According to research by employment law consultancy firm Peninsula Ireland almost four in every ten Irish workers are having to take on extra work to balance their personal finances.

As the ranks of Ireland’s unemployed continue to swell, those people still in work are forced to work longer hours, or even take on a second job to meet the challenging economic realities of life in post-celtic-tiger Ireland. The survey of 837 workers on the island of Ireland took place in January and February of this year, with 39% of respondents admitting to holding down a second job, up 16% on a similar survey the firm conducted last year.

"In theory [a second job] is a good idea," said Mr Alan Price, managing director with Peninsula Ireland. "A second job means higher income, but it can pose problems for both the boss and the employee. HR laws need to be looked at to ensure that no one is breaking the law by working too many hours in one week," he said.

"Another problem you face is employee fatigue and this may well become a health and safety concern, so it’s something that both the employee and the employer need to address."

Spending more time at work means less time at home, and that brings other pressures to bear on families already struggling to cope.

“Working longer hours may not necessarily be good for your health, and people can get easily overwhelmed when they take on a second job,” commented Mr Price. "Before considering a second job look at all the risks and weigh up the benefits. It may well be that you will be in a worse-off situation, especially after taking into account travel, taxes, any other expenses,

“Think about the lack of quality time at home and any implications on your health; there really is a lot to take into account.”

If money is the primary motivator for the second Job, workers may be better served looking at opportunities to increase their earning potential in their primary role, advised Mr Price.

“There may be better ways to improve marketability, training and education,” he said. "Look to see if there are extra skills required for jobs that pay more money, such as supervisory roles. Have you expressed an interest to your employer that you would like to be considered for these better-paid roles?”

Anyone considering taking on an additional job would do well to heed the advice and consider the long term consequences rather than just the short term gain of a boosted income. Long hours, frayed nerves and exhaustion can have serious legal and safety implications, could adversely impact your performance in your primary job and potentially exact a heavy personal toll on you and your family. If you’re considering another job to plug a shortfall in your finances make sure you explore all of the options available to you, and are aware of the potential pitfalls before you make the decision.

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With the economy still making things tough for job-seekers, and businesses still shedding staff at every turn, now is the time when workers everywhere should be working hard to progress their career goals and prove their worth to their employer. You may feel like sitting tight, keeping your head beneath the parapets and waiting out the economic siege, but its during times of adversity that real talent is tested and true commitment shines through. Standing out for the right reasons during the hard times will not only make your employer want to hold on to you when the chips are down, but will also put you right up on top of the heap in terms of progressing your career when things turn around again

• Embrace change: many workplaces have changed radically in recent times… and the best workers are those who can adapt readily to those changes. A lot of businesses are having to do more with fewer resources. If you’re open to new ways of working, learning new skills and taking on more responsibility, you’ll be well positioned to progress your career when things improve.
• Explore new opportunities: just because times are tough it doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities out there… changes in your organisations structure, client base or work processes can give you the chance to change roles, retrain to learn a new skill, volunteer to lead a project, implement a new cost-saving idea… or whatever. Keep a look out for any opportunity that will have a positve impact on your career.

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While economies around the globe lumber painfully out of recession, and there are signs of improvement on the jobs front, finding and getting the right job for you in today’s market is still incredibly challenging. With spring around the corner now is the perfect time to break out the metaphorical duster and give your job-seekers tool kit a much needed spring clean. It may be just the edge you need to land your perfect job.

Polish that CV

When was the last time you took a good long look at your CV to make sure it’s both up-to-date and up-to-scratch? Fish it out now, and go through every little detail to make sure it’s accurate and current. Don’t forget that both the information and the way its presented needs to be tailored to the sort of jobs you’re looking for. If you’re looking for more than one type of job, you probably need more than one type of CV — so create templates for each based on your generic master copy to suit the jobs you want to apply for.

Contact your referees

If you’ve listed references on your applications or have mentioned that they’re “available on request” on your CV, take a few moments to actually make contact with your nominated referees and let them know that you’re looking for a job. That way any request for a reference won’t come “out-of-the-blue”, and they’ll be more prepared to deliver that glowing reference that will set you apart from other candidates. Are the references you have listed the best ones… are are their contact details up-to-date, or would you be better off replacing some of them entirely?

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It’s the start of a brand new year. What better time to take stock of your career, examine your options and set a few goals to keep you on track, or perhaps even change direction. Here are some of our suggestions for some work-related resolutions you could set yourself for 2010.

• Learn, baby learn: whether it’s brushing up on existing skills or developing new ones, it’s never been more important to keep your skills current than it is today. The broader your skill-set the more valuable you are as an employee, and that can deliver all sorts of benefits.
• Embrace technology: technology is reshaping the modern workplace, familiarise yourself with the latest technology and how it’s helping your industry to grow and evolve. Understanding technology and its role in your organisation will help you to do your job more effectively.
• Update the CV: things can change rapidly in todays workplace, and it never hurts to be prepared. While we’d certainly advocate tailoring your CV for specific job applications, having a generic, up-to-date template to work from will save you time, and help you hit the ground running if you do find yourself job-hunting.
• Learn a language: learning a new language can be invaluable if your business puts you in contact with people overseas on a regular basis, but can also be an empowering and life-enriching experience on a personal level… it’s a win-win.
• Get organised: resolve to tidy those files, clear out old e-mails, review your contact list. Re-evaluating your records and clearing out the dead wood is a great way to refocus your priorities and get a bit of perspective as you head into the new year.
• Build your network: establish a personal goal to meet and network with more people on a regular basis. Set yourself a network expansion target of, say, 5 new people each month, and try to stick to it. Expanding your professional network can have all kinds of knock-on benefits. It’s normal to be a little apprehensive at first, but once you get over the initial trepidation meeting new people is fun and productive.
• Read more: pick five key best-selling business books that are relevant to you professionally, and make a point of reading them during the course of the year.
• Make more me time: setting a goal to create more time aside for yourself and your family may seem counterintuitive in a list of resolutions for your career, but feeling more fulfilled outside work will actually have a tremendously positive impact on your career.
• Save more: planning to put more money aside for the future is always a good idea. At the moment that’s a tough proposition for many workers, but we’re getting used to tightening our belts. When the inevitable turnaround comes, and prospects improve, chances are that we won’t miss a little extra cash diverted into our savings every month.
• Look after number one: perhaps its a bit of a cliché, but the concept of a healthy body and a healthy mind is crucial to career success. You can only operate at your peak, at work or at play, if you take care of yourself. Could you eat more healthily, or do more regular exercise? The fitter and healthier you are, the better you’ll perform at work.

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You can view Communicating bad news at work – Part 1 here.

(Inspired by an entry in Lynn Gaertner-Johnston’s excellent Better Writing At Work newsletter)

Chances are you’ve read or heard more bad news on the jobs front over the last week. There’s no getting around it, things are tough out there for employers and employees alike, and are likely to remain so for the short term.

Sooner or later in your working life your going to encounter bad news, and, if you’re progressing in your career, and are responsible for a team of people, the job of communicating that bad news to others is going to fall on your shoulders. This week we continue with our tips to help make passing on bad news at work a little less painful for everyone involved.

• Speed and consistency are paramount: when you’re communicating bad news you can’t rely on the trickle-down approach to spread the word — have a plan for getting a consistent, coherent message to all relevant people in the organisation as soon as possible once the news breaks. The last thing you want is delays feeding rumour and speculation.
• A little compassion goes a long way: you’re probably sorry to be the bearer of bad news, and genuinely regret the circumstances that make it necessary. But the pressure of passing on the bad news can easily mask that. Don’t let it. Showing that you empathise with people, and telling them that you’re sorry about a situation isn’t an admission of guilt or liability. It simply shows that you care.

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(Inspired by an entry in Lynn Gaertner-Johnston’s excellent Better Writing At Work newsletter)

Bad news is rife in the world of business and employment today. It’s a fact of life as companies struggle to get to grips with the subdued economy. If you’re managing or supervising staff, there’s a fair chance you’ll find yourself delivering bad news to your team at one point or another, and how you choose to communicate that news can make a huge difference.

"No one ever wants to receive bad news, and no one wants to communicate it either," says business communications specialist Lynn Gaertner-Johnston. "Delivering bad news is a huge communication challenge. It requires great care, especially if the news is upsetting rather than merely inconvenient."

Breaking bad news can be a nerve racking and difficult experience for even the most seasoned business communicator, but if you find yourself passing on bad tidings at work consider following some of these tips to help ease the pain:

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While some companies may choose to skip the traditional office Christmas party this year, many more will go ahead with the seasonal merriment, seeing it as a way to boost employee morale at the end of what has, for many, been an incredibly harrowing year.

Of course, for some workers the prospect of a looming Christmas party could be the most harrowing thing of all, but love it or loathe it, this is potentially a very trick event for anyone who’s career minded.

To avoid waking up the next morning, looking back and cringing at your exploits in front of your co-workers and boss the night before, we’ve compiled this handy office Christmas party survival guide just in time for the start of the silly season:

• Watch what you drink: this sounds obvious, but is the single most important thing you need to remembers. Yes you want to let your hair down and have a bit of fun, but you don’t want to be the one falling over on the dance floor mid-way through the night. Enjoy a few social drinks with work colleagues… but pace yourself, and keep a clear head.
• Don’t be the first to arrive, or the last to leave: you don’t want to be sitting alone at the bar when everyone else starts to arrive, and being the last to leave can suggest that you don’t know when to call it a night.
• Leave office politics at work: this isn’t somewhere to score points or snipe at your work colleagues. This is a social engagement, and in the spirit of the season you should aim to keep things social; so, no spreading malicious gossip or venting work-based frustrations.
Continue reading »

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In a few short years the employment market has been turned on its head. From a position that was biased in favour of candidates during the halcyon days when the Celtic Tiger roared, job seekers today find themselves facing an employment market that’s very much skewed towards the employer.

With a broader selection of  candidates employers can afford to be choosy, and more demanding. It’s not unusual today for employers to include a long list of requirements in their job descriptions, things like a certain amount of experience in a particular industry sector, knowledge of an obscure programming language and fluency in a particular language. With so many people applying for every job advertised at the moment there’s a fairly good chance they’ll tick all of their boxes.

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Looking for work in a suppressed economy can be more than just an uphill struggle… it can be a soul-destroying experience. Unless you approach it with the right attitude, the inevitable knock-backs will chip away at your self-confidence and erode your self belief to dangerously low levels.  It’s a vicious circle… if you don’t believe in yourself, what are the chances of an employer believing that you’re the right person for the job?

Staying strong and maintaining your focus in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds can be difficult. It’s important to remember that not getting a particular job, or even an interview, isn’t the end of the world… nor is it necessarily a negative reflection of your skills, ability or experience relative to the role. There are literally thousands of things that influence an employers decision on who and who not to hire. In an incredibly over-populated labour market employers are inundated with tidal wave of applications for practically every vacancy they advertise. Not getting a job offer at the end of the process is the de-facto standard when it comes to job-hunting, and in a recession it’s ten times worse.

If you’re looking for work, and are starting to lose your enthusiasm, here are a few things you can try to help keep your spirits up when the inevitable knock-backs come.

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E-mail is something that’s become so ubiquitous in the workplace these days that we hardly give a second thought to how it’s revolutionised the way businesses communicate.

According to recent figures published by technology market research firm The Radicati Group worldwide email traffic will reach 247 billion messages per day in 2009, growing to a staggering 507 billion messages per day by 2013. That means that this year we’ll be sending 2,858,796 e-mails every single second, 37% of them business e-mails. That’s a lot of communication!

Part of e-mail’s business appeal is the speed and convenience with which it lets us communicate with our colleagues around the office and around the globe. But that convenience and speed has a downside… and that’s a growing tedency to fire-off quick, ill-conceived, badly written and poorly thought out messages that reflect badly on you as an individual, your department, or worse, the entire organisation you work for. E-mail ettiquette is straightforward, but is often overlooked in our haste to get the message sent.

You ignore good e-mail etiquette at your peril: your message, your reputation, and even your job could be at stake.