LYIT, in association with Boston Scientific, hosted their annual Careers and Postgraduate Fair on Monday, 19 October 2009.  This free event has become a valuable tool for people to find out about opportunities in various sectors, voluntary work and postgraduate study. 

This year 50 organisations took part which included, employers, postgraduate course providers, professional bodies, voluntary organisations as well as LYIT staff.  The Careers and Postgraduate Studies Fair presented an excellent opportunity for people to talk directly to potential employers, professional bodies and postgraduate education providers.  Seminars ran throughout the day at CoLab, on topical subjects like, starting your own business, careers in accountancy, working abroad, applying for postgraduate courses, etc.  LYIT also offered a free CV advisory service supplied by a panel of careers experts, which proved very popular.  InterTradeIreland were there to give guidance on cross border opportunities for new products.

A large selection of local and national companies looking to recruit staff in the areas of IT, science and business were represented.  These included, Pramerica, Abbotts, SITA, Randox, Stiefel Laboratories, Seagate, Donegal Airport, Northbrook Technologies, Allergen, Enterprise Rent-a-Car to name but a few.  A number of professional associations attended including, accountancy bodies, Engineers Ireland, Society of Chartered Surveyors, Chartered Institute of Building in Ireland and Nursing Careers as well as voluntary organisations such as St Vincent de Paul.

Catherine Lyster, Careers Officer and organiser of the event was upbeat, “We are seeing a change in the types of companies coming to the event, and more are from the IT and science sectors and less are from manufacturing and construction.  This reflects the changes in the overall economic landscape, however, I would stress that there are still opportunities out there.  The Careers Fair is one day where people can get expert careers advice on options, refresh their CV and speak to a variety of companies face-to-face, all under one roof.”