday 8th December - Dublin City Enterprise Board - Female Entrepreneur of the Year Award
Cora, as a previous winner herself, sat on the panel of judges for the 2010 Female Entrepreneur of the Year. The winning contestant was Deirdre Hardiman, Hepburn Designs.

Thursday 9th December - Lord Mayor's Workshop - "Jumpstart Your Future"
Cora was again a panelist in this workshop which offered advice and mentorship to budding entrepreneurs in the Mansion House, Dublin.

Friday 10th December - Small Firms Association/Google Online Marketing Event
Niall attended this event which was designed by the clever people in Google to allow small businesses to gain a better understanding of how Google determines ranking and also to demo of the many free and paid tools that are on offer for small business websites. Extremely useful!

Thursday 16th December - Irish Hospitality Institute Diversity Awards 2010
Three Q won our second Diversity Award at the annual ceremony held in the Herbert Park Hotel, Ballsbridge. The awards recognise the efforts made by businesses in the Irish hospitality sector to embrace diversity and equality in the workplace. In attendance were Three Q MD Cora Barnes, Lead Consultant in Three Q Catering Charlotte Crowe, IHI CEO Natasha Kinsella and Minister of State for Equality, Mary White TD.

The Budget dissected for the Medical and Healthcare Industry

2010-12-08T12:20:00.001Z

Yesterday, Finance minister Brian Lenihan intoduced the most dreaded budget in the state's history. Rather than focusing on the hotly debated aspects of child benefit, jobseekers allowance and the TD's salaries we have have extracted a guide to the main points that will directly affect those working in the medical and healthcare industry.

Carer's allowance for people under 66 and Disability allowance has been cut by €8 a week This may encourage full-time carer's to search for alternative care options including home care providers and nursing homes.
For those working in the HSE, public service pensions are cut by 4% (if over €12,000), there is a cap on salaries at €250,000 but public service pay has not been touched.
There is no change to Ireland's 12.5% Corporation rate.
The Business Expansion Scheme, which helps companies to gain access to capital investments, is to be revamped and renamed as the Employment and Investment Incentive. The amount that can be raised by companies will be increased from €2m to €10m. The amount that can be raised in any 12 month period will be increased from €1.5m to €2.5m.
An additional 15,000 employment activation places are to be created under new and extended schemes. The new schemes include the Skills Development and Internship Programme which will provide up to 5,000 places in the private sector with a contribution from that sector of an additional €38m to pay some of the costs of internships. Brian Lenihan said the labour activation measures will be supported by the extension of the Employer Job (PRSI) Incentive Scheme to the end of 2011. This may offer you a chance to create jobs, especially for young graduates.

Obviously, there are other areas that indirectly effect your business and of course directly effect your home life. For more detailed information on this years budget see RTE's coverage of Budget 2011.

The Budget dissected for the Catering and Hospitality Industry

2010-12-08T10:58:00.000Z

The air travel tax has been reduced to €3 - Hopefully this will increase tourism and in turn positively effect hotel and catering businesses
There is no change to Ireland's 12.5% Corporation rate.
The Business Expansion Scheme, which helps companies to gain access to capital investments, is to be revamped and renamed as the Employment and Investment Incentive. The amount that can be raised by companies will be increased from €2m to €10m. The amount that can be raised in any 12 month period will be increased from €1.5m to €2.5m.
An additional 15,000 employment activation places are to be created under new and extended schemes. The new schemes include the Skills Development and Internship Programme which will provide up to 5,000 places in the private sector with a contribution from that sector of an additional €38m to pay some of the costs of internships. Brian Lenihan said the labour activation measures will be supported by the extension of the Employer Job (PRSI) Incentive Scheme to the end of 2011. This may offer you a chance to create job, especially for young graduates.

Jobcare - The Charity we champion!

2010-11-24T15:27:00.000Z

As you may or may not be aware, Three Q have always been big supporters of charities and NPO's. At the beginning of each year we nominate and donate cash sums to chosen charities, as well as continually supporting others with their campaigns during the year. Most notably, over the years we have continually supported Dublin Simon Community, cancer support and children's charities.

In 2009, we thought it was about time we started to support an organisation that really compliments what we do as a company i.e. recruitment and employment services. After some research, we came across Jobcare and the rest, as they say is history!

Jobcare was founded in 1994 by Paul Mooney and Robin Boles as a Christian response to the problem of unemployment in inner city Dublin. They provide their members with employment preparation clubs, upskilling courses and work programmes. Their services are open to all but particularly targeted at Dublin inner city, socially excluded, long-term unemployed people.

Each month, Three Q's consultants give up a couple of hours of their valuable time to hold mock interviews, free of charge with Jobcare members. These sessions give the interviewees the chance to practice their interview skills in front of experienced recruiters before attending the real thing. Our consultants, then provide constructive feedback and advice that they can use to hone their technique.

From time to time, we also organise CV and interview workshops on behalf of Jobcare where they can ask questions and conduct role plays under the guidance of our consultants. Again these are organised by us free of charge. This month, Cora, MD of Three Q will speak at one of Jobcare's Jobclubs to give a recruitment agency's perspective on jobseeking in Ireland today.

Three Q looks forward to many more successful years supporting and working alongside a truly worthy cause!

For more information visit Three Q's Community Page on our website or Jobcare.ie

Jack and Jill - The Phone Collection Story

2010-11-04T15:34:00.010Z

In October 2010, Three Q Recruitment decided to embark on a mission to support Jack and Jill's Children's Foundation. This involved collecting old mobile phones...it made perfect sense - you are supporting a charity without actually parting with your hard earned money in these tough times - everyone has old phones lying around at home collecting dust right?

For all the latest news on our quest to raise 250 phones stay tuned to our blog weekly.

Friday 8th October 2010 - The mission begins as we have an idea to support Jack and Jill by collecting phones for them. The initial target is 50 phones

Our first phone - a 'classic' Nokia!

Monday 25th October - The office crew have rallied together and come up with an impressive 21 phones so far. But we need more. Call 01-878 3335 for details on how to donate your phones.

21 phones...but we want MORE!!!

Our target is 50...help us get there by donating

Tuesday 2nd November - The campaign hits the streets as Cora convinces businesses in Lower Abbey Street join the crusade for phones. The nice people in Grand Central, headed up by Brian, the lovely people in Permanent TSB Abbey street – headed up by another Brian, the great guys in Sherries headed up by John and the lovely staff in Ladbrokes headed up by Lee have all joined.

We have a new overall target - 250 phones - this will provide one month's nursing care for a sick child.

Monday 15th November - Our staff have come up trumps and dontated a total of 13 phones at our recent staff party. Many thanks to Connie and Anne for your generosity. We now have 35 phones...only 15 to go to meet our target of 50. We will be getting back in touch with participating business on Lower Abbey Street soon to see how they got on in their own sub-collections for us. So watch this space!

Wednesday 17th November - Cora and Niall attend the launch of Jack and Jill's new Christmas book - There's No Place Like Home and their SOS (Save our Services) Campaign. We met Edelle, Carmel and Bernie from Jack and Jill who will give us their full support with our campaign. The book is priced €14.99 and is available in leading bookstores. We are offering a Jack and Jill book and pen to the person who donates the most phones, the business that donates the most and we are raffling the others off to those who've donated already. They'd make a great stocking filler this Christmas so start digging out your old phones and get them in to us!

Tuesday 23rd November - We were running out of hope that we would never get over the 35-phone mark when Libby, one of our temps, popped into the office unnanounced and donated 3 phones. It's this kind of thoughtfulness that we really need to reach our target of 50. THANK YOU LIBBY. Niall and Cora will be following up with the companies we got on board on Lower Abbey Street by the end of the month so watch this space for the results.

Please help us by giving your old phones today. Contact Niall in Three Q on 01-878 3335 or sales@3qrecruitment.ie

And stay tuned for more from our fundraising, phone-finding adventures!

The final chapter!
On last count we had 41 phones. This is a great achievement and we would like to thank everyone who donated phones. For those of you that donated large numbers or special phones we will be rewarding you with a gift of Jack and Jill's latest children's storybook "There's No Place Like Home at Christmas" and a Jack and Jill pen. We hope to have our target of 50 phones, some old toners and a cash donation of €900 sent to the charity before we break up for Christmas.

Below is an email from Bernie in Folamh, the company that recycle the phones on behalf of Jack and Jill, expressing her gratitude to Three Q. It proves that a small donation from each person can really grow and amount to something worthwhile.

"Thank you so much for this extremely generous donation and well done for raising the 41 phones which is a great achievement, this really means a lot to us and it was also great that you came to meet us in Buswells.

I have included Edelle on this email whom you met on the day also and she can arrange to collect the cheque from you.

Many thanks again I cannot stress how grateful we are to you and you colleagues."

Kind regards,

Bernie Rogers

Folamh Ltd.

“Get clear on what it is you want and what it is you offer” says Three Q owner

2010-09-15T12:53:00.002+01:00

Cora Barnes, MD of Three Q Recruitment, told Peter Kearney on Dublin City FM’s Engage Your Mind show, that both jobseekers and employers need to know what they are looking for before they enter into any recruitment process.

She was being interviewed as a guest to discuss recruitment and selection on the show which focuses on the mindset of the Irish workplace on finding solutions to business challenges and improving bottom line.

“Pre-recruitment is where the time needs to be spent” said Cora. “It is about identifying the skills you need and that is what you create your job description on”

Peter asked what Cora’s tips were when it came to recruitment in the current job market in Ireland and Cora was resolute in her answer “get clear in communication with the right people and take action”.

“Sometimes, employers are afraid to create employment because they’re concerned about having to let people go and so they should look at alternative employment options whether it be internships or set contracts. Likewise, jobseekers shouldn’t always wait for advertisements. When they know where they’d like to work and what they can do for that company they should take action” said a very optimistic and forthcoming MD, when asked to describe how her tips can help both the employer and potential employee.

To listen to the full interview click the following link:

http://peterk.podomatic.com/entry/2010-09-09T08_28_37-07_00

Catering and Hospitality Industry News - September 2010

2010-09-06T12:13:00.000+01:00

Gold Medal Awards finalists announced

The 67 finalists have been announced in the 2010 Hotel and Catering Review Gold Medal Awards. See a below post for details of the award ceremony. For a full list of the the winners follow the link to http://www.hotelandcateringreview.ie/

Three Q wishes all the finalists the best of luck in the awards ceremony!

Upcoming Events for your diary

Hospitality Management Skillnet - People Management Conference, September 15th, Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoighaire

Hotel and Catering Gold Medal Awards - September 20th, Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin

Georgina Campbells Guide Awards - October 12th, Bord Bia, Dublin

IHI Patron's Evening - October 28th, Westbury Hotel, Dublin

Safefood Social Media Conference - September 16th, Convention Centre, Dublin

Best of Luck to Francis

Three Q would like to wish the best of luck to Francis McGibbon who will be leaving us for pastures new this month. Francis has headed up the permanent placements in Three Q Catering since joining us in April 2010. We are sure he will be successful in whatever he turns his hand to.

Thanks for all the hard work Francis and best of luck for the future!

Guide to Choosing and Using Agency Staff

2010-08-31T14:38:00.000+01:00

Summer is always a busy time for temporary, agency, emergency and relief staff due to employee holidays and in certain industries, like catering and hospitality, seasonal increments in custom.

We have put together a range of questions you should ask yourself when choosing agency staff.

What type of staff do I need?

This may seem obvious but often, agencies will specialise in certain types of staff so knowing what you are looking for is always a good place to start. That way, you can contact an agency that specialise in the temp employee you are looking for whether it is medical, catering, office or other types. Three Q has specialised in placing temporary catering and medical staff into hospitals, nursing homes and medical facilities around Ireland for over 10 years.

Are the staff I will be getting of high calibre?

When you take on new temp staff you want them to be able to fit in with your own team as effortlessly as possible and with minimum training. That is why you should make sure any staff you take on have the experience, qualifications and skills required to complete the job they are being contracted for. It is up to the agency to make sure that their staff are up-to-scratch in these areas so you can be assured you will only receive the best quality temps. Three Q have stringent measures in place to make sure all staff meet recommended guidelines as set out by clients. These include full induction training to a client's unit, compliance with HIQA standards and Garda vetting where necessary.

How quickly can I get emergency staff?

Often, when you need emergency staff, time is of the essence whether it be to cover sickness or unexpected staff shortages. The agency you deal with should have a panel of staff ready to go to work on very short notice. When hiring staff, the agency should ensure that this is a pre-requisite of the job description and the temp is fully aware that they will be needed in emergency cases. Three Q's temps are told to keep their phone on them at all times for emergency cover and a panel of availability is drawn up each day, for those not already rostered, so that we can use this to react to client's need in a timely fashion.

Is there out-of-hours service?

Just as important as getting the staff quickly is getting them at night and weekends when they are often needed the most. Many agencies opereate on office hours and are incontactable at these times. Particularly, companies that operate in the medical industry may need night nurses etc. at short notice. Three Q operate an out-of-hours on-call service, meaning you can get hold of us at virtually anytime of the day or night.

What extras can I expect?

You are spending tight budgets on agency staff and as such, you should expect to get a first class service from the agency. Each client should have a dedicated account manager who visits them several times a year. Other extras that may be included in the price are spot checks by the agency on their staff whilst at work, performance appraisals in collaboration with the client and ongoing staff training and development.

To find out how Three Q tick all of the above boxes and more or to avail of our catering and/or medical staff services contact temps@3qrecruitment.ie or 01-878 3335

Up and coming industry events

2010-08-27T11:44:00.002+01:00

Hotel & Catering Gold Medalist Awards 2010

Hotel & Catering Review magazine have announced this year's Gold Medalist Awards and have received a record number of entries for the 14 categories.

The finalists will be announced on the 31st of August, so fingers crossed, and we hope some of Three Q client's are in the list! Congratulations to all!

The Gold Medal Awards will be presented at a gala event in The Shelbourne Hotel, Dublin on 20 September. If you would like to book tickets for the Awards please contact Nicola Hickey on 01 764 2727 or via email.

Remember, you don’t have to be a finalist to join the party – all are welcome at this special industry celebration.

http://www.hotelandcateringreview.ie/gold-medal-awards-page.html

Hospitality Management Skillnet

People Management Conference

15th September 2010,

Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire

Click HERE for booking form

The Nutrition and Health Foundation is hosting its third Annual Seminar Entitled: "Obesity: A life Cycle Pespective".

Professor Andrew Hill, Professor of Medical Psychology and Head of the Academic Unit of Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences, University of Leeds, is keynote speaker. He has a broad interest in psychological issues relating to nutrition, obesity and eating disorders. His keynote presentation will cover Understanding body dissatisfaction in men, women and children with a particular reference to obesity across the

lifespan.

For more information and to book your place at this free event go to: http://www.nhfireland.ie/0/Obesity:_a_life_cycle_perspective

Tuesday 21st September 2010, 8am - 1pm,

Radisson SAS, Golden Lane, Dublin 8

SHOP is Ireland's international annual Retail, Food and Drink event, bringing the biggest and the best in the Industry together. It represents the merger of two of the industry's largest and most respected events - IFEX Dublin (Ireland's International Food, Drink & Hospitality Exhibition) adn Forecourt (Ireland's Convenience, Retail adn Forecourt Equipment Exhibition) and will have the added benefit of two dedicated teams of professional, experienced organisers.

RDS Simmonscourt, Dublin
28th - 30th September 2010
www.shopexhibition.com

CATEX is the definitive show for the Catering Industry. Owned by the Catering Equipment Association (the association serving the Catering and Hospitality Industries) and organised by Expo Events (Ireland's leading professional exhibition organiser), it is Ireland's biggest and longest established catering and hospitality exhibition.

RDS Simmonscourt, Dublin

8th - 10th February 2011

www.catexexhibition.com

Julie Joins The Team!

2010-08-24T11:34:00.000+01:00

Julie O Grady,
Temporary Consultant, Catering Division

Originally from London, Julie is a graduate with a BA (Hons) in Business Studies, specialising in Human Resources. In London, she obtained invaluable experience across a range of disciplines, in particular as HR Advisor at the Home Office. Julie felt fulfilled in this position and re-located to Dublin to further develop her career. Upon arriving in Dublin, she was offered a fantastic opportunity to work in a contract-based role at Google HQ where she was involved in Payroll projects and Operations. Having completed that contract, she took some time out, volunteering to teach English to foreign students which she found incredibly rewarding. Having decided it was time to get back into the workplace and seeking a more specialised focus, she joined Three Q Recruitment in June 2010, originally as an intern and more recently, was promoted to Trainee Recruitment Consultant

Three Q Medical - Industry News - August 2010

2010-08-04T11:02:00.000+01:00

Three Q Clients shortlisted for awards

We were delighted to learn that Guardian Healthcare, who we assist with the recruitment of nurses have had two of their nursing homes shortlisted for the EIQA Q Mark Irish Nursing Home of the Year Award 2010. Brenda and the the team would like to wish Suncroft Lodge and St. Peter's the best of luck during the upcoming Q Mark Awards ceremony on September 24th. Fingers crossed for both of you!

Nursing Homes Ireland Independent review of HIQA Inspections

NHI have found that two thirds of nursing home operators are not happy with 'inconsistent' application of HIQA's national quality standards. Although, the report highlights specific areas operators are unhappy with, it also notes that the concensus is that the HIQA's regulations have overall provided a higher level of service to patients. To read NHI's full press release about the report please follow the link below.

Read More

Upcoming Events for the Diary

Medtec Ireland - Sept. 22nd-23rd - Radisson SAS Hotel, Galway

EIQA Q Mark Awards - Sept. 24th - Burlington Hotel, Dublin

Medical and Nursing Zone @ Working Abroad Expo - Oct. 2nd-3rd - RDS, Dublin

Nursing Home Ireland Care Awards - Nov. 11th - Citywest Hotel, Dublin

Tips To Keep Your Business 'Green'

2010-06-24T11:17:00.001+01:00

Here in Three Q Recruitment, care for the environment is an integral par of our CSR policy. As such, we have put together a guide on some of our practices that help save the environment and save us money!

Recycling:
We recycle everything we can where possible. All of our paper is recycled because we have special paper-only bins whcich is dedicated to paper and cardboard waste. The building we share also recycle their plastics and bottles. There are separate bins for each kind of waste in the canteen. Recycling is by far the easiest and most proactive green initiaive any business can implement. We also recycle our printer cartridges which saves us money because refilling them is not as expensive as buying new ones. For more information on how to recycle your printer cartridges visit http://www.smart-cartridge.com/ . All of the company mobile phones are also recycled and we encourage our staff to the same. For information on the recycling of mobiles visit http://www.envirofone.ie/

Reduce the amount used:
If you have ever gotten an email from anyone in Three Q, you will notice at the end of it that we request the recipient not to print the email unless completely necessary. We work by this mantra ourselves ensuring all documentation is in electronic format where possible. When we do need to print we use double-sided printing in most instances, which halves the number of pages we use. Another initiative we are proud of is introducing e-payslips where all of our staff receive their payslip into their inbox. While initial investment is required to set this up, there are long-term benefits on printing costs, and of course the environment!

These are just a few of the ways Three Q Recruitment help the environment. There are plenty of other ways also. For more ideas, visit http://www.greenbusiness.ie/

Hotel Industry News

2010-06-10T12:34:00.000+01:00

Ash Cloud takes its toll on Irish hotels

All the team here at Three Q is hoping that the effect the recent ash cloud had on European and Irish Tourism did not adversely affect our clients in the hotel industry.

Reports suggest that Dublin hotels could have lost up to €4m in 1 week at the height of the crisis. This represents a loss of 36,500 visitors to the city.

Weekend Occupancy rates

Sligo tops the chart of county occupancy rates in hotels at the weekend last month with a 92% performance. At the other end of the scale, Limerick is worst performing at a rate of 68% for hotel occupancy during weekends in May.

Important dates for your diary

Events coming up in the hospitality industry include:

Dine in The West, Galway/Mayo, June 7th-13th
Taste of Dublin, Iveagh Gardens, June 10th-13th
Licensing World Bar Awards, Four Seasons Dublin, 21st June

(Source: Hotel and Catering Review)

To speak to our resident expert on hotel recruitment, Francis McGibbon, please call 01-8783335 or email jobs@3qrecruitment.ie

Holding Onto Those Valuable Customers

2010-04-28T10:35:00.000+01:00

In January of this year, Three Q implemented a client retention program which ensured that we contacted current clients and encouraged feedback, good or bad, from them. The program was ran over a four week period and involved three key tasks:

1st and 2nd Week – Customer Segmentation
This step was to ensure we knew who our top clients are, not just who we think they are. Although we give all our clients care and attention, in this instance our "top clients" were defined as those that had been in contact the most over a 2 week periods.The steps involved were:
• Take note of every client that has been in contact (email or phone). Also, make note if there is a complaint/compliment during each contact.
• At the end of the second week, count the frequency of contacts by each client and form a list ranging from most contacts to least contacts. The top 20% of this list are your top clients.

3rd Week - Implement Customer Retention Strategies

The steps involved here were:
• Contact the list of top clients before they need to contact you.
• Let them know that they are one of your top clients and are really important to you during every interaction with them.
• Ask them for feedback and/or suggestions during every interaction with them.
• Search and add them on all Social Networking Sites
• Do some research on their business/industry so that you can engage with them on it during every interaction and let them know that you have done this.
• See if there are any ways you can add value for them - extras, discounts etc. and if there is do it.

4th Week - Measure Customer Retention Strategies
In order to make sure your customer retention strategies are working it is important to measure the effect they have on your clients. Here, we took the following steps:
• Make note of any compliments from your top 20%. Have they increased since the start of the program?
• Make note of any complaints from your top 20%. Have they decreased since the start of the program?
• Look at weekly sales reports to see any fluctuations

On completion of the Client Retention Plan evaluation forms were passed around to the consultants who took part and feedback was recorded. Although there were some teething problems in this pilot program, overall it was deemed a success and will be implemented again later in the year. This is because Three Q realises the importance of holding onto our valuable clients and makes every effort to do so.

EMPLOYEE OF THE YEAR

2010-04-01T15:54:00.000+01:00

Three Q recently announced the winner of the 2009 Henry Murphy Memorial Award for Employee of the Year and held a photo session to mark the occasion.

The 2008 winner, Reilly Armindine joined the newly crowned Soojit Luttoo and the Three Q team at the photo call.

Congratulations, to both of our winners and keep up the good work - you are an inspiration to all of us!

FRANCIS JOINS THE TEAM

2010-04-01T14:53:00.000+01:00

Three Q Recruitment is delighted to announce our latest addition to the team - Francis McGibbon.

Francis joined Three Q Recruitment in 2010 to head up our permanent placements in the Catering Division. He has over 10 years experience in the recruitment industry, specialising in hospitality and catering management.

Francis does consultancy work for Hilton and also has extensive experience internationally working with prestigious chains in France, Germany, Russia, and Hong Kong.

In Ireland, he has recruited for positions with most of the major 4 & 5 star hotels, as well as sitting on the panel for the recruitment of college lecturers in the hospitality and catering fields.

Francis is candidate-driven, knowledgeable about all aspects of recruitment in the hotel industry and proves by his dedication to his clients, how much he enjoys his work.

Support Nurses who work overseas or become one yourself!

2010-03-11T12:09:00.002Z

Click the link to join our new Facebook fan page 'Nurses Working Overseas' or to contact us about a medical career abroad

READ MORE HERE

Interview and CV Workshop - 25/2/10

2010-03-04T12:20:00.000Z

Interview And C V Workshop

View more presentations from niallc1.

Three Q Medical keeps its finger on the ‘Pulse’ of healthcare recruitment

2010-02-19T15:04:00.000Z

Three Q Medical, the healthcare division of Three Q Recruitment, is delighted to announce a new commercial partnership with UK-based firm Pulse International.
The alliance comes as a means of providing qualified Irish medical professionals access to opportunities for working abroad.

Pulse International is a leading health, scientific and social care staffing business that places candidates in the UK, Middle East, Australia & New Zealand, USA & Canada and other locations worldwide. For more information visit www.pulsejobs.com/uk/

This strategic alliance complements Three Q’s commitment to be Ireland’s quality choice for healthcare recruitment as Pulse’s similar philosophy is “to provide the best possible service to a diverse range of health and social care clients in the UK and overseas.”

Three Q Medical has now become Pulse International’s information and processing centre for medical/healthcare/nursing professionals in Ireland looking to develop their careers overseas.

The collaboration between the two companies removes the hassle of applying for overseas medical positions for jobseekers based here. Three Q Medical acts as the Irish point of contact for roles that Pulse are looking to fill abroad. Three Q will assume responsibility for screening CV’s and short-listing candidates, which they will then forward to Pulse.

The deal has been mutually beneficial for both companies also. Pulse gets access to the many highly skilled medical candidates on Three Q’s database and in return Three Q gains an international presence whilst furthering the key business objective of growing the medical division.

To discuss these opportunities with Three Q Medical contact Brenda on 01-8783335 or brenda@3qrecruitment.ie

Tweeted Lately?

2010-02-18T16:56:00.000Z

Over the last few years, businesses have started to embrace the social media explosion on the internet. Here at Three Q, we find that they are a useful tool to reach a potentially massive audience of job candidates and another way of keeping in touch with clients. What's even better is that most of them are free. There are a plethora of social networking sites available to choose from. The key is to find the right one for your business.

To make sure you get the best from your social media marketing strategies we have compiled a list of the websites we use and how we find them useful.

Facebook:
-Very powerful for building a presence as it has over 300 million users
-Company/brand fan pages are more useful than personal accounts for businesses
-Local hyper ad campaigns can also be run on Facebook and these can be extremely targetted.

Twitter:
- Useful for special offer/sales promotion announcements due to its timely nature
- May be restrictive due to the limit of 140 characters per 'tweet'.
- Needs to be updated very often to engage target audience

LinkedIn:
- Known as 'Facebook in a suit' LinkedIn targets professionals and companies worldwide
- Particularly useful for headhunting candidates to fill roles because there are many highly skilled profiles
- Useful tools like discussions, groups and reccomendations allow your company to become an authority on your area of expertise

Company Blog:
- Just as Three Q are doing here, use your blog to discuss topics of interest to your customers and stakeholders
- Easy to set up and use blogs are available for free on sites like Blogger.com (this one) and Wordpress.com
-Your blog can be linked to your other social media pages through plug-ins. (See the Three Q Team's LinkedIn pages)

YouTube:
- If you have access to video recording equipment, YouTube can be an extremely useful viral marketing tool.
- Powerpoint presentations can also look well when uploaded to YouTube
- Its is a 'how to' search engine e.g. how to prepare for an interview, so post videos/slides of your company's core skills and competencies.

Come and join Three Q's community on our social media sites:

FACEBOOK THREE Q BLOG LINKEDIN TWITTER

Three Q Recruitment supports learning initiatives during Aontas Adult Learning Festival (February 22nd-26th)

2010-02-11T14:56:00.001Z

Three Q Recruitment are committed to supporting the Aontas Adult Learning Festival by holding an interview skills and CV writing workshop during ‘Learn at Work Day’ on Thursday 25th February from 2-3.30pm with jobseekers from Jobcare.

Three Q places great value on access to learning, as proven through our many in-house training regimes for our own staff. The ‘Learn at Work Day’ workshop not only allows jobseekers gain valuable advice on interview and CV skills, but also allows Three Q’s team to hone their experience and knowledge whilst educating others. It also allows us to give our backing to two worthy organisations – Aontas and Jobcare.

Aontas is the voluntary National Adult Learning Organistaion which promotes adult learning in Irish society. They are holding ‘Learn at Work Day’ as part of the Aontas Adult Learning Festival which runs from 22nd-26th February. Find out more about Aontas and the Adult Learning Festival on their website: http://www.adultlearnersfestival.com/

Jobcare is an employment preparation service particularly targeted at inner city, socially excluded jobseekers. You can learn more about their work in the community by logging onto http://www.jobcare.ie/

Three Q has a history of supporting these organisations and we are delighted to announce our latest event working with them both.

There are also a limited number of public spots available for the workshop. For more information or to book a place contact Florencia on 01-8783335 or email hr@3qrecruitment.ie before Monday 22nd February.

“Recruitment companies have a new role in a changed economic climate” says agency owner

2010-02-08T15:39:00.000Z

Cora Barnes, MD of Three Q Recruitment, told Mark Mortell on Newstalk 106’s Down to Business Show, that the role of recruitment companies has changed significantly since the recession began, in an interview to be aired in the next month.

She was being interviewed after Three Q Recruitment was selected as a 2010 finalist in the Services Category of the Small Firms Association Awards.

“A recruitment company’s role now is to ensure that hiring companies recruit the best from an increased applicant database”said Cora. “They have a duty to fulfil, in being flexible and responsive to companies who are positioning themselves for return to growth.”

Mark asked how Three Q had come through 2009 and Cora was quick to praise “a great team, loyal clients and a service that delivers”.

“We want to see a 100% increase in our healthcare recruitment and employment services and a 10-15% growth in the catering and professional divisions” said a very optimistic and driven MD, when asked about the future of the company and what she foresees for the next 24 months.

2010-01-29T11:43:00.001Z

Nursing Job Interview Tips and Sample Questions

There are certain tips to follow for any nurse attending an interview for roles ranging from healthcare and nursing assistants, staff nurses at all grades, practice, district and registered nurses and directors of nursing.

Usually, nursing interviews take place in front of a panel or with an individual and the candidate will be asked a series of questions exploring their skills, qualifications and experience.

The types of questions likely to be asked fall under 4 main categories

1. Training and Qualifications: In this category you should expect questions exploring your understanding of governance, clinical effectiveness, as well as your understanding of medical terminology.

2. Previous Experience: The interviewer will ask questions based on your experience that is shown on your CV. They may ask for examples from a previous position where you displayed a particular skill.

3. Core Competencies: This relates to key skills required for the particular role, such as good time management, ability to manage a team, effective communication and patient care skills and the application of your technical medical knowledge.

4. Personality and Motivation: Your reasons for applying for the role or for choosing your area of specialisation.

Expect 3-4 questions on each area along with questions relating to your understanding of issues and targets within the organisation, whether it be in the public or private sector.

You should expect the majority of your questions to be Competency Based and Behavioural.

For example, how would you answer these questions?

'Talk us through an example which shows how you dealt effectively with an Emergency situation.

''Describe a time when you used your communication skills to improve the care for one of your patients

'How would you go about ensuring that you improve the quality of the care you give to your patients?'

Source: http://www.blueskyinterviews.co.uk/int_art14.htm

A little bit of everything

2009-12-08T10:24:00.002Z

Ahead of the game...
We are delighted to announce that we have secured a new contract with the Department of Foreign affairs. Not only that, but it was the minister who said that our staff were "ahead of the game". This is a great compliment to all of them, so congratulations to all and well done!

Everything is changing... in the world of work, how we communicate with each other and how we find and keep new jobs. The world is changing. How many times have we heard this in the past year? Well, here we are profiling a company that was set up as a result of this.

Reinvent Yourself for the Smart EconomySometimes all these changes can be overwhelming. Where do I start? How will people know I exist in this brave new world? Who can help me?

This is where Reinvention comes up. At Reinvention, they understand how people feel and, what’s more, we can help find new jobs, change careers or become more confident in job searches and at interviews.

Reinvention is all about taking control of careers, personal brands and creating the work life its clients want - to thrive, not just survive - in the new world that is emerging post 2008.

Reinvention is the umbrella of the Reinventyourself Programme: a series of workshops brought to you by a partnership between Premier Business Solutions and The Business and Marketing Studio. The founders, Adrienne Barber and Lisa Scully O'Grady, are two savvy businesswomen who are passionate about your personal development and helping you to excel. They offer a choice of either one or two day workshops depending on your needs.

If you would like more information on Reinvention, you can contact Adrienne and Lisa at: 087 298 3894 or 087 699 7963

CMAI
The Catering Management Association of Ireland is an association of qualified professional caterers. Founded in 1956, it was formed primarily to represent managers in the industrial and institutional sectors. In recent years, the membership database has expanded to include a varied cross section of caterers: Healthcare, Hospitals, Day Care, Schools, Colleges, Banks, Contract Cleaners, Training and Teaching, Golf Clubs, as well as Trade, Retired and Honorary members. They have approximately 160 members countrywide.

The CMAI continues to support their members through a varied range of activities; seminars, workshops, conferences and in developing and promoting standards of best practice within the industry. They also recognise the need to provide opportunities for the continuing professional development of our members, and they constantly strive for innovative ways and means to expand in this area.

Three Q is proud to be the sponsor of the CMAI President Awards. For more information, please go to: http://www.cmai.ie/

Up and coming industry events
We have compiled a number of events for the first few months of the new year for you to start getting your callendar ready. We will be adding more as they come up. Hope you find this helpful.

Event Date Location
Hospitality Expo Feb 10th RDS, Dublin
Postgradireland Fair Feb 16th RDS, Dublin
IFEX Mar 23rd-25th King's Hall, Belfast
Healthcare Ireland 2010 Apr 20th-21st RDS, Dublin
12th National Orthopaedic Nurses Conference Apr 21st Cappagh National Orthopaedic Hospital
MRII Annual National Conference May 14th - 16th Hotel Kilkenny, Kilkenny
Taste of Dublin Jun 10th - 13th Iveagh Gardens, Dublin
Gradireland summer fair Jun 16th RDS, Dublin
Carlingford Food Festival Jul 23rd-26th Carlingford, Louth
Medtec Ireland Sep 22nd - 23rd Raddison SAS, Galway

Cold - Seasonal Flu - Swine Flu comparison
As we started the cold season, we thought this chart was very handy to have and to share with your staff to be able to recognise the symptoms of all three different illnesses. Please click here to open the chart and please do pass it along.

Research and Resources

2009-11-05T16:45:00.000Z

As part of our commitment to bring you -our clients- some up to date information on the job market's and any information that may be relevant to yur business, in this issue of Three Q's newsletter, we look at a number of different statistics from the Irish Job Boards and the Equality Tribunal. We also bring you some interesting research on working with smart phones which questions whether they really lead to smarter working and some interesting research on pay cuts. We will also start profiling - as part of Three Q's CSR policy - all the charities we currently are supporting and those we have worked with in the past.

Equality cases continue to rise in Ireland.
Last month saw the publication of the annual report of the Equality Tribunal which shows that the number of cases being brought before it has continued to increase. 2008 saw a record number of claims, up 21 per cent on the previous year.

Employment equality cases made up a large proportion of those dealt with representing a 28% increase in claims last year. There was a doubling in the number of claims on the age ground and a 17 per cent increase in claims on the race ground. In the area of family status, however, there was a 40 per cent decrease since 2007.

The Tribunal closed 858 cases in the year, up over 40% on the previous year. As in previous years, the majority of claims were not upheld, with only 36 per cent of employment related decisions finding in favour of the claimant (usually the employee). Redress for discrimination in employment can be up to two years' salary, but the average award made last year was €11,755 and the highest award was €60,000.

In cases mediated by the Tribunal, some 70% were agreed or otherwise closed through the mediation process. (Equality Tribunal)

Work harder, not smarter
So called ‘smart phones’ are leading to many employees working longer, rather than smarter, hours according to a recent study. Although they are heralded as a way of helping employees work on the move, the research has found that those who use the latest gadgets such as Blackberry Storm, iPhone and Nokia N97 are more likely to put in a normal days work, and then spend up to 16 additional hours per week checking and answering work-related emails and connecting to work-related websites, usually while at home. Many report checking their emails last thing before going to bed at night and first thing before they get up each morning, including at weekends.

(Source: Peninsula Ireland).

Cuts and freezes
Only 9 per cent of Irish employers have cut staff wages in the first half of the year but 47 per cent have frozen salaries and a further 25 per cent have deferred increases until at least 2010. Wage cuts and salary freezes have gone hand in hand with reduced hours (introduced at 29 per cent of Irish companies), with roughly half the companies achieving the changes on a voluntary basis and half on a mandatory basis. (Mercer)

(Source: PeopleMatters)

Jobs Index for September
IrishJobs.ie compile a monthly online Jobs index. The Jobs Index monitors live and current jobs advertised by companies across the five leading recruitments websites in Ireland. Every month they analyse movement in the job market by sector and by county and they would like to share this information with you.

Here is the IrishJobs.ie online Jobs Index for September.
• September records a 7% month on month decrease but a 3% increase overall since the Index began in April
• Dublin sees the biggest increase in new jobs
• While Longford, Laois and Kilkenny were the poorest performers during the month of September.

The IrishJobs.ie index, for jobs advertised online, for September reveals a 7% decrease on the previous month. However September figures are positive overall and are 3% up on the Index which was benchmarked in April.

CSR and organisations Three Q Supports

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CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) is defined as a "concept whereby companies integrate social and environmental concerns in their business operations and in their interactions with their stakeholders on a voluntary basis."

Three Q is commited, since its start 10 years ago, to help a number of charitable organisations who's work help change the lives of those in need. We want to, as well as help them financially, be able to spread the word about them and help them get more people supporting their work.

We will be profiling one of these organisations on a monthly basis. This time, we want to introduce you to Merchants Quay Ireland - homeless and drug services.

Merchants Quay Ireland is a voluntary organisation providing a wide range of services to people who are homeless and for drug users. In 2006, we worked with over 5,000 drug users and people who were homeless.On their site you will find information about their services and about homelessness and drug use in Ireland. You can access their publications, training course brochures and their comprehensive links section. Their website is www.mqi.ie

There are a number of ways you could assist, either directly or indirectly:

Become a member of MQI's panel of employers who provide job placements and employment to our service users.
Develop an alcohol/drug policy for your workplace.
Introduce an Employee Assistance Programme (E.A.P) into your organisation/workplace.
Develop an inclusive recruitment policy.
Make a corporate donation.

Using Your Influence

There are other ways you can assist Merchants Quay Ireland, for example:

Put them in touch with someone you know who can offer financial support, a service or expertise.
Raise awareness by telling people what you read here.
Advocate on behalf of our client groups.
Use your influence with local and national representatives.

If you would like more information about CSR, you can log in to www.csr4u.org.

If you would like more information about Merchants Quay Ireland, you can log in to www.mqi.ie

If you would like more information about Three Q's CSR activities, please email Flo at hr@3qcatering.ie

The importance of references

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I thought it would be worth mentioning to all our job seekers the importance of the Reference Check. You might think this is a well worn out topic, but believe me, it is one that is severely underestimated. A good reference is the difference between you getting a job offer or not. Your relationship with your boss is of paramount importance here. Always remember that your boss has the power to ensure that you get your next job or not.

Very often, employees forget the bigger picture. They get very settled in their current jobs and are not thinking about their next job. They might have a good or not so good relationship with their boss. The ‘not so good’ relationship is something that the employee needs to avoid as they want their boss on their side when going for their next job.

As the days of job security are a thing of the past, references are becoming more and more important as job changes are happening on a daily basis. Always make sure that when you are leaving a place of employment, that you ask your boss’ permission to use he/she as a referee and that you are on good terms with this person. No-one can work on your relationship with your boss for you, but always be aware that he/she has the power to make your next job offer happen or not. Always treat your boss with respect and dignity and your next job offer will be a much easier task. Most of all Good Luck….!!

New roles available!

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There are new roles available in the Medical, Professional and Catering divisions!

Clinical Nurse Manager
Product Specialist / Medical supplies
Product Specialist / Ultrasound
Cardiac Technician
Vendor Development / Medical buyer specialist
Paramedic
Regional Manager / Health
Surgical Kit coordinator
Staff nurses (Theatre, Anesthetics, Inpatient Wards and Ricovery)

For more details on each one of them, please go to www.3qrecruitment.ie or contact Brenda:
brenda@3qrecruitment.ie

Also, the following are available in the Catering division:
Pastry Chef for top city centre hotel
Sous Chef x 2 - one for the Sligo area and one for Limerick.

Contact Conor: conor@3qcatering.ie

Our first entry!

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Welcome to our blog!

All of Three Q staff spent the last few weeks thinking how to make our pressence in the net stronger and how could we help those who are going through some tough times. So we decided to set up a few profiles in different network sites and blog communities so that we could help you all get through this economic chanllenging times.

You might be wondering how will a blog help you?

Well, you see, we are all HR Professionals. In fact Three Q is a recruitment and employment agency in the heart of Dublin City Centre. So we will be blogging some tips related to recruitment - from the creation of a CV, to interesting roles that are available, reference checks, interview tips, etc etc etc. In fact, if you'd like us to further on any topic, also feel free to leave a comment and we would do our best to cover it.

In the meantime...

If you would like to know a little more about Three Q, here is some info:

Three Q Recruitment is all about linking people. The company believes that three parties are involved in successful recruitment – the hiring company, the professional seeking a new role and Three Q connecting the right people with each other. We offer permanent recruitment, temporary employment services and HR solutions. The company has three distinct divisions

Three Q Catering
Three Q Medical
Three Q Professional

Each division is headed up by an experienced specialist recruiter for that sector – their insight into their area coupled with in-dept knowledge of the market means they can work quickly on all vacancies and ensure professional standards throughout the working relationship.

Established in 1999 our founding ethos was ‘To Offer a Quality Service, with Qualified Staff in the Quantity Our Clients require’ – it continues to be our service commitment to this day. We would be delighted to work for you and show you this ethos in practice.

You can see our website at: www.threeqrecruitment.ie
We have also profiles in:

Twitter: ThreeQ
Bebo: Three Q Recruitment
MySpace: Three Q Catering
Wetpaint: Three Q Recruitment
Facebook: search for the Three Q Catering and Three Q Medical groups

So feel free to add us to your network and thank you for following our blogs!