How-to
Advertising a job in Ireland — what actually reaches Irish candidates
Irish jobseekers search Irish job boards, so a vacancy advertised only on a UK site reaches almost none of them even though both countries share a language. Advertise on the Irish boards, quote the salary in euro against Irish market rates rather than a converted sterling figure, state the county and whether the role is site-based, and give an Irish point of contact. Outside Dublin the advert also has to answer why someone would travel, because the commutable pool is far smaller.
The mistake that costs most Irish hires
A UK employer advertises an Irish role on the site they always use, sees nothing come back, and concludes the Irish market is short of people.
The market is fine. The advert was not in it.
Because both countries speak English and the boards look similar, nothing signals that the listing has landed in the wrong pool — no error, no warning, just silence. An Irish jobseeker looking for work in Cork is searching Irish boards, not a UK one, and the aggregators route by location.
The same applies in reverse to the surrounding signals. A careers page on a `.co.uk` domain with an 0161 number reads as a UK job even when the advert says Galway, and candidates assume relocation.
Where the advert needs to be
For an Irish role we advertise across the Irish boards and the aggregators — Jobs.ie, IrishJobs, Indeed, CV-Library, LinkedIn and Google for Jobs — on one flat fee, for a 28-day listing. The specific mix matters less than the principle: the role has to be in the Irish pool, on more than one board, with an Irish location on it.
Different roles live on different boards in Ireland. Trades, production and driving roles behave very differently from professional roles, and a single listing on one site reaches a slice of the market rather than the market.
What the advert has to say
The first three lines carry the decision
What the job is, which county, whether it is on site, hybrid or remote, and what it pays. A reader who cannot find those four things in three lines leaves — and on a phone, three lines is what they see.
Salary in euro, benchmarked in Ireland
Do not convert a sterling figure. Some disciplines pay more in Ireland than in the UK and some less, and a converted number is a coincidence rather than a benchmark. Look at live Irish adverts for the same responsibilities — not the same job title — and price against those.
The county, not just "Ireland"
"Ireland" as a location is a filter miss. Irish candidates search by county and by city, and a role listed nationally reads as either remote or vague.
Why someone would travel
This is the line that separates a regional advert that works from one that does not. In our own Irish data roles outside Dublin took a median of 67.5 days against 41 in Dublin, because the pool inside a realistic commute is far smaller.
If the role is site-based in a county town, the advert is competing for a few dozen people, and it has to answer the question they will actually ask: why is this worth the drive? Shift pattern, overtime, equipment, training, the state of the place, a manager who is not chaotic — the specific true reason, not "excellent opportunity".
An Irish point of contact
A local number and an Irish contact name do more for response rates than any amount of copywriting. It says the employer is serious about hiring here.
What not to do
- Do not hide the shift pattern. Evening and weekend work discovered at interview wastes everyone's time; two of our longest Irish searches were evening-shift roles, and being straight about it in the advert is what eventually filled them.
- Do not list fifteen essentials. Every extra one removes candidates, and in a small pool that is expensive.
- Do not repost an advert unchanged. If three weeks produced nothing, the same words will not perform differently in week four.
- Do not require a long application form. Employed candidates apply in a lunch break. Every extra step costs applications, and the strongest people drop first because they have options.
When advertising is the wrong tool
Some Irish roles cannot be advertised into existence — the people who can do them are employed, content, and not looking. In a smaller market that happens sooner than it does in the UK, particularly for specialist and supervisory roles outside Dublin.
The signal is a live advert, three weeks, applications arriving, and nobody reaching a second interview. At that point the answer is a direct search rather than more advertising, which is what Guaranteed Hire is: a recruiter working the role on a flat fee by salary band, with a 100% refund if it is not filled.
Frequently asked questions
Do UK job boards reach Irish candidates?
Barely. Irish jobseekers use Irish boards, and a listing on a UK site is largely invisible to them. This is the most common reason a UK employer's Irish vacancy attracts nothing.
Which job boards should an Irish role be on?
The Irish boards plus the aggregators — Jobs.ie, IrishJobs, Indeed, CV-Library, LinkedIn and Google for Jobs is the spread we advertise across for a single flat fee.
Should I put the salary in an Irish job advert?
Yes, in euro, benchmarked against Irish adverts for the same responsibilities rather than converted from sterling. Candidates filter on salary, so an advert without one is invisible to anyone using that filter.
How long should I leave an Irish job advert running?
Ours run for 28 days. If three weeks have produced nothing worth interviewing, the market has answered — change the salary, the location requirement or the approach rather than reposting the same advert.
Sources
Want the fixed price for your role?
Advertise it yourself across Ireland's major job boards from €499, or hand the whole search to a dedicated recruiter with Guaranteed Hire — a flat fee by salary band with a 100% refund if the role is not filled. No VAT is added for Irish businesses.
See Guaranteed Hire Advertise a job
Or call (01) 575 5347.