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So your exams are finished and you’re one step closer to the big bad world of work.

Whether your finished your final exams or just looking for part time work, over the summer job hunting can sometimes fall to the bottom of your to-do list. It can therefore be useful to schedule at least 15 minutes a day to work on your CV and search job listings as opportunities come and go quickly. Job hunting can be a daunting process and you may have to prepare yourself  to get turned down from a number of jobs, or perhaps not hear back from others before the right one comes along. Here are a number of tips to help kick start your job hunt:

Job Hunting Tips

  • Make sure your CV is up to date and professionally laid out.
  • If you have a LinkedIn account, make sure this too is up to date and the information included matches your CV. (Check out the LinkedIn Student Job Hunting Handbook for tips)
  • Cast an eye over each of your social networks, is everything that you have publicly visible appropriate?
  • Search the hashtag #Jobfairy on Twitter for roles that may not be advertised on formal websites.
  • There are many Irish jobs websites that pop up after a simple Google search including Jobbio.com, Monster.ie, IrishJobs.ie, Jobs.ie, Indeed.com amongst others. Check these daily to search for vacancies in your field.
  • Check out LinkedIn Jobs section and the specific career sections of company websites where further vacancies may be advertised.
  • Visit the DCU Engage portal where a number of jobs are posted.
  • Search on websites such as Eventbrite.ie for networking events near you that may give rise to employment opportunities.
  • If you feel like you want to become more specialised in your field before seeking full time employment, consider furthering your education with a postgraduate degree in DCU Business School – approximately 95% of our Masters graduates are employed or in further study within 6 months of graduating.
  • Consider starting your own business.
  • Be persistent and stay positive during your search – belief in yourself and in your abilities is a major factor in successful job hunting.

The DCU Careers Service provides inclusive service to support, guide and empower students to make informed career decisions to maximise your personal and professional development. They have have a number of resources to help you along the way including information on how to put together your CV and how to prepare for interviews and you can even book an appointment to meet with a Careers Advisor for one-on-one advice.

The Careers team  is committed to providing a wide variety of professional services to support you in making career decisions that are best suited to your qualifications, interests, abilities and aspirations. For more information visit DCU Careers Service.

As part of the DCU Executive MBA (EMBA) personal and career development theme, a programme of activities was designed by the Programme Director to develop EMBA participants self-awareness, leadership competencies and career development competencies.

These activities include partaking in an assessment centre, coaching clinics with professional coaches, CV and Interview workshops. This culminates in a career and personal development day, which was organised and run by DCU Career Service in collaboration with DCU Business School and DCU Alumni Office. The result was a packed day consisting of 1:1 coaching sessions, mock panel interviewers, assessment centre feedback sessions, CV clinics and a keynote inspirational speaker.

DCU Career Service through Yvonne McLoughlin organised top calibre professionals to deliver each activity. Professional coaches provided excellent career or personal development advice to EMBA participants. DCU Alumni working in top calibre organisations in HR Director or recruitment or consultancy roles put our EMBA’s through their paces in challenging mock panel interviews and provided immediate feedback on their performance. HR and management professionals ran CV clinics to provide personalised advice on CV’s.

Our EMBA’s described the line-up of activities and the feedback obtained as ‘one of the highlights’ of their MBA journey thus far. The participants were very impressed with the extent of personalised feedback they received. They were grateful for the opportunity to be challenged by top professionals in a no-consequences context. This event is testament to the value to be obtained from collaboration between a Business School, Career Services and Alumni where each unit delivers on what it is best at.

The DCU Executive MBA programme is the capstone programme in the Business School and attracts a diversity of participants in terms of demographics, industry and professional expertise- participants must have at least a 2.1 degree and a minimum of 3 years management level experience. This calibre of EMBA participant and their organisations make a large commitment to completing an EMBA and they expect a professional offering of the highest international standard. The DCU Career Service delivered such an event this year as judged by our customers – the DCU Executive MBA’s.

“A timely and wonderful event that provides the skills to go out and progress your career. Professionally organised with highly talented interviewers and coaches, it has been a very positive experience and one that will help me secure the next phase of my career”.

“The day offered an opportunity to test yourself on not only your skill set for interviewing, but also in personal development. The CV clinic provided some real nuggets that may just prove the difference in getting selected for that next big interview”.

(Pictured: MBA2 class with Paralympic athlete, gold and silver medal winner Dave Malone)

Learn more about the DCU Executive MBA programme