Madam, – I recently heard on the radio several announcements about companies creating hundreds of new jobs.
As a job hunter I contacted these companies directly to see if I could secure that coveted prize – a job! Two hundred financial services jobs in the west. I contacted the company which confirmed it intended to roll out these jobs in the next two years – but not yet. When I pressed further, I was told they were jobs selling insurance, offering no salary, no company car; commission-only, you pay for your own petrol and expenses and set your own leads generation (family, friends, etc). It insisted its commission terms were very attractive, but it refused to be drawn on what they were (lest its competitors might hear of them).
The second company I contacted was an outsourcing loss adjustment company in Dublin which promised 100 new jobs in January last and confirmed that recruitment would start in March. I contacted it on March 1st and it sent me a very polite letter saying it intended to advertise these positions in the future, but it has revised its timeframe for these positions and cannot give any further information. Its website confirms it is not recruiting at present.
The third company, a retailer, promised 50 jobs over the next six months starting in February. I contacted it and was told that although there were 50 part-time jobs which would come up in the next six months, the hours of work were only 15 hours a week per job.
It appears companies are posing as buoyant and successful and actively recruiting when free advertising is all that's on offer. Back to the job sites and The Irish TimesAppointments pages. – Yours, etc,