Early work: 

What was your first fulltime job after finishing school?

A quantity weights and measures coordinator for Crown Paints.

Do you think the road you went down is still open to kids coming out of school today?

I think the best opportunity for roles is through your networks. I got the job because my Dad happened to work in the company and put in a word. It's probably the only road open to kids these days.

Did you have any sort of a mentor figure & how did they help?

Yes it's been the one consistent I've had in any job I've been successful at. They'd offer career advice and the best way to handle senior managers. My first piece of advice was from the senior procurement manager who advised me on most things including how to manage up.

What was your first big pay cheque splurge?

A guitar and a heavy drinking session!

Work place:

 Do you think the 9-5 model is redundant?

It is and it isn't. From a society point of view it's redundant-everyone expects everything and everyone to be available 24 hours a day. However, I do also think there's a bit of a kick back as people do also want their social time and are trying to fit their work around that (split time, working from home). For good innovative businesses the 9-5 is dead. For traditional businesses still adhering to that model it's all about control. For a lot of managers not knowing where their employees are at an exact time causes panic, where's it's never concerned me - as long as the job gets done.

Do you believe more employees should be allowed work from home or does the office play a central part in the workplace dynamic?

I think it's both. I think the office is essential for bringing people together and creating a team environment; learning each other's strengths, weaknesses and traits to get the best out of each other. But if the job doesn't require you to be in the office that's fine too. I had a member of staff who'd drop the kids off to school and start at half nine and finish at half two and then continue the rest of her work at home from 3 O' clock onwards. I knew if her working hours were changed she would just quit. Not everyone is financially motivated. She was going into work for social reasons and as long as she got the job done I had no problem with that.

What do you find are the most rewarding & frustrating aspects of corporate culture?

Frustration wise I think there's a bit of a club there, you have to be of a certain education to go up the ladder and have a Degree or Masters. Unless you're in that club there's a bit of a ceiling there and that stems from the American culture. In America you're expected to already have those qualifications from the get go, were over here you more do them in tandem while working or at different points of your life you may drop in and out of education.

Also scale, because of the scale of huge companies it can be very difficult to effect change from within.

Because you're too busy signing off on stationary?

I can understand that, that wouldn't have been a frustration. You have checks and balances on everything and any well run multinational has to have these. It's more to do with the politics and domino effect on different departments that makes it difficult to get everybody on the same page.

And the good things?

I changed job maybe every 18 months so the experience I got from working in that environment was great. I also got to work on a global basis which was a huge learning curve, having to mix cross cultures.

In your experience does the best person necessarily get the job or do company politics play a huge part?

It depends on the manager! Unfortunately sometimes people are hired because the manager likes a person or gets on with the person as opposed to whether they're the best candidate for the job.

Do working parents receive more leeway than their childless colleagues?

Yes, but that's the benefit of working for a decent company, in that the company can appreciate your set of circumstances on an individual basis and work around them. As long as the individual is providing value to the company it's fine but if the favour wasn't being returned by them then being a parent would have no affect on my decision. It's about being flexible. I've also extended the same courtesy to childless employees who have a hangover on a Friday or Monday morning!

What workplace achievement throughout your career has meant the most to you and why?

IBM sent me over to America as an employee and I came back six months later as a manager. I had to build a team of 7 from scratch and hit some very aggressive targets. I was proud because I achieved it with a team of people I'd never met before and who I hired personally; it was very much sink or swim. This actually goes back to what we talked about earlier in that I had a mentor who believed in me even when I wasn't sure in myself. But thankfully he was right!

Management: 

What for you makes a great leader in the workplace?

Someone who listens and does what they say they'll do. Everything else falls into place after that. Those two skills give you the ability to manage up and manage down.

What were the biggest differences between managing post and during the Celtic Tiger?

There was no pressure in the Celtic Tiger.  You had as much money as you wanted. If you wanted to motivate people you could very easily go "let's have a team night out" and spend money on it. So those challenges were eased because you had more money to throw at things. However,  post Celtic Tiger you were weakened as an employee as you couldn't just move from one company to another. But to be fair IBM didn't just throw money at wages for people during the Celtic Tiger, often people would move job to get a better wage and experience and then come back to IBM, who could then justify their pay increase.

That actually did happen a lot and I personally found it quite disappointing that you would have to leave a company and come back to get a pay rise rather than stay on and receive perceived recognition/pay.

It was said to me very honestly by my manager at the time who said there are two types of career path. There's the jumbo jet career path were basically you hit Mach 1 and you go up as fast as you can and you achieve things very quickly and that's fair enough. But at a certain point that's going to level out in the sky because you can't keep going and going or you break the atmosphere. Or you can have the slow incline career path which continuously improves and continuously grows and eventually you reach the same destination. I got more by staying at IBM because I kept continuously evolving and had a designed career path which meant I got ten jobs in ten years.

As a manager what are your biggest pet hates?

Whingers. People who whinge and moan about things and won't do anything. You'd always have someone coming into the office pointing fingers and I'd always remind them; for every one finger you're pointing there's three pointing back at you.

What's the most ridiculous excuse you've ever been given for a missed deadline or error etc.?

I had a Stevie Ireland - a lad whose Grandmother died twice within the space of three months. He'd moved department and forgot management talk.

As a manager if you had to pick between two candidates; one with experience but no college and the other well educated, who would you choose?

Experience. Not every time. Depending on what you're looking for but generally experience.

What's the most common mistake candidates make in interviews?

Saying what they think you want to hear as opposed to explaining who they are and what they're about.

Do you think that has anything to do with the way recruitment agents coach people?

Yes.  For the first three years I used to conduct interviews the traditional way but after that I started to give candidates the interview questions beforehand so they could actually think about the answer.

Having delivered numerous presentations what is the key to effectively engaging your audience?

1. Stick to the point.
2. Keep it short.
3. Know your stuff (not just what's on your slides).
4. Enjoy it! There's nothing more uncomfortable then looking at someone who's in pain.

But assuming presentations aren't your natural forte, how do you overcome those nerves - without a hand full of sedatives?

Focus on someone that you trust and keep anchoring back to that person. You'll know by that person's reactions if you're doing well or not. The other thing is practice. Lots and lots of practice.

What for you is the most difficult aspect of project management?

Managing stakeholder expectation. They will try and get as much out of you as possible and expectations and demands will change every month. But that's what project management is all about - people management.

Having worked in supply chain (previous employment excluded) which company for you is the benchmark?

Wal-Mart. They have all the technology and have successfully moved away from their initial service offering. They're a retailer, they're not a supplier, they're not an end user - they're right in the middle and yet they're one of the few middlemen who can above manage their supply chain to ensure they are always in control. Everywhere else it's usually the end user or production line who are managing that. They're one of the few middle men (as a retailer) who refuse to be cut out. 

Working Abroad: 

Have you worked abroad?

Yes Asia, mainland Europe and the States.

I have always pictured working abroad for a multinational as the business equivalent of an J-1. What was it like in your experience?

It could be the equivalent of a J-1 but you won't get a second or third trip out of it. I'm a firm believer you have to see the places you're in and have a good time but you've got to do the business first.      

What culturally did you find to be the biggest obstacle when managing staff?

In Asia yes does not mean yes. Yes could mean yes, it could mean no, it could mean I just understand what you're saying to me. Culturally it's a mind field. In fact you wouldn't even know you insulted them. For example I was calling a guy by his surname for two weeks because of the email address format of the company. The whole team did this for two weeks and he did not correct us once. I only found out his actual name when I heard one of his team members from Asia call him by his first name.

So had you not happened to overhear a fellow colleague you could have called him by the wrong name indefinitely?

Absolutely. They're so polite over there.

What do you believe are the Irish workforce's greatest strengths and weaknesses?

Our socialness and our socialness. Our friendliness and laidback approach can be great for breaking ice and is a very likable trait. However, it can also impact on the business and professionalism side of things. 

Unemployment: 

When you were first unemployed how long did you think it'd be before you landed a new job, and what aspect of unemployment did you found most difficult?

I initially planned on being out of the workforce for 2-3 months to help look after a sick family member and that once I really tried I'd have a job in 5 months.

Did it surprise you how difficult the job search actually proved?

It was a shock to me actually.  It was difficult because I didn't understand why I wasn't getting jobs because I had so much experience and I wasn't getting proper feedback from agencies or companies. When you do an interview with a company you at least expect them to come back. I'd say out of all the interviews I've done only 10% have come back with actual feedback.

And out of the 90% who didn't come back with feedback what percentage came back with any sort of response at all?

2%.

Surely that's just basic HR 101?

The best response I ever got was from Trinity College. I didn't even get to the interview stage but they came back to me with a detailed spreadsheet  outlining exactly why I didn't fit their criteria. It really was brilliant and it helped me so much going forward with my CV.

How did you manage to stay motivated?

After the first couple of months I realised there was a gap in my CV. One of those gaps was education so I went back to college to do a Hons Bachelors in International Business. That's how I stayed motivated by looking at what it is I needed to do to stay relevant.

Did it affect your confidence at all?

Not initially but after a while yes.  When I went back to college I realised I was out of practice with everything. I'd lost an edge on presentation reports and getting through emails. When I was in IBM I'd get through 400 emails a week were suddenly I was only getting through 40 - I realised because I had more time to do things that I took longer. So to get around that I started taking on more projects outside of college to add some more deadlines and keep me motivated.

College: 

Having successfully completed your degree what do you see as the biggest pitfalls of academia in preparing students for the "real world"?

The theories that you learn in college are at times completely ignored in work. There's almost a different set of ground rules when you go into a company. Plus you're also into the political domain and that changes how you approach things. There's also a build up of expectation in that once you get a degree you can walk into a job and realistically there's a lot more to it than just getting a degree to get a job.

How have you found life as a mature student?

Good - confidence is up. I was just so focused on what I had to do. I mean you knew you weren't just there to have a good time and that there's an end gain as such. Also for the case studies with my previous work experience I could connect the dots to the theory.

What's the worst aspect of college life?

It was a bit like going back in time to being 18 again in that some people did revert  to treating college like college (party party!).

General: 

What's the craziest question you've ever been asked in a job interview?

Is Howth a good place to live?

Did you even live in Howth at the time?

No. The second was "where's the best place to play golf in Dublin?".

Where you abroad at the time?

No, these questions both appeared in the same interview for a job in Ireland.

Radio in the office; good thing or bad?

Good thing once you find a happy medium for everyone as I've seen it cause a few rows especially Christmas FM.

Best business book you've ever read?

I'm a bit sceptical about books about business people - it's all part of the image. You'd learn more about business by reading The World According To Garp - that'll show you all you need to know about people who want to succeed or do things in life that are against the odds. If you need motivation or something to believe read that.

Kim Kardashian: Shrewd business woman or shrew?

Business woman. Absolutely. Has her own fashion company, eye makeup, TV show, married into music royalty, serious person of influence  - an absolute business woman. Although a waste of good quality influence!

Worst business mantra/cliché?

We're all in this together. Except it's more like Titanic - you're in the water and I'm on the boat.

Is too much stock put into the transformative power of the internet in the world of business?

No. It's proven to be transformative I think some companies may not realise its potential. The waterfall is only starting to trickle down to other companies now at this stage.                   

Which company would you most like to work for and why?

Cannon.  They still maintain quality in what they do and have survived some very tough times while maintaining strong products.

Who do you think is worth following on Twitter?

Fintan O'Toole, not afraid to speak out of turn. Also Fergus Finlay, Barnardos CEO, I think he's brilliant. Does a great job highlighting the poverty in Ireland; always black and white - no bullshit. Well worth following. And you can't beat Waterford Whispers for a laugh.

Find Rob Johnston here on Linkedin.