DUBLIN’S JOB MARKET – FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Although my current position represents my first full time job, I have had several jobs in the past, ranging from PwC, Adidas and medium size companies in Germany. This previous experience has been crucial for me, as it enabled me to have experiences to base myself on and which helped me forge a balanced opinion of my current situation.

Dublin Jobs Pros

Dublin represents Europe’s Capital of Tech, meaning that if you want to get into a tech company, you have a clear shot here. For most of us, the idea of becoming a Googler may seem impossible in our respective countries. But here in Dublin, the objective seems to be far more reachable than expected. This is why I would recommend Dublin, if you are sure that you want to work in tech.

Dublin Jobs Cons

As glamorous as “working in tech” may sound to an outsider, the reality of it is quite the opposite.

First of all, my biggest disappointment was the realization that (roughly) 80% of the jobs here are phone calls based (I completely made up that statistic but I bet you would feel the exact same once you are here). By this I mean that there are roughly three routes you can go up: customer service based jobs; recruiting and sales.

Customer service

By this I mean call centers. Dublin is full of call centers. Most of the tech giants keep part of their call centers in Dublin which means that it is quite normal to come across people who spend their days talking to unsatisfied customers all day. It is absolutely exhausting and if you decide to go down that route, I would strongly recommend to choose to work for a product that you redeem interesting. By being in call centers, you will be trained to learn about the tool/product and become an expert at it, depending on how much work you put in.

Recruitment

Recruitment is the other division that is temporarily popular. Companies here in Dublin need people from all around Europe and therefore your job is to use whatever tools they give you to get more people into the company.

This is more interesting for people who are interested in going into HR eventually. I personally would never accept a job in recruiting as it’s a job that doesn’t demand much and I would rather end up in Digital Marketing than this role. I also say this because I absolutely despise most recruiters in Dublin. You will understand why by reading this post.

Sales

Sales is extremely wide spread here. It is crazy the amount of people who are in sales. The job basically consists in bothering people who showed an interest in a particular product by phoning them and getting their money.

Although I would never see myself do that (I am not ruthless enough to be fair) it is a known fact that most millionaires started in sales. It forges character and eloquence. You learn how to pitch and how to change people’s mind: an invaluable skill that can be adopted anywhere, anytime.

How it works

Unlike all the other cities I have been in, there are a few rules that you need to know as a newbie to Dublin.

Resilience

When I arrived in my new job I started applying else where straight away as I wanted to get out of this hell. However, I very quickly realized that no matter how much I tried to prove my qualifications, no one was accepting me given the short amount of time in my job. Apparently you either found chances with smaller companies, who would give you a chance even if you just started your new job, or you may have a chance to find something after 6 months. But in general, companies are looking for at least 1 year experience in the same company.

Referrals

The second thing to know is that people want you to ask them for a referral. A referral is a “vote” from someone, within the company of your dreams, who let’s HR know that they think that you are a good fit. If someone referrals you, you have a better chance to get into the company you want and the person who helped you may get an extra 1000 or even 2000 euros on their monthly salary. Therefore it’s a win win for everyone and it is highly encouraged.

Networking

A lot of newbies do not realize that the big companies have their own “bars“: people just know about the Facebook bar, the Google bar, the Amazon bar etc… The best thing is to really put yourself out there and meet people. As soon as you meet or get introduced to someone working for a company of your interest, try to get as many details about their general schedules and habits the various division have. This will be a great guide for you to “casually” be at the right place at the right time.

Conclusion

Dublin is full of opportunities but you need to have the resilience and grit to go for your goal.s It is a hard reality, with the whole accommodation and moving in and all the bureaucratic tasks (see Moving to Dublin post), especially if you end up in a company that milks you and disregards your humanity like in my situation (see My First Job In Dublin). But keep your eyes open and stay as positive as you can! The opportunities and the growth in this city is immense! You mustn’t be afraid to ask loads of questions to plenty of people and take the most out of every opportunity.