Well it`s back to work we go, some of us (ie. me) were lucky enough to be off until today, writing a Happy New Year blogpost was top of my list but unfortunately the day has run away from me and its almost afternoon already.

So Happy New Year everyone, hope you all had a happy and peaceful Christmas and we look forward to lots of interesting observations and comments from you this year.

As always any and all suggestions for the blog, the site or for blogposts you might find interesting are most welcome, feel free to comment below.

Morning all

It's been a quiet week on the blog this week, the lead into the "happ happp happiest season of allll" has overtaken topical things to write about (all suggestions welcome!).

This week's Funday victim is Diarmuid so here's all the wacky and wonderful things you always wanted to know about D (a man of many words as you can see);

1. Full Name? Diarmuid Paul McCarthy
2. Nickname? Diarm or D
3. Birthplace? Cork (The Erinville Hospital, ward 4 @ about 6pm to be precise)
4. Eye colour? Brown
5. Hair colour? Brown
6. Marital status? Married to the lovely Careen (anyone looking for dance & drama lessons for their children, www.wolfestageschool.com)
7. Children? None, I had a dog but we won’t talk about that today
8. What do you do in RecruitIreland.com and how long have you been there? I’m in Sales, and I’m working here over 3 years now.
9. What would be your last meal if on death row? 3 courses of dessert (Pannacotta, Chocolate brownies and Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream), failing that MacDonald’s is always a winner.
10. What is your drink of choice? Heineken
11. favourite sweets/chocolate/dessert? Ice Cream
12. What food do you dislike? That’s a very hard question, I dislike most food. Top of my most hated list has to be onions.
13. favourite TV show? Three and a half men
14. favourite Movie? The Godfather (Part 2)
15. favourite CD at the moment? Duffy - Rockferry
16. favourite sport to watch? Football (If Liverpool are on TV that’s where you will find me)
17. most overused phrase? Sorry, what?
18. favourite restaurant? Fishy Fishy Café or The Bullman in Kinsale
19. favourite website(s)? www.liverpoolfc.tv and www.boards.ie
20. What is your least favourite trait in others? lack of consideration for others
21. What time do you get up for work? 7.35
22. Who was the first person you spoke to today on the phone? My brother, he was 21 today.
23. best/favourite holiday? I love London, but I love the sun more so it’s got to be crete.
24. favourite toy as a child? Bert and Ernie teddy bears
25. What three luxury items would you want if on a desert island? My camera, iPod and internet access.
26. Where do you want to retire to? The desert island
27. your dream/fantasy job? I love to own my own production company, organise concerts, shows etc.
28. Something people don’t know about RecruitIreland.com? We have formed a boy band and will enter The X factor next year. The lads are getting leather jackets like mine for Christmas, all we need is a name, feel free to comment on what we should be called.

1. Full Name? Charles John Bigger
2. Nickname? The Sales Assassin/ Chaz
3. Birthplace? Malahide, Co. Dublin
4. Eye colour? Blue
5. Hair colour? Black
6. Marital status? The missus is quite interested in getting married but I’m happy to hold off for a few decades
7. Children? I have a Godchild and he’s enough of a handful. None for me for a while thanks.
8. What do you do in RecruitIreland.com and how long have you been there? Sales and I’ve been here over a year and a half.
9. What would be your last meal if on death row? A Sunday roast with all the trimmings
10. What is your drink of choice? Cider, I never grew out of it. And lots of coffee in work.
11. Favourite sweets/chocolate/dessert? Oreos cookies
12. What food do you dislike? Tomatoes & peppers
13. Favourite TV show? Top Gear, Dragons Den, The Apprentice
14. Favourite Movie? Lots of these….Seven, Fight Club, Scent of a Woman, Snatch, Crash, The Commitments
15. Favourite CD at the moment? In Rainbows by Radiohead
16. Favourite sport to watch? Mixed Martial Arts (UFC). I pretty much watch any sport except Soccer and GAA
17. Most overused phrase? No problem Gill!
18. Favourite restaurant? Since our xmas party….Packies in Kenmare!
19. Favourite website(s)? UFC.com, fivesouncesofpain.com, Entertainment.ie, ski-ireland.com
20. What is your least favourite trait in others? Arrogance
21. What time do you get up for work? About 7:15 ish depending on how many times I hit the snooze button
22. Where do you want to retire to? Japan or Hawaii
23. Who was the first person you spoke to today on the phone? Linda
24. Best/favourite holiday? Lads holiday: Holland 2000, Relaxing Holiday: Majorca 2008
25. Favourite toy as a child? My bike and action figures
26. What three luxury items would you want if on a desert island? Do the pussycat dolls count as one item? No? In that case some music, TV and a hammock.
27. Your dream/fantasy job? Top gear presenter. I’d be good too, I’m taller than Richard Hammond.
28. Something people don’t know about RecruitIreland.com? You have to be very careful what you do around here because you never know what Vicki could be blogging about

Just a quick note to point out and recommend the difference an award can make to an employee. At our Christmas party last week we were all presented with Awards recognising various achievements (ahem) and aspects of our personalities which make the office a better place. Ronan got the award for the messiest desk - now this was well deserved to be fair, people if you saw his desk, well actually if anyone saw the actual desk it was a miracle because it is usually overrun with paper and books and cups and God knows what else.

Ronan is off today, I came into the office and passed his desk and for the first time in about 3 years I actually could see the desk, I just had to take a picture.

This just shows the difference some recognition can make to someone, and their desk! So if you are debating whether to give awards to your employees, go for it - the results speak for themselves!

Aedan Ryan from Puddleducks.ie came back and offered to write a little piece for us which I think is inspiring; 

It’s funny how things turn out. Certain life events that may appear bad news in the short term actually turn out to be good news in the long run. Take redundancy for instance. In these downturn-days, being made redundant is normally taken as a negative event. But for me it was the beginning of a new start and now looking back, was a definitely a positive event.  

I worked in Motorola for seven years. Seven years of hard work, long hours, challenging work (sometimes), rewarding work (sometimes), great people and a regular income. We knew it was coming for a while but when the final announcement was made it was still a shock that the whole plant was closing with the loss of over three hundred jobs. The regular daily routine of work and meeting friends and colleagues would now come to an end.

The wind-up took around 3 months and was a stressful time - working out the financial arrangements and saying goodbye to friends and colleagues. 

My wife and I had already started a small home business two years earlier. Up to then, we never considered that it would be the primary source of income for the family. But when I was made redundant we thought long and hard and eventually decided that I would join the business as a full time partner. So we took the plunge, invested some of the redundancy money and expanded the business.  So far we haven’t looked back!   

We are now really glad we made that decision. Redundancy wasn’t an option that I would have chosen for myself, however it has turned into a positive life changing event for me.  

My advice to anyone who finds themselves in this situation is to take your time and don’t rush into anything too quickly. Decide what are your own priorities and life goals. And while running your own business may not be the route for you, being made redundant will give you the opportunity to re-think which future path to take in your life and career.   
 

Thanks again Aedan - at the risk of sounding like a therapist if anyone else would like to share their story please pop a comment below or pop me an email to vicki@recruitireland.com.

It's all over folks and I have to say I was a bit surprised, I know I pegged Brenda as the winner early on but in the last two weeks I thought Nicky was a sure winner to be honest. Nevertheless the last episode was laden with entertainment and some very funny moments.

The final night, they had two tasks, both in aid of charity, Nicky had the Temple Street Children's Hospital and Brenda the Irish Youth Foundation. They each had a choice of 3 of their ex colleagues to chose from and their choices at this stage told a lot I think, Brenda chose Stuart and the two Orlas and Nicky chose Mark, Paddy and Sarah. Then they had to find a celebrity (I use this term very loosely) to work in a 3G shop for an hour, the proceeds of which went to their charity. How funny was it when the two Orla's decided Bono or Colin Farrell should be their first choice - I mean come on girls, can you really see Bono working in a phone shop?

The second part of the task was a charity ball where they had to source items to auction and they each had an hour to raise money over the course of the night, Brenda went for a blind raffle and Nicky a casino night. Both were good options and there was very little in the amounts raised for their charities with Brenda slightly ahead of Nicky in the end.

Bill procrastinated back and forth between the two girls for a while, it seemed to me he didn't know himself who the best choice would be and he tended to favour Nicky consistantly but in the end chose to hire Brenda.

I thought Bill made the right choice but I thought Nicky was a worthy contender which to be fair no-one would have seen from the first few episodes. But don't worry Nicky, there's always a better job on RecruitIreland.com...

Charlie my fellow blogger/reviewer thought - "A great final show last night, the task allowed both Nicky and Brenda to shine. I think Brenda was certainly the strongest candidate throughout the series but I found myself rooting for Nicky last night and I thought she outperformed Brenda in some aspects. Nonetheless, a superb finish to the show and I think there will be no doubt that Bill will be back looking for his next Apprentice in Season 2!"

An entertaining series all in all, my top moments have to be Stuart blundering his way through the Elysian presentation or Joanna completely failing to present at all on the Bluecube Loan task. Total car crash TV!

So what did youse think of Bill's choice?

Well folks another Friday brings another Funday post and this week's volunteer (victim) is Sinead - so here are some weird and wonderful facts about Mrs Johnson;

1. Full Name  Sinead Anne Johnson  
2. Nickname  Duchess – it’s a long story 
3. Birthplace  Cork Boyy!
4. Eye colour Grey/Blue
5. Hair colour  Red … thanks to my Hairdresser
6. Marital status   Happily
7. Children    2- Billie 13 and Danny 7
8. What do you do in RecruitIreland.com and how long have you been there?
Sales Manager – started on Oct 16th 2000
9. What would be your last meal if on death row?
Christmas dinner, with all the trimmings.
10. What is your drink of choice
Day time Tea/Coffee
Nighttimes Wine, Rum & Ginger Ale, Bulmers
11. Favourite sweets/chocolate/dessert?  Homemade Brownies, Rhubarb & Custard 
12. What food do you dislike? Cinnamon – hate the stuff!
13. Favourite TV show? The Wire
14. Favourite Movie?
Girlie Movie A Very Long Engagement,
Scary Movie The Orphanage
Kids Movie  School of Rock
Friday Night kind of Movie 300
15. Favourite CD at the moment? The National - Boxer
16. Favourite sport to watch? Hurling, Rugby, Soccerball
17. Most overused phrase – Cool and the gang!  
18. Favourite restaurant? The Red Fort & Kazan in London, L’Gueuleton Dublin, An Crubin, Cork
19. Favourite website(s)? Homebug, Ebay,
20. What is your least favourite trait in others? Mean-spiritedness
21. What time do you get up for work? 6.45a.m.
22. Where do you want to retire to? Apartments in Paris & New York and a house in Kerry (I wish!)
23. Who was the first person you spoke to today on the phone? Gill… she was running late!
24. Best/favourite holiday? Ballinskelligs, Co Kerry - every August for 2 wonderful weeks
25. Favourite toy as a child? – A little red pedal car
26. What three luxury items would you want if on a desert island?
My husband & kids and a copy of Swiss Family Robinson so I would know how to survive!
27. Your dream/fantasy job? Own a bookshop & tearoom
28. Something people don’t know about RecruitIreland.com?
We are going on our Christmas Party tonight!

Our sales assassin Charlie was on the case as soon as the news broke and we have an exclusive for all you aspiring football managers - terms and conditions are a bit tricky but I'm sure the right candidate is out there for them;

http://www.recruitireland.com/job/premiership-football-manager-uk/12505514/

And Roy don't worry, remember, there's always a better job on RecruitIreland.com....

Well everyone, Christmas has hit the office - it hit the website yesterday thanks to Rebecca and her snow machine attacking the home page and then the office was "tackorated" or decorated as we like to call it so now we have fake snow and Merry Christmas banners (very eighties), tinsel, fairy lights and even a tree... To top it all off its party week here so look out Kenmare we will be hitting you in all our finery on Friday night!!

I can hear you all thinking, "ehhhhhh recession RecruitIreland, recession!!" but what's the point in surrounding ourselves with more doom and gloom? And don't worry people it all came from the Pound Shop (or 2 Euro Store as its now known). 

After last night’s episode of the Apprentice I think the final candidates will feel like a task would be a walk in the park! Bill instructed his team of interviewers to give the candidates the interview from hell and they didn’t disappoint.  

For once, the candidates knew what to expect but even so I don’t know if any of them could say they were prepared for the gruelling they faced. It really seemed more like a murder trial than an interview. Nonetheless, it was interesting to see how the candidates reacted to it.  

Orla was probably in the weakest position as she had been close to the firing line so many times in the last few weeks and she was far too defensive in the interviews. She spent too much time arguing and didn’t really sell herself as the person Bill should have as his apprentice. 

I was starting to think Stuart could make it into the final show he managed to keep his composure and came across quite well. He received great praise from one of the interviewing panel but there were too many questions about his overall skills, (remember that presentation during the Elysian task?). I thought the business card was a bit cringeworthy but fair play to him for trying! 

And then there were two. Nicki and Brenda. Brenda has been the strongest performing candidate throughout so she has to be the favourite but there are doubts as to whether she’s willing to leave her already successful business in Cork. I quite like Nicki overall but I just can’t stand her waffling! She doesn’t answer questions she keeps speaking until you don’t care about the answer!  

So what do you think? Has Bill ended up with the right finalists and who do you want to win???  

PS. Sorry Charlie, we couldn't resist showing everyone the business card you had printed earlier for next season's Apprentice... Vicki