Maria O'Donovan, John Healy, Eoghan Cronin and Denis Healy, Mallow College of Further Education, pictured at the Skills LINK seminar, held at the Rochestown Park Hotel, Cork. (Pic: Jim Coughlan)

It was a productive and promising morning for Cork Education and Training Board (CETB) last week as they welcomed a host of employers from across a range of sectors to their SKILLS Link seminar.

The event, which took place at the Rochestown Park Hotel in Cork, was coordinated with a two-pronged approach in mind; to forge relationships between CETB PLC providers and employers so that graduates might find the stepping stone they have been looking for to take their career to the next rung of the ladder, while offering employers a unique insight into the skilled and talented workforce emerging from the CETB colleges of further education.

Employers in attendance took advantage of the opportunity to visit sector specific stands, with eight key employment sectors represented; Business and Administration; Health, Early Years and Social Studies; Services; Sciences and Horticulture; ICT; Arts and Media; Food, Hospitality and Tourism and Construction and Engineering, and also stands representing five of the colleges under CETB’s patronage; Mallow College of Further Education, Cork College of Commerce, CSN College of Further Education, St. John’s Central College and Kinsale College.

Representatives at these stands were on hand throughout the morning’s event to showcase the range of courses currently being studied at each of the colleges, while also speaking with employers about pressing concerns they may have, such as evident skills gaps in their industry that need to be addressed in a proactive way.

Through this SKILLS Link event, which essentially acted as a platform for knowledge exchange between both employers and CETB Further Education Colleges, CETB identified and recognised the need for new courses that can be established to bridge industry skills gaps that currently exist.

For more information please visit www.corketb.ie or for live updates follow CETB online at Facebook CorkEducationandTrainingBoard or Twitter @CorkETB #CETBSKILLS