We are delighted to announce that FIT will be exhibiting at Jobs Expo Cork.
If you are long-term unemployed, finding work can feel hopeless. It does not need to be. FIT is an industry-led initiative committed to transforming the lives of marginalised jobseekers and disadvantaged communities. They do this through their innovative ICT training courses. The initiative works in close collaboration with a number of bodies. Their primary partners in education and training include:
FIT supports jobseekers at risk of, or already experiencing, long-term unemployment. They also work with early school leavers from disadvantaged communities.
As a result, they support the socio-economic transformation of marginalised jobseekers and disadvantaged communities. Firstly, they do this through offering innovative ICT training courses as a gateway to employment. FIT also develops and promotes technology-based programmes as well as career development opportunities. These are for jobseekers who have become detached from the labour market since Ireland has moved towards a knowledge-based economy.
Technologies now permeate across all industry sectors. Consequently, their work is now more crucial than ever. Therefore the initiative ensures that all jobseekers have the necessary skills to compete for new opportunities as they emerge.
Established in 1999, FIT is a registered charity as well as a not-for-profit organisation. Since then, they have expanded substantially and now operate across the Republic of Ireland. In addition, they have recently commenced programmes in Northern Ireland under the banner FIT-NI.
To date, over 16,000 job seekers have completed their skills development programmes. Of this, in excess of 12,500 progressed into employment. Currently, 3,500 job seekers are participating in their programmes.
Recently the EU Commission cited FIT as one of the most effective employability initiatives in Europe.
Jobs Expo Cork is delighted to announce that Zevas will be recruiting for jobs at our November event.
Zevas, established in 2001, is a leading provider of outsourced customer contact solutions. The company supports a wide range of companies across Europe and North America. They work with clients in a number of industries, from telecommunications to financial services. Their highly skilled staff and technological solutions enables companies to interact with their customers when and where they need them. This includes over the phone, by VoIP, email or on the web, delivered as a tailored solution for each clients’ specific business needs.
Zevas pursues excellence in all their services. They believe that their employees’ passion and enthusiasm drives their success. Therefore the company maximises potential through effective employee selection as well as continuous training and development. In addition, they continuously evaluate and introduce emerging best international practices as well as technologies.
The company is currently looking for new talent to join their team, and offers exciting career opportunities and competitive salaries to the right candidates.
During his tenure with Zevas, Con Lehane has been at the driving force of the company’s success. As chief Executive Officer, he oversees the strategic direction of the company in Ireland as well as in the US and Spain. He uses a hands-on approach in the relentless pursuit of improving the client service experience.
Con continuously pursues initiatives designed to achieve greater operating efficiencies across the company. This helps solidify Zevas’ position as a leader in outsourced customer contact solutions in Europe and the US. He has developed a solid leadership team by exemplifying vision, dedication, knowledge, enthusiasm and compassion, as well as forging the path to continued growth.
Ireland’s leading employment and careers fair, Jobs Expo, returns to Cork on 16 November. Taking place at the Clayton Hotel Silver Springs, Jobs Expo Cork features a fantastic range of job opportunities. Exhibitors recruiting at the event come from a variety of sectors including technology, pharmaceutical, customer service, education, emergency services, healthcare, investment and retail.
“Whether you’re looking for your first job, returning to work, or keen on a new challenge, there will be something for you at Jobs Expo Cork,” says organiser Kevin Branigan of Careers Unlimited.
Both Irish and multinational companies are taking part in Jobs Expo Cork. Exhibitors include the National Ambulance Service, PhoneWatch, Laya Healthcare, Aspira, Sanofi and BNY Mellon. The Government of the Isle of Man will also be there, highlighting the variety of career opportunities on the island.
Jobs Expo Cork also has a specialist area dedicated to STEM jobs. The STEM Sector hosts some of the most prestigious international as well as national employers in science, technology, engineering, and medicine. Exhibitors taking part include pharmaceutical giants Alkermes and Sanofi, cutting edge tech firm ArtofUs and international IT specialists Aspira in addition to the innovative start-up HiUp.
“At Jobs Expo Cork there are opportunities for graduates, school leavers, highly skilled and unemployed people, as well as anyone thinking of changing careers or upskilling,” says Kevin.
In addition to companies recruiting at the event, there will be a series of talks from industry insiders at Jobs Expo’s Seminar Zone. Speakers include the National Ambulance Service, who will give a seminar on careers opportunities in the emergency services. Geoff Brown of Hourglass Education will discuss common misconception about teaching in the UK. US Immigration Attorney Caro Kinsella also returns to Jobs Expo and will explain how getting a working visa to the States is not as hard as you might think.
Finally, the very popular Career Clinic returns. Over the course of the day, jobseekers will be able to meet one-on-one with career development coaches. The coaches will offer expert professional development advice and help jobseekers land their dream job. The Career Clinic is free of charge to all attendees.
Companies recruiting at Jobs Expo Cork November 2016 represent a diverse number of industries such as teaching, IT, wealth management, healthcare, sales and customer services as well as specialist recruitment firms. Exhibitors taking part in Jobs Expo Cork include:
Alkermes; ArtofUs; Aspira; BCS Sales Recruitment; BNY Mellon; CareBright; Cope Foundation; Cork Chamber of Commerce; Department of Social Protection; Fluirse Education Solutions; FIT; HiUp; Hourglass Education; Innopharma College of Applied Sciences; Isle of Man Government; Laya Healthcare; McGee Pharma International; National Ambulance Services; Nightcourses; Oriel High School; PE Global; PhoneWatch; Sanofi; SOLAS; US Immigration Attorney Caro Kinsella; Virtual Expos; Zevas and more…
Expert career advice will be on offer at Job Expo’s Career Clinic. Attendees can avail of free one-on-one advice on issues such as interview skills and CV preparation, as well as career guidance from some of Ireland’s best-known career and personal development coaches.
The Seminar Zone offers talks from industry professionals. Topics covered at this Jobs Expo Cork includes teaching in the UK and working in frontline services as well as immigrating to the USA. The Seminar Zone is free-of-charge to all attendees on a first-come-first-serve basis.
Jobs Expo is the leading jobs and careers event in Ireland and is free-of-charge to the public. Jobs Expo is run by Careers Unlimited, a Dublin-based online and events company and organised by BCS Sales Recruitment. Due to the event’s popularity, places are limited. Anyone wishing to attend is advised to register to ensure admission and avoid queues. Register now at www.jobsexpo.ie/register/
Date: Wednesday 16 November 2016
Time: 11am – 4pm
Location: Clayton Hotel Silver Springs, Tivoli, Cork
Entrance fee: FREE
Full details at: https://www.jobsexpo.ie/
Kevin Branigan
Jobs Expo 2016
Tel: (01) 5311 280 / 0872679047
Email: kevin@careers.ie
Web: www.jobsexpo.ie
We are delighted to announce that McGee Pharma International will be exhibiting and recruiting for jobs at Jobs Expo Cork on 16 November.
Founded in 2004, McGee Pharma International is a life science consultancy. They work with global pharmaceutical, biopharma, and medical device companies of all sizes. With a team comprising a number of former EU and US FDA Regulatory Inspectors, they work at a strategic and tactical level with their clients. The company provides holistic advice and guidance as well as solutions across the entire product lifecycle.
McGee Pharma International offers immediately accessible support and training to build knowledge and in-house capability for their clients. As a result, they provide them with the tools to make informed decisions and improve operational efficiency.
The company’s clients benefit from practical solutions and expert guidance relating to their regulatory challenges. In addition, they work with their clients’ teams to implement recommendations. Consequently, these teams gain a wealth of expertise and knowledge.
McGee Pharma International is a multi award winning business. The company has won awards for their service, quality, innovation and client focus. Honesty, trust and excellence are at the core of their values.
Ann qualified as a pharmacist from Trinity College Dublin in 1983. She also obtained a research M.Sc in Science, working in the area of pharmacognosy.
Ann has more than 30 years’ work experience divided between the pharmaceutical industry and as a regulator. Ann’s industrial experience spans the areas of Clinical Trials, Regulatory Affairs, Product Development, Quality Assurance and Regulatory Compliance, Technical Management and as a Qualified Person.
Ann has also obtained a number of additional qualifications. She is firmly committed to her own continuing professional education. She is a member of a number of professional associations. These include ISPE and The Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Sciences Society. She is also a member of the Committee of the Irish Chapter of the Parenteral Drug Administration (PDA) and of the European QP Association Expert Panel on GDP.
Ann won the Services category, Small Firms Association National Awards 2013. She also won the Enterprise Ireland WMB Female Entrepreneur of the Year 2012.
Jobs Expo sat down with Clodagh Geary of Aspira to find out what working for the company is like. Aspira will be recruiting at Jobs Expo in Cork. They are an award-winning Irish company with global reach. Aspira have offices in Dublin and Cork, and offer consultancy and IT services to companies around the world. Their clients include AIB, Coillte, DePuy Synths, EirGrid, ESB and Electric Ireland and Laya Healthcare.
Aspira have clients all over Ireland, and also in the UK, USA and Europe. Some of our team work directly on site with clients, while most work from our offices in Dublin and Cork. We have technical IT and Project Management roles to fill in both locations. In addition, given our geographic spread of clients we also want to hear from people who enjoy travel and would like to work in different locations.
A typical day depends on your role. We try to keep people focused on one project at a time. If you are a software developer, you might spend three to six months focused on designing a system or application and then developing and testing that solution for release to a client. If you are a project manager, you will focus on whatever is going on at that stage of the project. However, if you are working in a general operations role, then you need to multi-task! You could be meeting clients, writing proposals, attending trade shows, delivering consultancy, reviewing tenders, selecting vendors – you name it! We have a very diverse business environment! We try to match the roles to people’s preferences. Some people love to focus on a single project and get into the zone, whereas others enjoy the variety that comes with multi-tasking.
In addition to qualifications and certifications, we have a set of core competencies that we look for in our people. These are intelligence, professionalism, work ethic, initiative, attention to detail, ability to communicate and teamwork. To us, these qualities are more important than experience using a particular set of tools. This is because smart, committed people will quickly learn new tools. We also like to complement our team with diverse cultures and a clear view of our common company objectives.
We have an induction programme. This takes people through the company’s structure, mission, values, culture and so forth. Then we assign a mentor to the new hire so that he/she has somebody that they can informally approach with any questions. The mentor takes responsibility for the new hire and ensures he or she is being looked after.
As a project management specialist company, it is important that we live up to our standards. The small things are important – things like ensuring the new hire has their accounts set up in advance, has a desk, and has a laptop. It never ceases to amaze me how some companies leave their new hires hanging around for weeks while they ‘find’ them a laptop or give them email or internet access! We aim to get people to be productive quickly, as the best way to learn and integrate with the team is to take on some real tasks and deliverables.
We are not a hierarchical company. I think this is great! We encourage everybody to express their opinion and to challenge things. Nobody is ever told “it’s not your place to say that." However, I know that some people who have joined us, coming from more rigid hierarchical background, have taken a while to ‘get’ this. Our CEO encourages us to tell him if his ideas are rubbish. Of course, you then need to explain why, and ideally have a better idea ready to propose!.
Three things – the client focus, the expertise of the team, and the wide range of services. There is intense focus on identifying and meeting client needs. This makes it a very enjoyable place to work. Since our clients really appreciate our services, it makes it a pleasure rather than a chore. The people working in Aspira are seriously smart and have loads of experience. Furthermore, the culture encourages sharing of ideas and bouncing questions and theories off each other. This makes it a very engaging and learning experience. Finally the range of services is huge. This means people don't get pigeonholed into a particular narrow role. Instead they have the chance to get involved in lots of different areas. I think you gain as much experience in one year with Aspira as you would in five years in another multinational.
There’s a lot of emphasis placed upon learning and development. Aspira encourages and supports people in gaining professional accreditation and certifications. We are a training company as well! There is also a culture of promoting from within wherever possible. Because Aspira has been consistently growing, there is a lot of career opportunity for people. That's not just to become a manager, but also to take on more senior technical roles. Some companies force people down the managerial route in order to advance their careers, but Aspira has a twin track, covering both managerial and technical roles.
Aspira have enabled me to take a broader view of my own skill set. I previously worked for system integrators and resourcing companies. Because of my skills in that particular area, and the ability for that type of business to be a high revenue earner, I was left to run that type of division and churn numbers for the rest of the organisation. I am much more involved in every level of the company, and hope that my own input has helped us achieve the growth of the organisation, not just through placing consultants on projects.
Once, I was part of a group interview. A panel interviewed two of us. I noticed my co-interviewer starting to act strangely. It turned out that years earlier she had been in the army and had worked with one of the interview panel him in the army. Unfortunately, back then she submitted a complaint that ultimately led to the interviewer being dismissed from the army and turning to civilian life. When both parties realised who the other was, it was obvious there was not going to be a job offer. I could not get out of that room fast enough. Awkward!
Aspira is a company that treats people with respect. There is also a great culture where people work hard and have fun. There are a lot of people here who have been here since the company set up ten years ago. They are enjoying the recent plans for even larger future growth. They like that new staff members enjoy the consistent values and culture that we have promoted from day one. The newer approach to aligned objectives, and a gentle introduction to a more structured organisational chart has been received well.
There is a great bonus, working for a training company! Particularly in relation to career development from a technical perspective. Newer recruits are surrounded by some seriously talented technical people, who are happy to share their knowledge. We adapt the same approach with clients, always looking to share and adopt a skills and knowledge transfer approach to our engagements. Having strong partnerships with Microsoft and Dell, and other great technology leaders gives our staff access to a wide arrange of courses and certification opportunities. For the PMs and BAs, we encourage them to follow PMP, CBAP or Prince 2 certifications. Careers don’t stand still at Aspira!
Do you work in STEM – science, technology, engineering or medicine? If so, Jobs Expo Cork has plenty of opportunities for you. Some of the most interesting, innovative and exciting STEM employers will be recruiting at the event which takes place on Wednesday 16 November at the Clayton Hotel Silver Springs.
In Ireland, almost a third of us work in STEM-related companies. What's more, a whooping 1380 new jobs were announced in just one month – April – earlier this year.
If you are looking for your next challenge or just curious about what opportunities are out there, get yourself along to this November’s Jobs Expo Cork.
Alkermes is a fully integrated global biopharmaceutical company. The company applies their scientific expertise and proprietary technologies as well as their global resources to develop products that to make a meaningful difference in the way patients manage their disease. These focus on central nervous system disorders, such as schizophrenia, depression, addiction and multiple sclerosis. Alkermes is an international, publicly traded biopharmaceutical company with more than 1,600 employees.
ArtofUs (AoU) is a pioneering new software company. They have developed the world’s first Human Operating System for the Internet of Things (IOT) market. The first AoU based services provider offerings launch in China, Europe and North America in 2017. Furthermore, some of the biggest brand names in tech and cloud computing will launch AoU enables services. AoU’s work offers many frontier challenges in vision data analytics, algorithm development and large-scale message bus and server cloud related environments.
Aspira is an Irish company with international impact. From their offices in Dublin and Cork, they offer consultancy and IT services. Their clients include AIB, Coillte, DePuy Synths, EirGrid, ESB and Electric Ireland and Laya Healthcare. Established in 2007, Aspira are global Enterprise IT Project Specialists. They drive IT empowered solutions and services, with a strategic focus on optimising business performance. They specialise in delivery of services to the financial service, IT, medical devices and energy sectors.
HiUp is an innovative new app that matches jobseekers to the right job. But HiUp does more than just find work. Users can also take courses to improve their skills and enhance their earning power. Employers recognise these courses and hire candidates who have them. What's more, HiUp do their utmost to ensure they’re low-cost and often they’re free. HiUp allows users to create a virtual career wallet: a fully-protected, online CV, which expands whenever they get a new role or take a new course. HiUp have created an app in which your CV, like your career, is constantly evolving.
The Isle of Man is looking to fill a number of roles on the island, as well as a variety of tech jobs. The island is a self-governing Crown dependency. Approximately 85,000 people live on the island and the capital is Douglas. The island is a low-tax economy. Firstly, there is no capital gains tax, wealth tax, stamp duty, or inheritance tax. Furthermore, the top rate of income tax of 20%. Offshore banking, manufacturing, and tourism are key sectors of the economy. In addition, the island is a popular film location. The Isle of Man has also become a centre for private space travel companies.
Sanofi in Ireland provides medicines to treat patients with illnesses including oncology, diabetes, thrombotic and cardiovascular diseases, renal, biosurgery and central nervous disorders. The company’s principal area of business is ethical pharmaceuticals. Their primary goal is to find treatments to prevent, combat and eradicate diseases around the world. They provide therapeutic and preventive solutions for populations in both industrialised and developing countries. Sanofi offers stimulating and rewarding career paths for talented people. They look for people whose attitude and commitment complement their philosophy of courage, creativity, performance, respect, audacity and solidarity.