August 2022 Newsletter – Thank you for the sunshine!
In The News ....
August is usually known as the silly season for news and this year is no exception. The UK Tory leadership race has not been very inspiring. It’s looking like it's Liz Truss’s to lose on the 5th September. There is a rumour Boris will make a comeback, not to mention Trump running again, are candidates really that hard to find?! As for the online entertainment between Bobby Healy (Mana drones) and Paddy Cosgrave (Web Summit and investor in Mana drones, awks), pass the popcorn, there will be only one winner there.
Manage those bills folks, you’ve been warned
Energy price rises are eye-watering to say the least and this could be the winter of wearing the old ganseys indoors to keep warm and keep the bills down. There has been a lot of news content and commentary about how to keep energy bills down – here’s our top tips from what we have seen and heard.
- Turn off lights unless needed (yes, like your dad told you)
- Don’t leave devices on standby turn them off (we’re talking saving cents here not €’s)
- Turn off radiators in unused rooms
- Lower your thermostat by 1 degree
- Use timers wisely (the phone apps are great) to only heat the house when required
- Only boil the water you need for tea/coffee (it can cost up to 60c to boil a full kettle)
- Use the stackable steamers so you only use one ring on your hob for your spuds and veg
- The microwave is much cheaper to run than your cooker or oven
Age-Appropriate Chores of Children
On a completely different note, I know many of our readers have households full of young children. There was a piece on the radio (Newstalk) the other day about Age Appropriate Chores for Children. I know adults who still do not know how to do some of these chores! Start them young would be my mantra! Click here for a full list!
In the world of entertainment...
In our recent survey on the subject of preferred social media sites, Twitter came out last of the Big 4, but that doesn’t mean nothing good happens there and we want to shout out to @perchacek_amy who recently posted about ’20 cool sites to explore’ – here’s our fav four ridiculous but fascinating ones. Enjoy!
City Walks - take a stroll through any city in the world while at your desk, turn on the sound, it's cool!
The Scale of things - use the scroll bar, it’s worth a few minutes just playing around with it!
Window Swap – see window views of everything from streetscapes to safari parks
Real time stats – stats on internet & social media usage
But if you like the real world scenes & events, don’t forget Friday 23rd September is Culture Night across Ireland. Check out the site, there is even a map showing the events being hosted near you. There really is something for everyone.
And back to screen entertainment, have you seen the Netflix series True Story? Featuring a surprisingly intense Kevin Hart (plays a comedian!) and a potentially award-winning turn from Wesley Snipes. I couldn’t watch beyond the first episode, but others loved it. Watch out for Sharon Horgan’s, Bad Sisters on Apple TC, she can do no wrong in our eyes. We can’t wait to see it.
Finally, merging our interest in history and entertainment, you could check out some of the great articles, podcast & TV shows about the centenary of the death of Michael Collins. RTE aired an interesting documentary chaired by Dr Marie Cassidy called Cold Case Collins.
Office monikers, fun stuff or major cringe?
In an amusing piece in the Irish Times recently (Laura Slattery, 6th August) we were asked to consider just how valuable, or cringe-worthy corporate nick names for employees are. We all have our opinions on what it might be like to be a Googler, a Metamate or an Amazonian but problems arise when news emanating from these companies isn’t so good. Recently the Robinhoodies and the Klarnauts (Klarna, buy-now-pay-later) were both addressed in those terms in the middle of on-line calls announcing major layoffs. Not so much fun then, eh?
So, I wonder which names are ‘fun’ and which would make you reach for the basin; we like ‘Pinployees’, and ‘Stripes’ has a simplicity to it, but the good Tweeps at Twitter cannot enjoy sharing their moniker with outsiders. We’ve tried to come up with a few of our own – how about the ‘Flatpacks’ from IKEA, the ‘Lidl people’, the ‘Buskers’ of Bus Eireann? There were some riskier ones for Coca-Cola and the Muff Liquor Company which we won’t mention here.
Sports for all
Following a packed and very eventful July, August is usually a quieter affair, but not this year. A big shout out to Ireland for winning the Nations Cup at the Horse Show, for all our medal winners at The Europeans’ and for Rory McIlroy winning the Tour Championship.
While our rowers captured headlines with a gold for the mens’ pairs and silver for the womens’ 4s we were struck by the silver medal picked up by Ciara Mageean in the 1500m and the bronze by the indefatigable Mark English in the 800m. Also catching the eye were Sarah Lavin’s 5th place in the 100m hurdles, Fionnuala McCormack’s 7th in the marathon and the much reported on youngsters Rhasidat Adeleke, 5th in the 400m and Israel Olatunde, 6th in the 100m; names we’ll be hearing a lot more of we think! Congratulations to all!
Did anyone get to see the American Football in the Avivia, say what you like, it’s long and complicated but they do know how to put on a show, and that’s just university level! I also heard the payment machines went down for a few hours, so there was free beer & food to boot!
As for the US Open - We are on Team Serena this year. I know we are very fickle, last year it was Team Emma but this is Serena's last tournament!
Do you believe in Karma?
Last month’s competition question delivered a very decisive verdict in the affirmative. We asked if you would forward on a role you saw that perhaps wasn’t for you to another potentially suitable candidate and the ‘ayes’ carried it 4:1.
Now we are PeopleSource being hard-nosed business folk are neither religious nor superstitious when it comes to our commercial dealings but we have always believed in Karma. Indeed, it is the most oft-quoted of the spiritual influences among our colleagues, clients and candidates.
People believe that those who do good, who look out for others, who ‘pay it forward’, do tend to reap what they sow. So, in general terms, be good to one another, and more specifically, if you see we have posted a role that for whatever reason is not for you, but might be for someone in your network, pay it forward, pass it on. Truly your rewards will be great!
And, as if by magic, we have a fantastic range of roles open here at PeopleSource both home and abroad and you can peruse the full list below.
If you can't find what you are looking for here, call Rachel Tubridy on 086 662 9674 to have an initial discussion to see what else we are working on.
Counter offers
As we come into one of the busiest seasons on the job front, we’ve put together a handy sheet of pros & cons to consider if you are making a move in the coming months. Read it here.
Competition time…
Each month we ask our readers to answer a question for a chance to win €100 One4all voucher.
Our question for the July newsletter was:
If you see an interesting job advertised but it’s not for you at that time, would you refer it on to someone else?
And the results were:
Yes - 80% No - 20%
And the winner of our voucher is – Laura Kennedy – we’ll be in touch!
Remember, we are upping the ante this year. We will have a draw for one person to win €600 in One4All vouchers in our December newsletter. There is only one requirement - enter the quiz question EVERY month! Only three more months to go!
Our question for the August newsletter is:
If working from home, will you seek further support from your employer to compensate for the increase in the cost of domestic heating and lighting?
The winner will be chosen at random and will receive €100 One4All voucher. Enter here to be in with a chance to win.
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PeopleSource is a specialist finance & accounting recruitment firm.
