Season 2 of Dragons' Den Ireland returns to our screens in February and the good news is you still have a few days to apply to pitch your idea to Ireland's Dragons. Potential investment, mentoring and national exposure are among the sweeteners so if you're looking for any of the above, why not give it a go.
I watched the show last year in the company of many others thanks to Twission - a cool app that aggregates tweets that contain the same hash tag. So throughout last year's season people all over Ireland watching the show added #ddire to the end of their tweets allowing us all to 'converse' about the show. Really good fun so if you're not on the show maybe we'll meet up on Twission to discuss. Best of luck.

Went along to an event run by LinkedIn group Irish Recruiters yesterday billed: The Future of Recruitment Part 2: The Road Ahead yesterday in Dublin's Westbury Hotel. This is the second in a series of conferences and other events run by Declan Fitzgerald, full time global sourcing manager at Microsoft, blogger and consummate tech evangelist.

The theme of the conference was very much cloud recruitment and Declan opened proceedings with a presentation on where he sees the industry going along with a whistle stop tour of the killer apps and tools available to professional recruiters today. Personally I couldn't see the recruitment angle on QR Codes but as a marketer they're certainly very interesting. Other tools such as Qik (offering free live video streaming) and Augmented Reality Browsers such as Layar and TAT. He also introduced us to his pet iphone recruitment apps and most of us agreed that the majority are not mission critical offering tips and guides rather than solving any major pain points with the exception of beamME CV which allows job seekers to apply and send cloud CVs via apple mobile devices. Excellent round-up of what's on the market all the same.

Then an exceptional presentation from Bill Fisher who spoke about his latest project TwitterJobSearch and to be honest it's a must for any serious recruiter or job seeker. It was so refreshing to see such high quality high brow technology being deployed in the recruitment industry and I'm definitely signing up for that. His presentation style was quirky and he's very funny - a breath of fresh air for us all.

Last slot before the break was another hugely professional recruitment professional, Martin Cerullo from AMS. If they deliver even half of what he told us yesterday well then this is the benchmark we should all strive towards. He spoke about RPO and just the ends and creativity to which they stretch the scope of their role within organisations (marketing, business processes, streamlining, efficiency, smart smart smart work) so beyond the traditional siloed definition of recruitment or sourcing elsewhere. Really really good.

I didn't network during the 30 min break at 4 as it'd been many hours since my porridge in Wexford so we trotted down to Avoca Cafe on Suffolk Street for an uber nourishing tomato and lentil soup.

After the break we were split into break-out sessions to solve the Jobs Boards Vs Social Networks dilemma. The general consensus was that job boards as they are today are nearing obsolescence and must simply evolve to stay in the game. All of us recruiters know that social networks are big, really big but our particular group felt corporate social networks such as LinkedIn and Xing are contenders but felt the more social ones were too cluttered for meaningful sourcing to take place. Personally as a biased job board owner, I believe they aren't mutually exclusive and are complementary and some sort of hybrid integrating the two is probably the best (aka we all agreed at the end that LinkedIn is in fact a jobs board). Great discussion all the same.

Sonru's newly appointed CEO Fergal O'Byrne gave an excellent presentation on his personal journey throughout his 15 years in the web industry and how video was where he wanted to be hence his recent departure as CEO of the IIA. Engaging, informative and personable, his talk made you believe in online video and then he wowed us with their remote video interviewing tool which is and will save many companies much time and money in screening candidates. Sonru is not yet one year old and they're selling in about 8 countries, have an enviable client list and what's more they're adding value - a must for our industry today.

Last up was a duo from Cork based EMC and regrettably their names now escape me, apologies. They gave an evangelical presentation on their experience of a recent Salesforce.com CRM implementation and were very pleased to discover the HR/recruitment bundle that was included. It was getting late, I'm not a multinational, I know CRM tools can literally change peoples' lives (working lives) but I'm from start-ups all the way so the topic didn't engage me but is relevant to multinationals or any company looking to streamline their business processes so check them out. I'll stick with my beloved and uber affordable 37signals.

Then to the bar for a glass of Guinness (driving), quick chat, network, nice to hook up with a few people - good conversation, excellent content all day. Overall worth the 120k round trip. Thanks to Declan. Keep it up.

If you've been thinking about starting a new business but are not sure where to go next, perhaps you'd consider looking at the M50 Enterprise Start Programme run by the LINC (Learning and Innovation Centre) at Institute of Technology Blanchardstown.
The 6 week program promises to help you work through the steps required to start a business while also giving you the support and advice which will help you decide how to develop your business idea.

For more information please contact Claire Quigley on 01 8851502

Labels: Entrepreneurship, Recession

Eibhlin Curley of Dublin City Enterprise Board is at it again, starting and encouraging networks for businesses to develop and prosper.
CreativeD was developed by Dublin City Council, Dublin City and County Enterprise Boards and The Digital Hub.
This network-based programme specifically designed for the creative industries is said to be the first of its kind in Dublin. Its aim is to define, develop and promote creative businesses and to ensure that individually and collectively the creative industries become a significant force in our new economy.
Meetings, Workshops, Networking events, Online forums, Seminars and Skills development sessions are promised with the first event kicking off on 20th October 2009, coinciding with Dublin Innovation Week. You can book a place for this event and/or think about joining the network. The annual subscription to the programme is 100 euros.
Closing date for receipt of applications for the complete programme is: Friday 2nd October 2009. For further information phone (01) 4293600 or visit the website.

Labels: Entrepreneurship, Out and About, Smart Work

An Employment Subsidy Scheme (Temporary) has been launched aimed at helping vulnerable yet viable companies to retain employment levels and their skill base over the next fifteen months.
E250 million has been allocated to the scheme to provide for a tapering subsidy of up to 9,100 per supported employee over 15 months. The scheme is tailored to help those companies in internationally traded goods and services sectors, which employ ten or more full time employees and export at least 30% of their turnover, to retain their employment levels.
The scheme provides a maximum subsidy of €9,100 payable over five periods of 13 weeks as follows:

e200 per week in period 1: 24 August to 22 November 2009

e200 per week in period 2: 23 November to 21 February 2010

e150 per week in period 3: 22 February to 23 May 2010

e100 per week in period 4: 24 May to 22 August 2010

e50 per week in period 5: 3 August to 21 November 2010

The closing date for application is 4 September 2009 and the first payments under the scheme will be effective from 24 August. There are a few terms and conditions, for more information, visit the site and apply direct.

Labels: Entrepreneurship, Flexible Recruitment, Smart Work

Apparently one quarter of this year's graduates will be unemployed so why not do a good turn and give a graduate a leg up. IBEC are launching a Graduate Internship Programme which will target 2009 Degree and Masters level graduates for placements lasting between six and eleven months.
IBEC expect that most employers will want to offer a wage that recognises the balance between the benefits that the graduate brings to the business and the additional experience that the graduate acquires. In cases where employers are not in a position to offer a wage, graduates may agree to take up unpaid placements, where the position is attractive and will benefit their skills development and employability. Their longer term ambition for the programme is to receive government support for participating graduates.
For this to be a success, they need a strong consortium of companies to commit to the programme and to provide an indication of the number of graduate interns which your company is in a position to take on.
If this is something you think your company may be interested in, then be so kind as to complete the online form which seeks expressions of interest from companies by close of business on Friday 14 August.

Should you have any queries please contact the Graduate Internship Programme please contact Alan O'Kelly or telephone 01 6051622.

So Ikea finally opened its doors today after almost ten years. Fanfare, clowns, competitions and face painting in the car park since 7 a.m. We probably haven't seen such retail hype since the Dundrum Town Centre opened a few years back which tells us what's hot in Ireland during boom or bust. So what has a Swedish home decor site got to do with Flexitimers? Well nothing but maybe something. As we like to promote entrepreneurship and innovation in Ireland, we've come across an Irish company that hopes to capitalise on this global brand's presence in Ireland.
The rather crude (if not honest) name of the company 'Simple Assembly Me ****' is offering:
Assembly of Ikea furniture - at a very reasonable €30 per item. Other flatpack services insofar as they exist charge by the hour.
Installation of Ikea kitchens - again at very reasonable rates.
Delivery - next day delivery for all orders before noon and again good rates.

Worth a shot if you value your family relationships, I've had quite a few hostile home assembly moments in my day until I finally bought a power drill.

The service is the brainchild of Maryrose Lyons of Brightspark Consulting, best of luck to all the team.