Is it my accent???? Update on stamp 4

[pauliesgirl]

Update for all! I recently married in March 09 and I received my stamp 4 approved for 5 years. I have moved back here to Dublin with my husband who is Irish. I am from the United States. I have been here for a month now and I know the recession is bad obviously, but I have been applying for any and all jobs like crazy and have only heard back from 1 (which I didn't get). I'm beginning to think it's because of my accent and obviously the fact that I'm not Irish. My husband won't admit it and keeps telling me to keep applying, which I have. But I'm really feeling hopeless here! Am I crazy???

[zafarzafar]

Don't worry its just a matter of time, i hope u would get good job soon. i was made redundent from a very good professional job but i was trying hard to find new one and after 1 month of hardwork i got more better job with good money and good benefits.
i know it would be hard for u as a jobless person but never give up...and keep trying.
try to send ur cv in my inbox, may be i would be able to help if u have any computer skills....
pray to GOD....and yes no body is crazy, our situations made us crazy some time.

[kazinirl]

Update for all! I recently married in March 09 and I received my stamp 4 approved for 5 years. I have moved back here to Dublin with my husband who is Irish. I am from the United States. I have been here for a month now and I know the recession is bad obviously, but I have been applying for any and all jobs like crazy and have only heard back from 1 (which I didn't get). I'm beginning to think it's because of my accent and obviously the fact that I'm not Irish. My husband won't admit it and keeps telling me to keep applying, which I have. But I'm really feeling hopeless here! Am I crazy???

Hi pauliesgirl,

Have you changed your sir name to your husband one?
If your husband's family name is typical Irish one, you might have more chances to get a job....

Good luck

Non-Irish job seekers face discrimination
http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0507/integration.html

[pauliesgirl]

Yes I have changed it to his, would not like to mention it for privacy reasons but not really sure it sounds all that irish. I'm sure on my CV they see I'm american because all my work experience and history is from the US. I'm at a loss!

[bahan]

Update for all! I recently married in March 09 and I received my stamp 4 approved for 5 years. I have moved back here to Dublin with my husband who is Irish. I am from the United States. I have been here for a month now and I know the recession is bad obviously, but I have been applying for any and all jobs like crazy and have only heard back from 1 (which I didn't get). I'm beginning to think it's because of my accent and obviously the fact that I'm not Irish. My husband won't admit it and keeps telling me to keep applying, which I have. But I'm really feeling hopeless here! Am I crazy???

I have lived in ireland for 5 years and I have irish family.

The irish are very nationalistic and you will simply not get a job if there is an irish person to fill it.

Changing your name will have litttle effect as you are not irish you are american.

As you can imagine the decline of the celtic tiger and the reccession has badly excacerbated the employment market in ireland.

Keep appyling though as you may find something, but dont expect to have the same job you did in america.

have you even tried minimum wage jobs such as cleaning ?

[archigabe]

I think your best bet would be with one of the U.S based IT companies like google or ebay/paypal,IBM.

[scrudu]

I think the comments about Irish being very nationalistic in employment is a broad generalisation and quite an unfair one. I work in a large multinational where diversity in employees is valued. I think like in any country, at the lower end of the socio economic scale you may experience more predujice. If you watch the PrimeTime show (linked in another post) you'll see classic examples of such ignorance. I regularly interview for staff (Irish and non-Irish) and any positions are awarded on the basis of suitability for the job and how well they'll fit into the team.

You have to realise you have arrived in a country in a state of massive turmoil. Perhaps it would be an idea to head down to your local social Welfare office on "Dole Day" and see the queues outside. Then multiply that by the number of social welfare offices around the country, and you realise how many people there are vying for any job that is advertised. Competition is very tough at the moment, but it also depends on what sector you are applying for and what your skills are. Also check out your CV and make sure it meets local demands. It maybe worth talking to an Agent about how they would rate your CV to see if you would appeal to the local market. I know when I worked in Germany and Australia I had to completly overhaul my CV as there were completely different expectations in the information shown on it. Also, make clear on your CV that you have perm residency (slight lie) and can work for any employer without applying for Work Permit/Visa.

Best of luck with the hunt.

[pauliesgirl]

That is just what I have begun to do, I haven't been letting employers know my visa status and I know there's a lot of controversy going on with making it extremely hard to get visas renewed sometime this year. I will definitely rewrite my CV letting employers know my visa status, thank you.

[Italybound]

Hi Pauliesgirl

I think there are alot of elements that are correct in the responses.

I am Australian married to an Irish man (maybe we should start a support group ) My CV has my name at the top and my surname is quite unusual and not Irish sounding at all. Underneath that I have basic details, ie DOB, and then as follows:

Nationality: Australian (Irish Resident by marriage)

I am on the stamp 4 and if you are too, you do not need a work permit and I have found that by having the above, there are no questions asked, and it show commitment to 'this great little country'.

After that I have address, phone number and email address. After that I have my experience from the most recent to the oldest and then hobbies and references on request.

If I may make a suggestion, keep all your CV's as I think they are handy to refer back to so save your ororginal then save again and alter, as you do not want to lose the original. And you have to change the CV to empahasise different skills for different jobs.

I am in the middle of a career change so after the initial details I now have career goal, training, transferable skills, then jobs.

I do not remember changing my CV drastically between Australia, UK and Ireland, but it has changed subtley and organically more to reflect changing trends in font and layout. I have not really seen American CV's so I cannot comment as to how yours compares.

Make absolutely sure that there are no spelling errors. I used to look at CV's (for apprentice solictiors) and the spelling mistakes were crazy, in these challenging times CV's are binned if there is a spelling error, so there may be an issue with an American spelling which is a little different to Irish and English spelling. And double check any E-mail you send.

People berate agenices, but I always found them helpful because if they see you have skills that are needed, they will bat for you.

I do think as well, focus on the American Multinationals as well.

I do think your accent and nationality do count, but in more subtle ways ie I would get my mother in law to return things for me.

I am not working at the moment and I am volunteering, which may help you meet people and get contacts www.volunteers.ie. It will save your sanity and you can add it to your CV. (Showing more commitment to this great little country)

If you want to meet up and we can compare CV's and swap notes PM me.

Best of luck