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SINCE IT WAS founded almost two decades ago, Jobs.ie has grown into a popular website in the competitive world of online recruitment.
According to figures provided by the company, each of the thousands of jobs advertised on the site at any one time receives on average of more than 30 applications from individual candidates.
As well as providing a place for firms to advertise vacancies, Jobs.ie is also known for producing numerous industry reports throughout the year on the current state of the employment market.
As part of our weekly question-and-answer series, we spoke to Jobs.ie general manager Chris Paye about why chef Donal Skehan would be his dream hire, how spelling mistakes in CVs are unforgivable and the dangers of duvet days.
Here’s what he had to say:
What was your earliest or childhood ambition?
Definitely to play football for Dublin – it was all I cared about as a child. I played three or four times a week at different age groups and got to play as far as under-15s level for the Dubs.
The last thing on my mind was managing a business. I’ve often thought about the level of motivation I had a youngster. I think at some stage it transferred to my professional life.
I still have a kick-about with the lads. I’m a firm believer in keeping relatively fit and healthy.
On average, what time do you start work in the morning and what time do you clock off?
I’m an early-riser and always have been. I used to get in at 7.45am, maybe a bit earlier. Now that I have a one-month-old baby, it’s a little bit more difficult to get out the door in the morning.
I still get in at about 8am. I have a list of things to do and won’t leave ’till I get them done. While I’m in the office, I try to take at least 45 minutes every lunchtime to go out for a walk. I think I’m more productive in the afternoon if I’ve had some fresh air.
I’ll do my best to be out of here by 6.30pm at the latest to get home and refresh for the next day.
What’s the worst job/task you’ve ever had to do?
During my college days, I worked in the cinema in Dundrum. Unfortunately, a young child got sick one time. That wasn’t very nice for the rest of the patrons – or for me who drew the short straw and had to clean it up.
Having said that, I’m dealing with a lot worse on a daily basis now and it’s happening constantly. Maybe it was just good practice for the baby.
What has been your biggest mistake to date and what did you learn from it?
About 10 years ago, I won a duvet day as part of a sales incentive, so I could call in any day I liked to say I wasn’t coming in to work.
I picked the last day of the month – definitely not an ideal day. It was bad timing because of the pressure that you can put on colleagues by deciding you want an extra hour in bed or some time off.
It really got me thinking about how much a small action like that can affect my colleagues, who were put under pressure to deliver higher sales volumes because I wasn’t there. I actually tell that story to lot of new employees.
What’s the one work skill you wish you had?
I wish I had a second language – not French or Spanish or anything like that – but IT development.
I obviously work in an e-recruitment platform, so I have a basic understanding of what impact a development change might have and how the end result will look.
So I always know what results are going to be delivered, but one area I’d love to develop is gaining an insight into how that’s done.
If there was one person in the world you could hire, who would it be and why?
Donal Skehan. I watch his five-minute, healthy prep on TV sometimes.
Work-life balance is important. If I could hire a professional chef to come in and motivate the Jobs.ie sales and IT teams with poached eggs and avocado in the morning, perfectly cooked by Donal Skehan, I think I’d get a lot from that.
I can see the benefit to having a young, energetic person like him in the office, and he clearly has a good business head on his shoulders given all he’s done.
What bad work (or business) habit have you had to kick?
I would imagine a lot of staff would say I should kick my cheesy humour, but I think that’s positive.
I just find sometimes in a workplace environment it can get very stiff and I just can’t help myself sometimes. Maybe it’s a habit I need to kick, but I still quite enjoy it so it probably won’t happen.
What’s one thing that would put you off hiring someone?
For me, it’s a really simple thing that still baffles me when I see it: spelling mistakes on CVs – it’s a simple way to not get yourself a job or interview.
If you’re not willing to spend a little extra time ensuring your CV is correct and doesn’t have any spelling or grammar errors, that’s a red flag for me.
We all make mistakes when we’re typing. One tip someone taught me a long time ago was to read it backwards – the sentences and words that don’t make sense will stand out.
Then just hand the CV to your friend, your mother, your father, your brother, your sister and ask them to have a look over it.
If I see one spelling mistake, I’ll probably forgive it and question them in the interview. If I saw two or three on it, I think I’d struggle to see past it. It’s a sloppy error that you should be able to avoid pretty easily.
I’ve been in this industry 11 years now and have spoken to a lot of clients. You get the same thing back that the CV needs to make you stand out. If the glaring thing on your CV is a spelling mistake, then they’re going to forget about everything else.
What advice would you give to your teenage self?
I’d definitely tell him to just relax. I think teenagers put too much pressure on themselves. I know I did. It’s not important to be the smartest, the funniest or the most popular. Although when you’re 15, 16, 17, it definitely feels like it is.
If I could go back 20 years now, I’d definitely be saying that it’s important that you try to find happiness. As corny as it sounds, happiness is a bit different for each person.
Who is your business hero?
I’m a huge fan of Bobby Kerr. I think of all the qualities a business leader should possess, one of them should be fairness. I’ve heard Bobby speak numerous times and heard it from other people that he comes across as an exceptionally fair person.
Forgetting everything he’s done in the business world – and he’s done a lot – I just think that quality that he shows is one of the reasons he was so successful. It’s something every business leader should aspire to.
Written by Conor McMahon and posted on Fora.ie
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They can see past spelling mistakes… obviously they do the recruitment for thejournal
@Nick Allen: The headline actually says the opposite.
I wonder how they feel about comprehension mistakes…
You really zinged them there.
@Dermo Adams: I see I see says the blind man, the hole in the wall, ah ha says the deaf man, you cannot see at all
@Dermo Adams: He was disagreeing with the headline. You’re allowed to that, you see.
@Nick Allen: Haha, that was the first thing that came to mind when reading this!!
Jobs.ie has turned into minimumwage.ie
@Bart: True data ah sure isn’t the economy recovered, sure we all have 9 euro an hour jobs.
@Bart: have to start somewhere.
Standing there like he controls ALL the jobs. I own the jobs lads. They’re mine!
Spelling mistakes on cvs are a very simplistic and unqualified means of overlooking people for jobs. Everybody makes mistakes. You could be overlooking a lots of very talented people.
@Adrian: *a lot of very talented people
@Vigo the Carpathian:
Einstein, JFK, etc. didn’t have automatic spell checkers available to them.
If one is bad at spelling, the very least you could do, if preparing to present the best possible representation of yourself on paper/ online, is click the spell/ grammar check menu option in Word. Jeez c’mon!! There’s no reason to defend not doing that.
It might not be a red card offence, but it’s like defending coming in to an interview with a lump of porridge and jam on your face. It’s an indicator.
It’s evident (from the comments section of the Journal at least) that crap spelling is ubiquitous. The app even offers an automatic spell checker. Some / most are even too lazy to use that.
@Adrian: Why don’t people spend €10 to have a professional proofread their CV? It is easy to do, cheap and shows a level of professionalism and attention to detail that many are lacking. I proofread and honestly, the standard of spelling, grammar and sentence structure that otherwise professional people have is often quite poor.
I agree that people shouldn’t be overlooked based on that but the fact is that people are and that it creates a bad impression of them.
@Adrian: you are 100% correct.
@Vigo the Carpathian: if someone is careless enough to leave mistakes in their cv, they will be careless at work. Not someone I want to hire. No excuse with spellcheckers and grammar checks
@Jazz Buckler: you can misspell a word with another word. Then the spell check doesn’t catch it and your brain doesn’t spot it on the proof read. Would Mr. Jobs.ie bin my CV because I put “spills” instead of “skills”?
@Adrian: please fokes can we get the spelling write
Job agencies has destroyed this country and peoples pay rate
@dick dastardly: *have destroyed
@Cathal: You do realise the comments section is neitjer a job application nor a spelling bee?
@Cathal: ha ha yea boat of them will do
@Neal Ireland Hello.: spelling bee? Are we in America now?
@Rob Cahill: I’m not, but I understand the Internet, unlike Settle, is available internationally, so there may well be people here from the United States.
@Neal Ireland Hello.: *unlike Aertel
@dick dastardly: very true
Well if he’s going to judge a book by its cover I wouldn’t work for him. Obviously he is considering the negatives over the positives and would always be on the lookout for mistakes and ignoring any positives or improvements.
Yeah – poor spelling is an indication to me that I should avoid the applicant. Lack of care and attention to detail. Get someone to check your CV – not everyone is a good speller
@Martin Byrne: Use spellchecker!!!
@Martin Byrne: if you can’t spell your a gonner ,is that it
@Jack Jackson: well then would that knot be fooling people
@FlopFlipU: it’s not the inability to spell. It’s careless and your first contact with an employer. When that comes off as careless then it puts you to the back of the queue. Things like you’re and your are things that stick out like a sore thumb. And if there are other cvs that show care and thought to ensure it’s correct then you have a better shot.
@FlopFlipU: It may be contended that bad style or spelling are not important if the words are understood, but they do show slovenliness which reflects on the writer.
@Jack Jackson: a spellchecker is a first step but it won’t sort your principal from your principle or affect from effect etc. Many of us also suffer from overzealous autocorrect that mangles words we have typed correctly.
@Damien Mc Padden: Some actual writer’s are bad speller’s .I heard them say it on interviews on Rte on a least two occasions .There are thing’s called talent ‘s a good interviewer can spot that ,a lot depend’s on the job available sometimes a good bladderer is the man for the job
@FlopFlipU: and a lot don’t know when to use an apostrophe
@EvieXVI: no one is biting.
@Martin Byrne: you sound just like a robot, please see intelligent logical comments above.
You’re a goner.
@EvieXVI: exactly
He lost me at spelling mistakes and Donal Skehan…Very little job areas that require manual writing now; computers, spell check etc are more the norm…Also linkedin and actual interviews can tell more about a person than a CV.. anyone can make one of those up! He might need to come into the 21st century.. and read up on ‘chef’s… the fact that he follows the RTE crowd, thinking Donal Skehan is innovative and writes his own scripts, is a big red flag for me….
Someone who doesn’t understand the role they’re hiring for would filter CVs that way. It’s a stupid way of filtering CVs in my opinion. I’ve read email threads with MDs / project leads etc making basic spelling and grammar mistakes. A neat CV doesn’t mean they’re 100% literate. Invite a candidate and talk to them about their experiences and pose challenging questions. That’s how you gauge a candidate. CVs are fast becoming redundant.
@Will: challenging questions! Like – if you were a dinosaur, what dinosaur would you be? Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
I would be a Geckosaurus, and in 5 years time I see myself in a hammock, ordering my third alcoholic beverage of the day, and it’s not even noon. When would you like me to start?
Just because your CV has perfect grammer, spellings doesn’t mean that you can do the job. The same goes for all the courses you do it also doesn’t mean that you can put into practise what you’ve studied. Experience goes a very long way, this is just my opinion.
@bings: and mine as well ,there is a lot of crap out there that I have discovered over the years about all this type of thing
@bings: true, I was in college with a now qualified solicitor and an accountant and neither could even boil potatoes hadn’t a clue. The girl came home one evening with a Tesco ready meal and put the cardboard box and all into the oven!!!!
@bings: grammar. Haha sorry, had to point it out. I agree with your point.
@James Thorn: I think your the only one who got the spelling mistake. But I work with people who couldn’t organise a pixs up in a brewery.
I never use this site, INDEED and JOB ALERTS are my job searching site choices, now I have another reason not to use this sight. Thanks for confirming my view that a ponce like this actually vets CVs and doesn’t send them on as is stated on this poorly designed and runned minimum wage site.
“For me, it’s a really simple thing that still baffles me when I see it: spelling mistakes on CVs – it’s a simple way to not get yourself a job or interview.”
Obviously Chris Paye wasn’t sifting through CV’s from prospective Journal employees.
Haven’t fill out a CV in 30 years. My last 2 jobs I walked into the office & both my managers knew who I was. When can you start was all I was asked. If you decide your talent based on a CV then your company will be full of people good at filling out CVs.
His biggest mistake was using a duvet day prize? Really?
A profound waste of space jobs.ie , cluttered with factional jobs and vulture recruitment agencies seeking to harvest resumes.
Think of all the great talent missed by this guy and others over such petty s****e. What if the job applicant suffered a bit o’ dyslexia, autism or some other literacy issue we haven’t yet identified. I know from re-reading stuff I’ve written but didn’t check, for whatever reason, a spelling and/or grammatical error jumps out like it’s in block red capitals making me look either careless, illiterate or manic. Or all. One of the most capable, competent, thorough, hardworking, dependable, reliable and caring people I know is “functionally illiterate.” I haven’t got room here to describe their emotional intelligence, solidarity and loyalty. But they wouldn’t be able to complete the first line on a job application form. For a man so fixated on detail, his open/just dragged out of the wardrobe
@Paul Jennings: shirt collar look is popular but looks like he couldn’t be arsed to make an effort for the camera. See…anyone can be petty. And I’d far rather work for/with someone who made the odd spelling mistake than someone with a cheesy sense of humour. Wonder if he spotted I used one too many * in the first line of my comment…
@Paul Jennings: He says “ensuring your CV is correct and doesn’t have any spelling or grammar errors” I think Mr Paye the correct word you should have used is “grammatical” however we all make mistakes, don’t we?
Minimum wage vs emigrants minimum wage, company’s or your c.v. in Ireland?
A person who never made a mistake never made anything.
Do a lot of recruiting over the years. Generally find the odd spelling mistake in cv’s. It would never stop me bringing person for an interview. Generally find a relaxed interview that’s shows the candidates true personality is best way to judge.
Lost me at donal skehan
This guy must be a genius
Until there is more work than people then anyone will do
How can EACH of the jobs receive on (sic) average number of applications ?
@WCS: Because all the site really offers is low skill, minimum wage, drone jobs…
AS General custard said at the battle of little big horn , i am effed
To be honest, the World of Work is greatly over-rated. A one could be perfectly happy never doing a hand’s turn (was that the correct use of a possessive apostrophe?) as long as you had benefits and Netflix…
If someone wrote to him saying they believed he harbored a grudge against them ( against writing saying they harboured a grudge against them) now would be react.?
I agree with the spelling mistakes comment but when I was searching for a new job last year I saw lots of poor spelling and grammar in job postings and many from recruitment agencies
@Bart:
have your say