Career Choices: What’s Hot in Dublin?
The Dublin Economic Monitor indicates in its most recent edition (February 2019), that as of Q3 2018 the employed workforce of Dublin measured at 696,200, the highest value since records began by the Central Statistics Office in 1998. Obviously, there is no shortage of available labor and as such, it takes talent to impress employers. Corporations seek the best from a wide pool of potential hires, and to stay competitive anyone seeking future employment will need to hone their professional skills to satisfy the requirements of the corporate world. Taking courses or reading literature on a new skill auxiliary to that of your primary studies might one day make the difference between you and another candidate for your ideal career, or help you discover a completely unexpected career path. Trends on sector growth in Dublin provide valuable insight into what industries are expanding, thus making new hires and from that one can approximate what skills might make them a more valuable member of the workforce:
FinanceA combined whirlwind of increased global financial services activities, increased lending, and an Irish-bound flow of jobs, capital, & innovation related to Brexit has greatly enhanced the Irish financial sector and it is seeing expansion in new hires. On top of this, the Government’s IFS2020 strategy seeks to raise employment in the Irish financial services sector to 45,000 by 2020, from 35,000 Particularly in demand are:
- Payroll specialists
- Financial analysists
- Regulatory reporting accountants
Sure, math isn’t for everyone but for those who can hack it: you might consider brushing up on your Excel skills and taking a free course online about cooperate finance, such as the one offered by Kahn Academy.
Digital MarketingBrand development skills are highly sought after by all firms ranging from new startups to large multi-national operations. As Dublin continues to experience ever greater levels of growth, innovation, and development, there will be a steady stream of new firms seeking professionals with the ability to help make their brand known. There are several free or paid courses one could take online in their free time to boost their knowledge on Digital Marketing, such as Google Digital Garage. Taking the time to learn even just the basics of marketing psychology, how ad-revenue works, and what tools to use to diffuse your brand over the internet could prove invaluable to any professional or personal venture.
TechnologyThe tech sector is simply thriving in Dublin. Several huge multinational tech Firms such as Google, Apple, Salesforce, and First Data have recently established Dublin-based offices that are continuously expanding and hiring more and more professionals. This could prove difficult, but there is some definite merit and value in taking the time to learn a coding language, web design, database management or the fundamentals of data analysis. Doing so will open a whole new world of potential career paths, and there are several free online programs in exactly these things.
Language
If you speak an additional language there are several potential careers open to you that may not have been based solely on your other merits. Internationally operating Dublin firms in IT, finance, e-commerce, marketing, and more all need non-English language speakers to help conduct business abroad. And domestically, the Irish tourism industry is also experiencing growth, increasing the demand for non-English language speakers to conduct tours and events. ‘In demand’ languages (according to Cpl Jobs) include:
- German
- Dutch
- French
- Russian
- Swedish
- Norwegian
ConstructionSoundly enough, the construction sector has seen immense growth in Dublin in recent years. Growing economy means more jobs, more people, and more need of real estate, and there are several new employment opportunities to be found not just in the laboring, but in project management, design & architecture, site surveyance, safety regulation compliance, and project finance. Knowing this, an enterprising learner might prioritize some group organization & leadership skills, written & oral communication skills, regulatory knowledge or tech-based building design skills such as the use of CAD and 3D modeling.
EnvironmentBoth The Independent and The Irish Times forecast a large measure of future growth in the industries of: green energy, renewables, and carbon capture. It is intuitive that as people becomes more aware and concerned with climate change that there will be a boom in demand for ‘green’ technologies and companies. Already in Ireland the Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS) promises massive investment into just renewable energies by 2030. If you’re looking to build a career around sustainable development, or simply keep yourself competitive in a job market increasingly concerned with sustainable development, then you might start looking at learning resources to raise your competency with: life-cycle analysis, community building, and most importantly, critical thinking, because addressing many of the problems that sustainable development concerns itself with takes some very creative problem solving skills.
Continuous improvement is the key to remaining invaluable to current or potential employers, and for better or for worse, is the level of commitment to learning that is demanded of new entrants to the workforce. Hopefully this article helped to illuminate some of the ways you might potentially modulate your own personal learning path to the emerging needs of the market.
Sources
- Dublin Economic Monitor: http://www.dublineconomy.ie/#latest
- IFS2020: https://www.gov.ie/en/publication/209a77-ifs2020-strategy/
- CPL Jobs: https://cpljobs.com/ie/cplinsights/employment-trends/which-sectors-are-growing-in-ireland/
- Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS): https://www.dccae.gov.ie/en-ie/energy/topics/Renewable-Energy/electricity/renewable-electricity-supports/ress/Pages/default.aspx
Trinity Business Review 