Council encourages students to stay local with ‘See Your New Career’ project

Mid Ulster District Council has invested over £21K in a new project to help post-primary students in the district make more informed career choices.
By Claire Cartmill
Published 8th Dec 2020, 13:00 BST
Pictured officially launching the SYNC project with Chair of Mid Ulster District Council, Councillor Cathal Mallaghan are Colin Conway, Newell Stores, Jack White and Anne-Louise Brennan, St Joseph’s College, Coalisland, and Aileen Byrne, Greiner PackagingPictured officially launching the SYNC project with Chair of Mid Ulster District Council, Councillor Cathal Mallaghan are Colin Conway, Newell Stores, Jack White and Anne-Louise Brennan, St Joseph’s College, Coalisland, and Aileen Byrne, Greiner Packaging
Pictured officially launching the SYNC project with Chair of Mid Ulster District Council, Councillor Cathal Mallaghan are Colin Conway, Newell Stores, Jack White and Anne-Louise Brennan, St Joseph’s College, Coalisland, and Aileen Byrne, Greiner Packaging

The See Your New Career (SYNC) project aims to promote and profile Mid Ulster’s key employment sectors to post-primary students so they are better informed of the career opportunities available to them locally.

The need for the project was identified as a priority by the Mid Ulster Skills Forum under the Mid Ulster Skills Report and Action Plan 2018-2021 to ensure a future pipeline of talent to feed local company needs.

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The project resources comprise a mix of videos, fandeck brochures and storyboards showcasing six key sectors (Manufacturing & Engineering; Food and Agri-Food; Construction; Retail; IT; and Hospitality). The resources detail career opportunities and pathways, interesting developments, potential earnings, skills, attributes and qualifications needed to gain entry.

The SYNC career resources were distributed in a safe manner to all post primary schools in the district in November 2020. The resources will provide schools with a great stimulus for classroom discussions on the range of career options available in Mid Ulster.

Chair of the Council, Councillor Cathal Mallaghan said, “Mid Ulster boasts over 9,000 VAT-registered businesses, has the largest concentration of businesses outside of Belfast, and is also the most entrepreneurial region here! Impressively, Mid Ulster is also the centre of manufacturing here with 20% of manufacturing employment based in the district. This is an incredibly fortunate and advantageous position to be in so we wish to not only protect these figures for the future, but actually enhance them further. Therefore, the support, engagement and buy-in from students, our next generation of businessmen/women, workers, entrepreneurs, is vital to maintaining this leading position to help secure the financial future of our district.

“We have a lot to offer in terms of employment in Mid Ulster so I am delighted that the SYNC project is shining a light on the fantastic opportunities that are available locally for students across many sectors. Businesses right across all fields have suffered a great deal this year with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The SYNC project will help students who are deciding on their futures to make the right choices by matching skill sets to industry needs which in turn will benefit our local economy.”

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Mrs Brennan, Careers teacher at St Joseph’s College Coalisland, added: “The SNYC resources have sparked a new interest and conversation within the classroom on the diverse range of companies and careers in Mid Ulster. It has revitalised our lessons and pupil engagement has risen dramatically.”

For more information on the SYNC project, contact Economic Development on 03000 132 132 or email [email protected]. All video resources are available to view on the Council’s YouTube page.

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Related topics:Mid Ulster District CouncilCathal MallaghanFoodHospitality