Exhausted by the thought of looking for work and caring for your family? Getting lost on online job boards? Unsure of how to search for work in today’s marketplace? Feel empowered by following some of these helpful tips on how to make effective use of your time to kick start your job search. Patricia Tiernan, Accredited Career Coach shares 5 Effective Ways to Kick Start Your Job Search:

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#1. Network

Ask yourself and those you know how they found work in the past. Their answers may surprise you. The majority of people I have met concur with what research is telling us and that is most jobs are found through people you know. So, don’t underestimate the power of your personal network.

Speak to other mothers that you have gotten to know, contact old friends, and work colleagues for a catch-up. Tell them what kind of work you are looking for and where relevant ask if they may know of any vacancies, have industry information, advice on how to get into the area of work, and/or referrals to other people that may be a good contact to help your job search.

#2. Volunteer

Volunteering with a local charity or community group can be of great benefit to your job search, as it can potentially:

• Increase your network
• Enable you to increase or sharpen your skill set and knowledge
• Support you to gain experience in a new area of work
• Enable your CV to have recent relevant experience
• Gain a new referee
• Support you to gain paid employment in the future, including within the charity
• Increase your level of self-confidence

Go to the national volunteer network website www.volunteer.ie to find opportunities that link to the areas of paid employment you want to gain.

Photography: Conor Healy Photography

#3. Up-Skill

As a Career Coach, I often hear mothers describe how their confidence has been badly affected by stepping out of the paid workforce for a period of time. Completing a short course can help build back your levels of confidence and even support you to gain work in a new area of interest.

There are many free and time-effective options for study, for example in 2017 Springboard began offering free, full-time or part-time courses such as conversion courses to full-time homemakers. The industries for which Springboard courses have so far prepared workers include the area of Information and Communications Technology (ICT), Bio-pharma and other manufacturing sectors, Hospitality and International Financial Services. Check out www.springboard.ie for more information.

#4. Social Media

A Jobvite 2014 Social recruitment survey found that 73% of recruiters have hired a candidate using social media – with 79% indicating they have hired via LinkedIn, 26% via Facebook and 14% via Twitter. Ireland has the third highest penetration of the working population on LinkedIn in the world at 27%.

LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook can not only keep you up to date with what is happening in your chosen field but it’s also where some employers solely advertise. Needless to say, ensure your own social media account is employer friendly before applying.

Key search tag terms like #Jobfairy #corkjobfairy #irishjobfairy etc. can support you to find jobs on social media. Use Google Alerts to inform you when companies you are interested in working for have advertised their hiring.

#5. Targeted Recruitment Agency – EmployMum

Many of the mothers I work with have described how they have outgrown their current role but feel they can’t leave because they would lose their flexitime. Other mothers are afraid to go back to work in case their job will demand too much of their time and affect the quality of time they have with their kids. While many employers are slow to give flexitime a shift in attitude has started.

A good example of this change in the job market is a new recruitment agency EmployMum, which is dedicated to providing flexible solutions to employers part-time work requirements, ad hoc recruitment needs, maternity cover, sick leave, project work, work from home needs etc.

Your job impacts so many parts of your life so remember that the short-term discomfort of a job search is worth the long-term gain. If you are still unsure of what the ideal job for you is, read my blog post Ways To Help You Identify Suitable Work.

Has this advice helped with your job search? Please let us know in the comments box below.