life

A free career fair for graduates and students is happening this week

Published 17:31 27 Sept 2021 BST

Updated 08:57 28 Sept 2021 BST

Tara Trevaskis Hoskin

A free career fair for graduates and students is happening this week

Gradguide is hosting its first Career Fair this Thursday.

The Irish career guidance and mentorship platform are working to bridge the gap from college to employment for recent graduates. The virtual event will host some of the most established companies in the tech space across Ireland and the UK such as Slack, DocuSign, and Workday. On the day there will be recruiters from 20 of their partner companies who will go through entry-level opportunities within their companies along with hiring plans. In addition to this, there will be 10 guest speakers from the same companies offering career advice. On their online platform, there will be a room to watch guest speakers, partner booths to chat directly with recruiters, and also partner rooms where you can get in touch with the companies over video conference.

Gradguide was founded by Mark Hughes in 2019 after he struggled with the transition from graduating to finding work in a tech company. He was not alone in this as a survey completed by the company found that 72% of Irish grads stated that university alone did not successfully prepare them for landing their first job. Mark found his dream job after receiving some mentoring from a more experienced professional and that is when he learnt the importance of mentoring in bridging the gap between education and finding a full-time job in your industry. The company now works alongside graduates, mentors, and employers to make finding a job in the tech sector after graduation more seamless. They pair mentors with graduates who offer valuable advice and insight to those on the job search. This also gives their mentors an opportunity to up skill and network. The survey also found that nearly half of graduates at 45% believe that the technology sector is the most attractive industry to be working in right now. They have had over 2,000 graduates use the programme and over 200 mentors working with them now voluntarily. In the last year alone they have helped over 300 graduates find full-time employment in some of the fastest-growing tech companies in Ireland and the UK. The event is free for graduates and students, and you can sign up online here.

Explore more on these topics:

career

college graduates