Overview from the Onrec.com and Jobs.ie networking event in Dublin

Apprehensively, I boarded my flight for Dublin, (I hate flying but needs must), thoughts of what needed to be done to ensure that the second Onrec ìOn Tourî event went smoothly were stockpiling in my mind. What I didnít realise was that everything that could be done, had and my fears that nobody would turn up, were completely unjustified.



Once in Dublin, I met with Odhran Ginnity, MD for Jobs.ie our corporate sponsors for the event. As per usual Odhran was completely organised. Laptop fully charged, Powerpoint presentation looking slick and informative. At this point I started to relax. The venue, Dublinís Westin Hotel had done us proud. The event was to be held in their banking hall, a room so impressive I understand that a wedding there will set you back 20K plus.



By 5:30 our guests began to arrive. A mixture of local HR and Recruiters with a smattering of trade representatives all greeted with wine and canaps prior to the welcome and brief introductions by both David Hurst and Odhran, who discussed the merits of the Online Recruitment Industry globally and in Ireland.



Some interesting questions came from the floor prompting interesting discussion. We then retired to the bar where the discussion continued. There was a real buzz as the local recruiters and heads of HR mixed with local job board vendors as well as the large number of principles that had made the flight over from the UK. I found that the market in Ireland is completely different to what we experience here in the UK. The feeling I got is that Recruiters in Ireland still believe that Online Recruitment is an alternative to the traditional methods such as newspapers and agencies. This is something I experienced in the UK some 5 years ago. Hopefully the message we sent out is that used as an additional tool to source and hire candidates, the web is a powerful tool!



After a couple of hours of exhaustive conversation, we retired en mass to a restaurant up the road prior to doing the rounds of Dublinís nightlife. Odhran and his team from Jobs.ie really did us proud, (I understand Vinny spent a few days organizing this part of the event). We were escorted to some excellent bars and clubs whilst still learning about the market in Ireland.

The following day at the airport over a glass of iced water, (Enough is enough and the body needed a break), I pondered over what we could have done better. This didnít take long, there was nothing more we could have done. I have to congratulate Odhran and his team for being superb hosts and ensuring that Onrec ìOn Tourî Dublin 4th May is something that will stick in a lot of peopleís minds for some time to come.