I have an MBA from Smurfit Graduate Business School at University College Dublin, one of the most respected schools and degrees across Europe. Since I finished, I have upskilled myself in every way possible, including technical skills and financial skills.
However, I have failed to secure a decent role in the one year that I have been trying, putting myself under a tremendous amount of financial and emotional pressure.
I believe it’s the severe dependence on AI tools which is causing the problem, where my transferable skills might fail to be identified. It seems the commitment one puts into a postgraduate programme – financial and personal – might be totally ignored.
At times, I would see a job that’s right under my nose, but when I apply for it, nothing happens. It’s been a year.
I have applied on various job boards, as well as through LinkedIn and direct company websites. I understand that rejection is natural where someone feels a candidate might not be suitable. But how can every single application be rejected?
Most employers in Ireland are now using AI systems to manage “high volumes of applications”, according to Breda Dooley, head of recruitment at Matrix Recruitment, meaning applicants must adapt.
A survey released by IrishJobs last September suggests nearly eight in 10 employers are using such systems in the hiring process, such as screening submitted CVs.
Some 78 per cent of the 475 recruiters surveyed said they use AI at some point in their recruitment process to “enhance productivity”.
Noting that employers are using AI to identify those that “best match the role”, Dooley says candidates now need to be “far more intentional in how they apply”.
This means adapting CVs for every role, mirroring the language used in the job description and keeping formatting simple to “significantly improve your chances of being shortlisted”.
The use of AI systems in recruitment processes, particularly for analysing and filtering job applications, and evaluating candidates, has been deemed one of the “high-risk” uses under the EU AI Act.
Several requirements, which apply from August 2026, have been set out for such high-risk uses under the act, including ensuring they can be “effectively overseen”. This is alongside additional requirements in risk management, record-keeping, accuracy and robustness.
Noting the effects on the reader of searching for a year without success, Dooley says the jobs market can be “incredibly difficult” to navigate.
“The financial and emotional pressure that comes with this cannot be underestimated,” she says.
Alongside a need to adapt to the widespread use of AI in the recruitment process, Dooley points out the reader places a “heavy emphasis on their MBA qualification from the outset”.
She added: “While an MBA from Smurfit Business School is undoubtedly impressive, education alone rarely gives hiring managers enough information to assess a candidate’s suitability.
“If there is an overemphasis on the MBA in their CV, at the expense of experience and even soft skills, it may be the reason they are having little success in their job hunt.”
While MBAs are designed to prepare individuals for senior management, by exposing them to all areas of business, they are “not a substitute for experience”, Dooley says.
“If an application focuses more on what was studied rather than what was done, hiring managers may struggle to visualise the candidate in the role they need to fill,” she says.
She adds that it is worth seeking an objective opinion on a CV, saying recruiters can often “ensure a CV is seen by a hiring manager, even when automated systems might otherwise filter it out”.
Dooley further suggests “actively networking”, saying an MBA can provide a “ready-made network that they must tap into if they wish to get ahead”.
The MBA Association of Ireland, for example, can be “invaluable” in building relationships, widening a professional circle and “uncovering opportunities that never reach the public market”, she says.
If you have work-related questions, from how to deal with burnout to running your own business, The Irish Times Work Q&A column is here to help. You can use the form below to submit your question. Please limit your submissions to 400 words or less and please include a phone number. Your name and contact details will be confidential and only be used for verification purposes. Any details about your employer will also be anonymised.