Tag: Student tips

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LinkedIn – Why this is the Key Ingredient for Irish University Students

LinkedIn in Irish universities

LinkedIn – Why this is the Key Ingredient for Irish University Students

LinkedIn is like being on social media and advancing your future career prospects. HomeHak is going to explore why this social network matters as a student. If you are a student, here are some of the reasons why you should be on it.

Getting Job Email Alerts

Firstly, once you have created your professional profile on LinkedIn, you can set email alerts to receive notifications of recommended jobs. Secondly, students and jobseekers will be able to see the notifications on their homepage as soon as they log into their LinkedIn accounts.

Connecting with Professionals

If you have a look at LinkedIn, you’ll be surprised to find out the large number of professionals who choose to connect here. In fact, you can find your friends, co-workers, colleagues, classmates and family members on this platform. Consequently, it’s never a tough job connecting with them all. What’s more, you can even import your email list to find out who among your friends is present on LinkedIn.

LinkedIn in Irish Universities - HomeHak
Photo by LinkedIn Sales Solutions on Unsplash

Conducting Company Research   

One of the biggest benefits LinkedIn offers college students and jobseekers is that they can check out the pages of their targeted employers. By visiting company, pages, you can conduct a research on the whereabouts of the company, the hiring process and what people have to say about that organization. This kind of company research on LinkedIn can always keep a stay ahead of your competition and increases your employability.

Getting Recommendations

What’s more, LinkedIn also offers a feature through which you can get other people to recommend you. People with a maximum number of recommendations have a great chance of attracting the employers’ attention. College students too can try to get as many recommendations as possible to increase their employability.

Letting Companies Find You

Today, a large number of organizations look for talented candidates on social networking platforms like LinkedIn. If you have created a good and detailed professional profile, chances are you will attract employer’s attention. And it would really be nice to be invited by companies for your job position you always wanted to occupy.

Connecting with Other Students

Furthermore, college students can also use LinkedIn to network with other students. This type of networking gives a wonderful opportunity to find out how other college graduates found a job or got hired by an employer.

Check this article out to learn more about how to stay organised as a student in an Irish University.

To summarise

It’s about time that college students too created their profiles.It is time to start to use this social media platform for connecting with professionals. To conclude, prepare yourself as early as possible. You can easily stay ahead of your competition when it comes to landing a job of your interest. For more reasons to be on LinkedIn, check out this article.

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Stay Organised as a Student in Irish University – The Importance and How To.

How to stay organised as a student in Irish university

Stay Organised as a Student in Irish University – The Importance and How To

There are  many reasons as to why you want to stay organised in college. First and foremost, it will drastically reduce your stress levels. And when you’re less stressed, you’ll feel better and perform better on assignments. You’ll also have more time for the things you enjoy doing, and you’ll just be a more pleasant person to be around.

1. Your Calendar

Calendars free up so much space in your head helping you to stay organised. Instead of having to remember appointments, classes, or due dates using post-it notes or scraps of paper in your wallet, you can have everything organized in a convenient, visual format. And if you use a digital calendar, you can automatically get reminders of important events before they sneak up on you.

 

2. Stay Organised with a To-Do List/Task Manager

You could use a whiteboard or a blank notebook if you want. What matters is that you keep an updated list of the tasks you need to accomplish, as well as, you know, actually doing said tasks. To make your to-do list, you should first create a brain dump of everything that you need to do on a regular basis. Here are some tasks that most college students need to do:

  • Homework assignments
  • Cleaning your apartment
  • Preparing meals
  • Club or society tasks
  • Anything you’re learning outside of class
Stay organised in Irish universities
Photo by Cathryn Lavery on Unsplash

3. Your Notes

Taking good notes is key to staying organised, comprehending and retaining any lectures or presentations that your professors give. But taking notes on its own isn’t enough — to get the most value out of your notes, you need to keep them organized. For some people, this could be as simple as having a different notebook for each class and referring back to it when you need to study for an exam.

 

4. Your Class Materials and Files (Digital and Physical)

We recommend you keep all of your class materials organized either in a physical three-ring binder or in some kind of digital system. To stay organised, you could put all of the material in Evernote along with your notes, or you could have dedicated Google Drive folders for each class (other cloud sync apps like Dropbox and OneDrive work here as well, but Drive offers the best value for students unless you specifically need Microsoft Office).

 

5. Your Backpack

Your backpack (or briefcase or purse or whatever you use) is key for keeping all of these materials organized and at the ready. Organizing your backpack isn’t hard — the key step is to remember to fill your backpack with the things you need for the day. After all, there’s nothing worse than showing up in class, only to get that sinking feeling in your stomach as you realize that you don’t have the book or paper you need.

 

To summarise

Use a calendar. Make a to-do list. Organise your notes. Keep track of all class materials. Invest in  a comfty bagpack.  Getting organized is the easy part. How to stay organized throughout the semester is the hard part. We hope you enjoyed HomeHaks top tips for staying organised throughout your academic career!

For more college hacks, check out our other articles:

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Renting Guide for First Time Accommodation Students in Ireland

accomodation renting

Becoming a first time apartment renter is a rite of passage and exciting time in your life. Of course, figuring out how to rent an apartment comes with new tasks and responsibilities, as well as freedom to pick and choose the perfect place. Read more to find your renting guide for students in Ireland.

 

To make the transition as smooth as possible, HomeHak has put together a first time apartment renter checklist of everything you need to know about how to rent your first apartment for a successful move. 

 

house keys

 

Check out our Renting Guide!

 

Determining your costs and expenses

Your living costs are going to be determined by your accommodation, eating arrangements, leisure activities and transport costs. Here is an article with a broad breakdown for living costs for students in ireland.

 

The average monthly cost of a student living in Ireland is anywhere between:

 

  • Dublin: 1,100 – 1,800 EUR/month. This article breaks down the cost of living in Dublin.
  • Cork: 860 – 1,400 EUR/month
  • Galway and other smaller cities: 800 – 1,100 EUR/month. This article breaks down the cost of living in Galway.

Renting Guide Living expenses

 

The following prices are taken from this article and show the average cost range of student living expenses per month in Cork.

 

  • Utilities – €30=€50
  • Food €250-€350
  • Travel (Monthly bus ticket) – €65-€85
  • Textbook & materials – €75
  • Mobile phone – €20
  • Personal expenses (social/sports) €200-€300

 

accomodation guide

Location, Location, Location

 

Some things to take into consideration when choosing where to live is:

 

  • Distance from university 
  • Distance from workplace 
  • Mode of transportation – walk, cycle, bus, drive.
  • Quiet suburban area or more urban built up area
  • Close to amenities – gym, park.

Living alone or with other people?

There are many types of accommodation options. Will you be taking a room in a house share, moving into a house with friends, or moving in with random people into an on campus apartment ? Are you on your own searching for accommodation or looking to live with friends? HomeHak can link you to other people in your course looking for similar accommodation or you can co-apply with your friends. 

Do you have a parking space?

On campus accommodation usually always provides a free parking space in a safe complex with security cameras. If you are living in off campus accommodation you might have to consider how many people are in the house share and how many of the tenants drive cars. If there are only 2 spaces and there are 3 of the tenants driving you will have to check for on-street parking. Is this readily available and is it safe? Some streets in Cork require a parking ticket between the hours of 9:00am to 6:00pm where it is free after that time. If you have a bike, do you have somewhere safe to store it? 

Don’t leave your search to the last minute – get ahead of the competition and search in good time

A new academic year usually starts at the end of august / start of september. Don’t leave it until the start of august to begin your search. To find your perfect fit, HomeHak recommends you give yourself a few months to search. HomeHak can help you to get ahead of the competition and ensure you are in a favourable position to get your perfect accommodation. 

Ask the right questions on your accommodation tour

As a first time renter, you are eager to secure your accommodation and sometimes we can overlook and not ask the important questions before we sign a lease. Some key questions to ask is how much is the rent which includes security deposits and any other financial payments such as utilities, electricity, wifi etc. What payment options are available – bank transfer, cash or cheque? Can you pay in instalments? 

Renting Guide Documentation

Want to beat your competition and secure your dream accommodation? Ensure you have all appropriate documents ready and up to date. HomeHak helps take this stress off you by being your centre point for storing all of this. Some documents you may need for example include employer reference, any previous landlord reference, academic reference, identification documents (passport, PPS number) and proof of income.

 

first time renting

To summarise

Even the most ambitious and organised first time apartment renter can get overwhelmed with the process. Apartment hunting, applications, fees, budgeting, packing, and all the logistics of moving come with their headaches, but it is well worth it. We hope this renting guide has helped put your mind at ease!