This year’s Apprenticeship Careers Showcase attracted in excess of 2,500 people to the Radisson Blu Hotel & Spa, Limerick recently.
The event gave students, teachers, guidance counsellors and parents from across the region interested in learning more about apprenticeships the opportunity to engage with educators, instructors and employers on the many exciting options available
Organised by Limerick and Clare Education and Training Board and the Mid-West Regional Skills Forum, and supported by the National Apprenticeship Office, this year’s showcase inspired students at a range of interactive zones throughout the venue.
Commenting on the success of this year’s event, Paul Patton, Director of Further Education and Training with the ETB, said: “Apprenticeships are vital to the prosperity of this region and nationwide, and give participants the opportunity to develop the skills and expertise needed by industry. They are a brilliant pathway into a career and the interest that schools, students and parents have shown over the last two days just goes to show the demand for information on apprenticeships.”
Throughout the two-day event, visitors were given the chance to experience practical demonstrations and access information in areas like Business, Engineering, Motor, Welding, Aviation, Hospitality and Construction and Green Skills to name but a few.
Other highlights included expert talks with senior training advisors on navigating the world of apprenticeship. Students also got to hear from apprentices working in a variety of fields at the event’s Apprentice Heroes Stage. Here apprentices from employers like Atlantic Aviation Group, Johnson & Johnson, ESB Networks and many more, inspired students with their own unique take on life as an apprentice. The young apprentices spoke passionately about the benefits of earning while you learn, the importance of support from their employers and the many options afforded to them working from within industry.
Dr Mary-Liz Trant, Director of the National Apprenticeship Office, who attended the two-day showcase said: “The event was wonderful, the set up was so dynamic and interactive and thronged with thousands of students from the region. The National Apprenticeship Office team including myself were delighted to be there and experience all the brilliant talks and interviews with apprentices, employers and educators.”
