Press release
Job Shadowing Initiative and Life Sciences Career Fair form key events for Midlands Jobs Week
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Social Protection
Published on
Last updated on
Job Shadowing Initiative and Life Sciences Career Fair form key events for Midlands Jobs Week.
National Jobs Week is an annual initiative hosted by the Department of Social Protection to showcase the range of employment supports and services available to employers and jobseekers. Jobs Week 2016 will run from Monday 26 September to Friday 30 September. Over 14,000 jobseekers participated in Jobs Week last year and a similar level of interest is expected this year.
Over 150 events will be held in venues across the country to provide information and practical support to local employers and jobseekers. These include Jobs Fairs, Career Advice Workshops, job shadowing initiatives, networking events with employers and briefings for employers on the services offered by the department.
Throughout Jobs Week, the department is coordinating a Job Shadowing initiative in Counties Meath, Westmeath, Longford and Roscommon. In total, 59 employers will host 83 people to job shadow across the four counties.
In Roscommon, 18 employers will host 27 people. In Meath, 14 employers will host 18 people. In Westmeath, 21 employers will host 28 people and in Longford 6 employers will host 10 people.
The purpose of this training and motivational initiative is to enable suitable jobseekers to gain an insight into workplaces that match their interests, skills, education and or experience by shadowing designated employees and learning about their roles. Where vacancies arise at a future date, potentially valuable contacts will have been established with prospective employees.
A further key event is the Life Science Career Opportunities Biopharma, Med-Tech and Engineering Fair. The Department of Social Protection in conjunction with the Midlands Regional Skills Forum and IBEC PharmaChem Ireland are hosting a Life Science Careers Fair in Athlone IT on Wednesday 28 September from 9:00am – 4:00pm.
Up to 40 employers in the biopharma/Med-Tech Sector will have stands at the event and will be seeking to fill a number of employment opportunities for Life Science Graduates. The event is open to jobseekers, graduates and college going students.
Minister Varadkar urged jobseekers across Ireland to check out events in their counties:
“I encourage jobseekers and employers to visit some of their local Jobs Week events. Whether you're looking for work or for a new or better job, services on offer include advice on applying for jobs, preparing CVs and interview skills as well as job offers. Employers also have an opportunity to find new staff from their local area."
"Unemployment has almost halved from a peak of 15% to 8.4% today and long-term unemployment is down to 4.4%. The government want to halve it again. This means intensifying our focus on activation and guiding more people into work through a 'jobs first' approach, improving the quality of jobs available by making sure that work pays through reductions in the USC and improving work-related social insurance benefits like paid paternity leave, and by focusing on intergenerational unemployment and jobless households."
The Minister also encouraged employers to avail of the supports available from the department when they employ people from the Live Register, like JobsPlus, a cash incentive of up to €10,000 per unemployed person recruited.
Details about Jobs Week, including the full Calendar of National Events of the week are available at: www.welfare.ie/en/Pages/Jobs-Week.aspx.
ENDS