by admin | Jul 12, 2016 | Interviewing, Jobseeking, Recruitment
For many candidates, the interview process can be a very overwhelming experience with many fearing they will fail to recall important details and undersell their ability. The STAR technique is a method used to help candidates prepare for interviews, especially competency based interviews. This method will allow you to form your answers efficiently, focusing directly on the question being asked. What are competency based interviews? Competency based interviews are designed to make the job application process unbiased as each candidate is asked the same types of questions. This form on interviewing is commonly practiced in large organisations. An example of a competency based question may begin with “Tell me about a time when…” This may not seem difficult, however, during the interview it is common for candidates to leave out information and wander off topic, therefore, delivering an unstructured answer. It is important that you “sell yourself” during the interview while following the STAR technique to structure your answers. So what is the STAR technique? Your answer should incorporate the following elements: S – Situation T – Task A – Action R – Result Situation: Describe the background of a particular situation when you used the competency. For example, if the competency is budgetary control, you may answer; “In my last job I was appointed to lead a project involving a €800,000 engineering factory shutdown lasting 3 weeks, and I had complete responsibility for the budget for this project. I did face some challenges on this project which required careful management to keep to budget.” Task: Define what your particular task was in relation to this, i.e. “My duty was to ensure that the project came in on time and to budget, which required very close liaison with the discipline heads, maintenance managers and cost and planning team. As it was very important the project ran to timescale and costs were maintained as per estimates. This was my ultimate responsibility. Any overspend, delay or conflict had to be resolved immediately to keep the project to budget. One week into the project we were faced with unexpected delays due to unavailability of essential maintenance equipment which threatened the completion of the project on time and would ultimately have prevented the plant from becoming operational again on time. This would have obviously created a loss in production and so revenue.” Action: “I worked long hours with the buying and contracts manager, sourcing alternative suppliers and negotiating price, to keep to the original estimates. I worked closely with the planning team to reschedule some of the other work to ensure no time was lost. It was key that I kept in very close contact with the whole team throughout, as any delay would affect the budget. I examined all aspects of the project to ensure that there were no wasted costs and that, despite the tight budget, safety standards were never compromised.” Result: “I am pleased to say that through persistence and my determination to deliver on time and to budget, the long hours paid off and a new supplier was found who have since proved to be a new and more effective supplier for us. The project was finished to time and came in a little under budget, and the whole project was carried out without accident or injury.” It is important to note that the interviewer will probably score your response to each question. Being specific and providing background experience will allow you to gain more marks. You may also add your observations about what you learnt from the experience. It is important to be prepared by going over lots of examples that will highlight your skills. Practice your answers as much as possible; the better prepared you are the more confident you will...Read More
by Claire O'Donnell | Jun 16, 2016 | biopharma, Industry, Recruitment
Last Thursday saw the Life Science Team of Recruitment Consultants from Collins McNicholas’ Galway office descend upon the grounds of UCD in Blackrock where NIBRT is located. NIBRT is an acronym for the National Institute of Bioprocessing, Research & Training and is a state-of-the-art facility for training and research in bioprocessing. Their aim is to support the bioprocessing industry by providing a unique learning experience in an environment that replicates a modern industrial bioprocessing facility. As we at Collins McNicholas recruit nationwide, within both the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical sectors, it is a huge advantage to visit a facility such as NIBRT and gain an understanding of the industry, its processes, and the challenges it faces. Our day was divided up into 3 lectures – the first one being a very interesting and informative overview of small and large molecular chemistry, and an introduction to the biopharmaceutical industry. We also got a basic overview of the bioprocessing process – which was really brought to life during a plant tour that took place after lunch. When it came to the NIBRT pilot plant tour there was a sense of déjà vu gowning up given my years spent as a Biochemist within the immuno-assay industry. During the tour we got to see how the various aspects of the bioprocessing process works – upstream processing, recovery, downstream processing and purification, and finally formulation and filling. To witness how each part of the process takes place really helped us as recruitment consultants understand the demands of the roles we help biopharmaceutical companies fill – from microbiologists to process scientists, and engineers to micro-analysts. After...Read More
by Rory Walsh | Jun 3, 2016 | Career, Recruitment
I had a fantastic, thought provoking and reflective day yesterday at the Greg Savage Seminar. Greg is a thought leader in the Global Recruitment Industry and is a regular keynote speaker at staffing conferences around the world. Something that repeatedly jumped out at me, and has been on my mind for quite some time, is the speed at which the industry is changing. Change is exciting and embraced by some, daunting and resisted by others. One thing is for sure, we have some very exciting times ahead for those individuals in our industry who are willing to learn, develop and keep challenging the “norm”. As Bob Dylan said “He not busy being born, is busy dying.” You either embrace the change, or find yourself on the slippery slope backwards. There is no middle ground. As our industry changes, the skill-set of a successful recruiter changes also. The “transactional” recruiters are becoming less and less successful and the long term relationship builder is rising to the top. Honestly, this is music to my ears. But this raises a very interesting issue. Low attrition rates in recruitment are more important than ever because the long term, specialist consultant, is the way to succeed in tomorrow’s recruitment industry. We need to focus on this attrition rate by balancing engagement and career progression potential with the basic fundamentals of a “competitive basic wage, package, bonus and commission structure“. A consultant doing a great job, should in turn get a great package to reflect the contribution they are making to the business. Am I right in coming to this conclusion about the importance of attrition in this fast changing recruitment environment? It has always...Read More
by admin | Mar 30, 2016 | General Interest, IT, Recruitment, Uncategorized
Collins McNicholas are delighted to announce the appointment of Gillian Nicholson to the role of Principal Consultant in our Galway office where she will focus on the growing IT sector in the West and Midwest regions. Gillian is an experienced Account Manager having worked in the recruitment industry for over 12 years and during that time she has successfully recruited for specialist IT Project roles, Software Engineers, .Net developers, Software Testers, Technical Support Infrastructure Engineers and Java Developers for a range of clients including HP, Vodafone, IBM and Microsoft. Prior to joining Collins McNicholas, Gillian was based on site in Microsoft where she had responsibility for account management and recruitment across a number of divisions. A native of Athlone, Gillian holds a Bachelor of Business Studies & Marketing from Limerick IT and a Higher Diploma in HR from the University of Limerick. Director of Collins McNicholas, Michelle Murphy stated ‘we are delighted to have Gillian on board and heading up a growing division for our company. Her proven track record in the IT sector will enhance the service offering to our clients in the region. With the growth of new ICT companies in Galway, exciting new developments around the new Innovation District, and the soon to open ‘Portershed’ in Galway, coupled with some recent announcements in Limerick, we feel there is a strong cluster of ICT companies now setting up home both in the West and Midwest, which is welcomed for sure. Collins McNicholas will be working hard to attract talent to these regions to ensure continued success for our client companies.’ If you wish to send your CV or discuss...Read More
by Michael O'Brien | Feb 16, 2016 | Career, Jobseeking, Psychometric Assessments, Recruitment
As Valentine’s Day passes us by for another year, the florists across the country are left rubbing their hands together with the late onslaught of desperate romantics looking to gain some brownie points. However for many, Valentines triggers people to ask themselves “will I ever find the perfect match?” The same can ring true for many people within their professional careers. The days of staying with one employer for the entirety of your career appear to be dwindling as people are now moving jobs more frequently in search of that “perfect match”. The question is what tools are in place to aid professionals and companies alike to find that right “fit”. For jobseekers, I would strongly advise that you do your research before entering an application process. This research can take many forms. If you are dealing with an agency; always probe the recruiter on specifics that matter to you, be it the culture of the organisation, work/life balance or career progression opportunities. Where possible I would also advise jobseekers to speak with employees of the prospective organisation. Recently we have also seen the introduction of company reviews on the web, two of the most popular being IrishJobs.ie and Glassdoor. These are worth checking out and are something that I believe will become more prevalent in jobseekers’ research in the coming years. Check out your own company’s review using one of the links below or better still add a review to aid potential jobseekers. http://www.irishjobs.ie/company-reviews https://www.glassdoor.ie/Reviews/index.htm For employers it is just as important to ensure you that you get the right employee “fit”. Ensuring you get the right...Read More
by Donie Shine | Feb 1, 2016 | Career, CV, Recruitment
Tailoring your CV, making it as relevant as possible to the job advert, is vital in order to earn yourself an interview or to progress to the next round of the hiring process. On many occasions, job seekers send the same CV out for every job they apply for. This just doesn’t work. No two employers are going to look for the exact same skills and experience. So, it’s important to customise your CV, highlighting particular skills and experience that are applicable to the job advert. What to do My advice would be to save a generic CV to your computer, which can be quickly tailored or amended to suit the job being advertised. This should contain your personal details, introduction/career objective, education, employments history, skills etc. Basically, everything about your career to date. Then, when you come across the job opportunity which is perfect for you, you customise the CV to highlight your relevant skills and experience: Read the job spec in detail Print out the job spec and read it thoroughly! Your aim here is to identify particular skills, experience or personal characteristics that they are looking for. Read through it carefully and write down what you feel is important. List your skills and experience relevant to the role Write down your own relevant skills and cross-check them against what you have identified in the job spec. The list you come up with is what’s going to make your CV stand out to the hiring manager. Customise your CV Make the necessary changes and additions to your CV. Position the most important parts well, making them stand...Read More
