How to apply for jobs in Ireland

The EURES page for Ireland, run by the European Commission's employment network, describes a CV of one to two pages with your personal details, education, work experience starting with the most recent (volunteering counts), language skills and interests. There is no single required format. A photograph is only needed when the application form requests one, so most Irish CVs go without. Our Irish CV format guide covers layout and which personal details to keep.

The letter of application should be typed and should bring out your personal strengths and the experience that matters for the job. EURES adds that copies of qualifications and references are often sent with it, so have clean scans ready. Write it for one employer at a time; the cover letter builder gives you a first draft from your CV that you can then make specific.^[1]

The Employment Equality Acts outlaw discrimination on nine grounds: gender, civil status, family status, sexual orientation, religious belief, age, disability, race (including colour, nationality and ethnic or national origin) and membership of the Traveller community. The Workplace Relations Commission notes that they cover applicants for employment and training as well as staff, apply to employment agencies, and also outlaw discriminatory job advertisements. Questions on these points have no place in an interview, and you do not have to volunteer them on your CV.

If you believe you were discriminated against, a complaint normally has to reach the WRC within six months of the incident, or of the most recent one if there were several. The Director General can extend that to twelve months where you show reasonable cause for the delay. Keep the advert, your application and any messages until the process is over.^[7][8]

A short thank-you email after an interview is a good habit, and one polite follow-up is fine once the date you were given has passed. Record each application and contact in the job tracker so you know which ones are still open.

When pay comes up, give an annual gross figure that you have researched for the role and the county, and treat pension, holidays and remote-working days as part of the package.

Since 1 August 2022, a probation period at the start of a job may not exceed six months, except in limited cases where it can be extended to no more than twelve; for public servants the ceiling is twelve months. The probation length and its conditions must now be set out in the written statement of terms your employer gives you. Once you have 13 weeks of continuous service, minimum notice applies: your employer must give at least one week up to two years of service, and you must give one week, or more if your contract says so.^[9][10]

EU and EEA citizens can live and work in Ireland without a work permit. Most other nationals need an employment permit, and both main types depend on a job offer from an employer trading in Ireland, so the offer comes before the permit.

The Critical Skills Employment Permit is for occupations on the Critical Skills Occupations List and needs an offer of at least two years. The official minimum pay is €40,904 a year with a relevant degree, €36,848 if the degree was awarded in the previous 12 months, or €68,911 for other eligible occupations. Holders are expected to stay with the first employer for at least nine months, and can later apply for Stamp 4 permission. The General Employment Permit covers a wider range of jobs with a general threshold of €36,605 a year; most applications need a Labour Market Needs Test, for which the employer advertises the role with the public employment service and EURES first. Check the current figures on the Department's pages before you negotiate.

For a degree from abroad, NARIC Ireland, hosted by QQI, publishes free comparability statements that place foreign qualifications on the Irish National Framework of Qualifications. They are advice, not a legal decision: the employer decides, and for regulated professions the relevant Irish professional authority does. If your CV is in another language, translate your resume before you apply.^{[1][11][12][13]}