Careers and culture in Dublin

Elaine Mooney started her career at Robert Walters in 2007, helping Irish accountants move to Australia and return home from overseas. She’s now Human Resources Manager for Ireland and runs our European training masterclasses. She tells us about the culture in our Dublin office and why it’s a great place to work.

“A large part of my job is focused on improving our hiring processes and considering new ways to attract top quality candidates. For example, I recently went to Smurfit Business School to talk to the students there. I regularly attend graduate fairs to speak with graduates from all disciplines who are considering their career options. I also develop training plans for Europe and generally work on building a great culture in our Irish office.

Creating a great company culture

It’s all about hiring the right people and providing an environment where they can learn and grow. For us, communication is key. Each year, we run anonymous staff surveys where everyone from our temporary staff to our MD, has their say. Often it’s small changes that make a huge difference. It helps that our MD, Louise Campbell is very supportive of staff engagement and understands the importance of listening to our people.

Providing world class training

As part of my role, I design and deliver our European training programme. These two day masterclasses cover the whole spectrum of recruitment and are delivered by senior staff across the business. Our people get really excited about these sessions as they get to travel abroad to our European offices, often to Paris, Amsterdam or London. We had 12 staff in Dublin for a recent training session and they said that Ireland was the best location they had been to so far, which was great to hear.

The culture in our Dublin office

It’s genuinely a very supportive, team-based culture. People aren’t afraid to interrupt and ask a question - everyone is willing to help. There are great networking opportunities as we have strong links with key organisations like the British and Irish Lions, so our people get to attend some great events. We pride ourselves on community involvement and we provide support and interview advice to the long term unemployed through the charity, Jobcare.

There are perks such as free fruit, massages, weekly Pilates sessions and an internal soccer league. We’re also good at rewarding our staff when they perform well, so our best business developer might be treated to a duvet day or a nice lunch.

The skills you’ll need in recruitment

We consider all backgrounds but it’s more about the person themselves. Having an aptitude for sales, being self-motivated and resilient, are all key skills to have, but above all we look for people who’ll go the extra mile for clients and candidates. This is a fantastic career if you have the type of personality where you genuinely enjoy meeting people. We also hire a lot of industry professionals who can offer an in-depth understanding of the area they’re recruiting for. This is a key differentiator for us.

Why choose Robert Walters?

A lot of companies will say they have career opportunities, but I can say with all certainty that this is the case here in Ireland. The path to progression is clearly laid out, so our people know step by step what they need to do to get to the next level. As a global company, there’s opportunity to work abroad and this is actively encouraged. The Irish love to travel so we’ve had many consultants move to our international offices. A recent success story is Martin Fox, who started out as a temp in Dublin and is now the MD of our newly launched Toronto office.

Returning to Ireland from abroad

For those interested in making a move home, it’s a great time to return. The country is booming and big businesses continue to set up in Ireland. We’re busy across the board but particularly within finance, IT, supply chain and procurement.

Opportunities in Ireland

We are currently looking for consultants for our temp & contract, IT, HR and sales & marketing teams and are always looking to build our larger teams within finance, banking, supply chain and procurement.”

This is a fantastic career if you have the type of personality where you genuinely enjoy meeting people. 

Interested in making a move into recruitment in Dublin? Contact Elaine at +353 (0) 1 633 4111 or email elaine.mooney@robertwalters.com.