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Salary Guide 2022

Salary Guide 2022

​Our 2023 guide will launch in Feb 2023. Request your copy here​------------------------------​Salary Guide 2022 (Full)Salary Guide Ireland 2022 (PDF)Salary Guide 2022 by DepartmentAccountancy & Finance Construction & Property Services Financial Services & InsuranceHRITLegal & ComplianceLife SciencesManufacturing & EngineeringMarketingMultilingualOffice SupportSalesSupply ChainExecutive Summary From Adie McGennis, CEOWhat a year! We came into the year with high uncertainty but hope that we had all seen the chaotic stage of the pandemic over and a “New Normal” (or “New Abnormal”) giving stability and growth to businesses and economies. Equity markets and job vacancies grew in the first half of 2021 to record levels. At Sigmar, we had experienced our strongest month in twenty years by May and have broken business records since then. It applied to both the permanent and temp/contract jobs market. This in itself, is unusual because generally strong markets see an increase in permanent hiring, and less utilisation of temps and contractors. Such was the nearly frenzied, demand that companies looked for any solution to enable their growth. Salary inflation, as well as price inflation, began to increase, but all indicators show that further increases are coming. This was across the board, but particularly in IT and life sciences. Certain skills are experiencing double digit inflation, purely because demand is at an all-time high. Supply of skills by re-training or re-educating staff from sectors that suffered (retail, hospitality, etc.) was slow. It does present opportunities for SMEs to compete with larger multinationals, as the employee experience has never been more important and the flexibility that SMEs can generally give and the speed by which they can move, can give significant edge. Remote work obviously continued to increase significantly, and hybrid models seem generally to be the optimum for employees. Tax and legislative issues with working in a different country has slowed this internationalisation, but it does present excellent talent opportunities once it is well planned. Traditional professions, like accounting, HR and legal grew as pent-up demand was evident. In Ireland particularly, construction is very buoyant after the tight Covid restrictions closed many sites in 2021 lifted and the need for housing requires a large increase in activity in the coming years. So, a year of unprecedented growth in demand for talent, giving challenge and opportunity. The recovery of economies will sustain this growth throughout 2022 but some apprehension prevails that global economic shocks could accelerate recession. So, it is difficult to be over-confident on a medium-term basis. Predictions are difficult but I would estimate that demand will begin to level out and drop late 2022 and return to more “normal” or pre-Covid levels in 2023. The various Covid strains continue to challenge, but more importantly we hope everyone stays safe and healthy. 
Job Activity0

Irish jobs market reaches 20-year high, as office re-entry drives unprecedented levels of recruitment activity

Irish jobs market reaches 20-year high, as office re-entry drives unprecedented levels of recruitment activity

Sigmar Recruitment today reports a record high number of job placements over April, May, and June 2021. The number of placements during this period is higher than any other quarter in the recruitment company’s 20-year history. Current figures are up 6% on the previous record set in 2019 before the pandemic. As one of the largest recruiters in Ireland, Sigmar has offices across the country and is present in all professional sectors. The first half of the year saw strong, consistent growth with job placements breaking all records in the month of May, with June accounting for the second-highest month ever. Commenting on the rebound of the labour market, Sigmar founding Director, Robert Mac Giolla Phádraig says: “The jobs market in Ireland has never been stronger or more buoyant than it currently is. We’re seeing several macro trends converge all at once, which is creating significant churn in the market. Remote working has literally opened up a world of new opportunities no longer bound by location. This is coupled with a rising tide of consumer confidence, as many professionals find themselves in a stronger financial position than before the pandemic. “The last 18 months has asked big questions of us all, and the humdrum of lockdown has created a desire for change which is now resulting in unprecedented numbers of people moving jobs. Employee loyalty is increasingly under question, with remote work being less enjoyable, many workers are now committed to the experience of work over the employer, adding further to the current levels of churn.” IT accounted for one-third of all job placements throughout the quarter, followed in order by Financial Services, Sales & Marketing, Accountancy, Life Science & Manufacturing, Office Support, Public Sector, Construction, Professional Services. Business confidence has also grown steadily over the course of the year, as vaccination gathered momentum. The “low-touch economy” is booming is sectors such as e-commerce, digital, and logistics. Says Mac Giolla Phádraig: “The resurgence of permanent recruitment is somewhat unique to how we’ve rebounded from previous downturns, where we typically saw flexible work return quicker.” Although the vast majority of job placement in Q2 were understandably remote, Sigmar reports that the tide is beginning to change with the majority of employers now committing to hybrid work over the coming three months. Mac Giolla Phádraig advises: “As we now choose our workplaces, at a time when the power dynamic has shifted to the employee, employers need to ensure adequate work practices to reconnect the workforce with the workplace equitably. There is an inherent risk that new workforce inequities may emerge, such as “proximity bias”, where those closest to the centre of influence get greater recognition and therefore promotion opportunities as opposed to remote workers. When it comes to individual contribution the opposite could be argued that remote workers get the benefit of having less in-office distractions and their output is therefore greater.” Mac Giolla Phádraig likens remote work to long-distance relationships, which in many cases don’t work out. “We’ve gone from “living” with our employees in an office environment to long-distance relationships, which often sees commitment recede over time. The context of location also opens up new experiences and possibilities, which are now being explored on a scale never before seen.” He adds, “if we thought the war for talent was tough, just wait for the battle of attrition. It’s now emerging as the number one challenge for businesses across the globe.”    

presenting in interview

Presenting In An Interview

Presenting In An Interview

Face to face interviews can be scary, but with the added pressure of presenting during an interview anyone can become a nervous wreck. Here are our tips to help you ace your interview presentation.     Structure Your Presentation A strong structure is the most important thing to get right. The aim is to keep the interviewer’s attention through presenting engaging and relevant content. Plan out what you want to say through brainstorming. Draw a map showing how each point links to the next. Make sure the points you are making fit within the companies aim and objectives, thus showing the research you have done. The key thing is not to waffle.   A basic outline for any presentation should have: Introduction: Give a brief overview of the subject of the presentation and what you wish to cover Elaborate: Discuss the subject in as much detail as time will allow using as little slides as possible Conclusion: Sum up what you have spoken about adding in your thoughts where necessary N.B. A useful slide to include would be a “Why Me?” slide. At the end of the day you want them to hire you for the job so this should be one point they take home.     Be Visual Use your slides to keep the panel engaged as reading from slides will send anyone into a daydream. Use bullet points and images as much as possible to keep your audience attentive.   Other things to include: Provide hand-outs for them to read and to take away (but give them out at the end!) Have inviting body language (do not cross your arms or put your hands in your pockets) Do not be afraid to use gestures (it will draw their attention back to you)     Practice Makes Perfect Preparation is a vital part of any interview and this will help overcome nerves. You should be given enough time to prepare your presentation in advance. Use this time wisely and practice until you know everything off by heart. Additional things to perfect include tone of voice and gestures.   Worried you might trip over your words? Ask a friend to help you practise your presentation until you’re completely confident. The key is to talk naturally as this will show the panel that you understand your area and that you are the best person for the job.     Pronounce Every Word Clearly When you are nervous there is a temptation to speak fast to quicken the whole process; you must resist this. Add commas to your notes to signal where to take breaths and regularly pause to collect your thoughts. Speaking clearly will ensure that the panel understand your points and won’t be interrupting the presentation to ask questions.     Eye Contact Presentations can be a lot harder than face to face interviews as the interviewee is the main talker. One sure way to ensure that people stay engaged is to maintain eye contact using friendly eyes. It is important to shift eye contact to everyone on the panel to keep everyone engaged and listening.     There Will Be Questions Doing a presentation doesn’t mean that you will not be asked more questions. It is still an interview and the interviewer/s will still have questions to ask. They will more than likely ask about you and your presentation so be prepared.   For further interview advice and/or to discuss career opportunities call 01-4744624 or send a confidential email to Alan at amurphy@sigmar.ie

greatest weakness

How To Answer “What’s Your Greatest Weakness?”

How To Answer “What’s Your Greatest Weakness?”

The one question I am always asked when preparing a candidate for an interview is “how do I answer the weakness question?”   The worst reaction you can have to this question is to say I don’t have a weakness. Everyone has a weakness and the reason the interviewer is asking this question is to see how you act outside your comfort zone.   People often make the common mistake of trying to turn a negative into a positive. An example of this would be I’m a perfectionist or I work too hard. These answers are boring and show the interviewer you have put very little thought into his/her question. Also you are not actually answering the question you’re just trying to put a clever spin on it.Another mistake candidates make is being too honest. Never mention a weakness that you have if it is going to stop you from getting the job. So don’t answer “I’m lazy” or that “I’m always late” as this is not what your potential new employer wants to hear.   The trick to answering this is in the same way you would answer any interview question and that’s by preparing your answer in advance. It can be very difficult to talk about your flaws in a stressful situation like an interview so make sure you spend time preparing your answer.   These are a few ways to best answer the weakness question:   1. Pick a weakness that is acceptable for the job Don’t pick a skill or requirement that is on the job spec that you don’t have and say it is your main weakness. This will only put doubt into the interviewers head.   2. Pick a weakness that you can develop For this type of answer you might think of an example where you had a weakness but developed it over the course of your time in prior employment.   3. Describe your weakness in a concise way Don’t go into loads of detail on this question. They are asking you your weakness so be brief and don’t come across as negative. A common answer that candidates often use when asked the weakness question is on their delegation skills.   Here you can mention a time when you used to have the mentality that only you could do the job but over time you realised that it was actually slowing the work down and by delegating to other staff members the job was done quicker. This answer is perfect to give but it depends on what job you are going for. If you are going for a managerial role where managing and delegating work will be part of your job description then don’t use delegating as your weakness.   Every question in an interview is an opportunity for you to sell yourself, so it is important you never miss a genuine opportunity and the weakness question is no different. Treat it like you would any interview questions that you find hard and prepare your answer.

Meet the Team Customer Service Recruitment Team

Our team of experienced consultants are dedicated to providing you with high quality recruitment solutions in customer service and sales. 

CONTACT OUR TEAM

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DUBLIN

13 Hume St, Dublin D02 F861, Ireland.​

Tel: + 353 1 4744 600
Fax: + 353 1 4744 641

Email: info@sigmar.ie

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CORK 

1 Georges Quay, Cork City, Cork T12 X0DX, Ireland

Tel: +353 21 431 5770
Fax: +353 21 431 6407

Email: cork@sigmar.ie

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GALWAY

4th Floor, Dockgate, Dock Road,
Galway H91 PC04, Ireland.

Tel: + 353 91 563868

Email: galway@sigmar.ie

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ATHLONE

14 Sean Costello Street, Athlone, Co. Westmeath, N37 R970

Tel: 090 641 3973

Email: athlone@sigmar.ie