Press desk

Press release, 5 October 2011: How many graduate jobs are there?

Re: gradireland Graduate Careers Fair 2011, RDS Dublin, Wednesday 12 October, 11am-5pm

The annual gradireland Graduate Careers Fair, Ireland’s biggest graduate careers event, takes place in the RDS in Dublin on Wednesday 12 October 2011 against a backdrop of huge uncertainty in the graduate job market. Latest CSO figures indicate that 62,400 graduates are currently unemployed; an average of 110 Irish citizens are emigrating every day; and the latest National Skills Bulletin reports that unemployment rates for third level graduates under the age of 25 is currently 18 per cent (against a standardised national unemployment rate in August of 14.4 per cent).

The gradireland Graduate Careers Fair is primarily a recruitment fair, so in light of the above, how many graduate jobs are there? Which sectors are they in? And how can graduates maximise their opportunities to land one of these roles?

How many graduate jobs are there?

There will be 130 companies exhibiting at the gradireland Graduate Careers Fair. Between them, they have an estimated 3,900 graduate jobs. These are real, paid, graduate jobs, across many locations and every degree discipline. We have exhibitors from across Ireland north and south, the UK, the Netherlands, France, the Far East and beyond.

At the Fair every single job will be posted on live Jobs Walls around the RDS, so we are encouraging students to attend with pen and paper (or take photos on their phones) then go home, find the jobs on gradireland.com and start applying.

Where are the jobs and in which sectors?

There are graduate jobs in Ireland and abroad, and for students of all disciplines across all sectors. The traditional large-scale graduate recruiters such as KPMG and PWC will be in attendance, who are recruiting 290 and 250 graduates respectively; there are also companies such as First Derivatives, a Newry-based company with over 300 graduate positions; and companies from nearly every sector will be in attendance (full list is here).

How can students maximise their opportunities to land a graduate job?

Jobs for all disciplines

Many of the bigger companies recruit graduates from all disciplines. Students should not pigeon-hole potential employers – IT companies need marketing, finance and language graduates; accountancy firms recruit from all disciplines, you don’t have to be an accountant. Indeed most of the companies at the gradireland Graduate Careers Fair recruit from a number of disciplines.

Use the Jobs Walls

There will be several Jobs Walls within the hall at the RDS, including one listing companies hiring graduates from all disciplines, as well as more specialist Jobs Walls relevant to specific sectors, eg IT and Finance. These will have over 3,900 live graduate opportunities listed, so bring a notepad and pen, or use your phone and take a photo of any opportunities that you are interested in applying to – then go home, find the job on gradireland.com and start making applications.

Bring your CV

Many employers are happy to receive CVs. In addition, at the gradireland Graduate Careers Fair we will be running a specialist CV Clinic, with 50 hours of advice provided by third-level careers advisers, at which students can have their CV reviewed.

Attend the specialist careers seminars

There will be 30 specialist careers seminars running during the day, ranging from sessions on how to use social networking in your job hunt; CV, applications and interview preparation; and seminars on upskilling and reskilling for unemployed graduates.

The gradireland Graduate Careers Fair will take place on Wednesday 12th October from 11am – 5pm in the RDS Main Hall, Dublin 4. Entry is free for all pre-registered students, register via www.graduatecareersfair.com

About the gradireland Graduate Careers Fair

The gradireland Graduate Careers Fair is the official careers fair of 12 of Ireland’s third-level institutions, and is organised by GTI Ireland, the official publishing partner of the Association of Higher Education Careers Services in Ireland, which represents all third-level institutions in Ireland, North and South. The gradireland Graduate Careers Fair is brought to you by DCU; Trinity College Dublin; DIT; Dun Laoghaire IADT; Dundalk IT; ITT Tallaght; National College of Ireland; NUI Maynooth; St. Patricks College; The Open University; Carlow IT and Waterford IT.

For more information, interviews or comment please contact Mark Mitchell, Publisher, gradireland on 01-6451500 or mark.mitchell@gradireland.com; or Caroline Kennedy, Careers & Opportunities Officer, NCI, ckennedy@ncirl.ie or call 01-4498526 or 086 073 7470.

Press release, 31 May 2011: Irish graduates have more options than simply emigration this year

Dublin – 31 May 2011 – One of the fallacies of the recent economic disaster is that there are no longer any jobs out there for Irish graduates. No jobs, no economy, no future – renew your passport, pack your bags and pick your emigrant nation of choice.

This simply is not true. Graduates are still in demand, particularly in certain key sectors (see below). gradireland has been researching the graduate jobs market and monitoring the level of jobs on the gradireland.com website ahead of this years’ gradireland Summer Fair, the only national careers fair of the summer, which takes place in the RDS in Dublin on Wednesday 15 June (free entry to all pre-registered attendees).

Graduate opportunities on gradireland.com are actually rising! gradireland.com is the official careers website for all Universities and ITs in Ireland, north and south. Supporting the work of our partners in the Association of Higher Education Careers Services, the site is a portal for thousands of careers-based articles, and also the main vehicle for alerting students and graduates to forthcoming job opportunities, internships and graduate schemes.

Since the beginning of the year the average number of graduate jobs on gradireland.com has risen steadily from an average of 155 per day in January to 226 per day in May. This is a rise of 46% when compared to the same period 12 months ago. This can be explained by two factors: changes in employers’ recruitment advertising patterns (a move away from using generic jobs boards and towards using careers service websites and gradireland.com due to their niche focus on graduates); and an increasing strategic focus on graduate recruitment, particularly in the growth areas of IT, engineering and accountancy.

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The gradireland Summer Fair is about helping students and graduates explore their options. Whether you are looking for careers advice, graduate jobs, further study options or a sharper CV, help and advice is available at the RDS.

There is a great series of free seminars running throughout the day, including sessions on using social networking for job hunting, matching your skills to employers’ requirements, interview tips, career insights and more; and there will be a free CV Clinic run by the Association of Higher Education Careers Services where attendees can get professional one-to-one advice throughout the day.

New for this year is the gradireland jobs wall. There will be over 250 live jobs, graduate schemes or internship opportunities posted on the wall, highlighting the fact that there are still graduate jobs in Ireland. Attendees will be encouraged to look at the jobs wall to see the types of opportunities that are available and which sectors are hiring.

Who’ll be attending: approximately 50-60 graduate employers and postgraduate course providers will be exhibiting. Over 2,500 students and graduates will attend on the day.