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International firms compete for Irish

Monday, September 24 10:46:58

International employers are now competing to attract Irish talent to fuel their economies.

The Working Abroad Expo has confirmed a big increase in the number of delegations, primarily from Canada, bringing high calibre companies to Ireland to recruit at the Working Abroad Expo, which is to take place on Saturday and Sunday, 6 and 7 October in the RDS.

There are thousands of quality professional and non-professional positions to be filled, the organisers say.

The Canadian Federal Minister for Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism, Minister Jason Kenney will be in Dublin attend the expo and to head up the Canadian recruitment campaign comprising several delegations, including one from Manitoba Province, British Columbia and a major delegation from the city of Calgary.

They will be accompanied by up to 30 Canadian companies, which will recruit for thousands of jobs. The British Columbia Construction Association's delegation will use the expo as their recruitment platform to fill construction jobs.

The Irish public was moved by the emotive images of people queuing in Dublin and Cork looking to meet with the Saskatchewan delegation in March 2012. Since then, that campaign resulted in up to 290 Irish individuals and families accepting jobs in Saskatchewan alone, many whom have since emigrated and are now happily settled with many others in the process of securing jobs.

Erika FitzPatrick was one of the thousands of people to visit the RDS last March. Six months later, Erika has a brand new life living in North Battleford, Saaskatchewan working as a Geo-coach with an agriculture equipment dealer called Jay Dee Ag Tech which will return to recruit in October. Jay Dee AgTech, offered her an interview there and then and this was followed shortly by a second interview by Skype.

"Ultimately I moved as I needed new experiences and I felt Canada would give me better prospects. They really do look after you here, the standard of living is good, with salaries being a little like around the Celtic Tiger period. There aren't many Irish in North Battleford, however, I don't find it so different from home." Erika finishes by saying, "I've no regrets and am delighted to be here . I'm just 30 and have plenty of time to get on career wise . I'm looking forward to seeing what opportunity Canada brings my way."

The Canadian province of Manitoba is primarily bringing agri-business companies including Meridan Industries, Behlen Industries and Ag Shield Manufacturing (all of which manufacture farm equipment and storage facilities) and also manufacturing giant, Cancade. Bristol Aerospace, which develops and produces products for the civil aerospace and defense, will also be recruiting. Australia opportunities will be through Pharmeng Limited, The Health Department of WA, Alliance Health and Global Force Resource, will all recruiting for the health and engineering sectors. Australian banks include The Common Wealth Bank and National Australia Bank. Visa First will also be on hand to advice the thousands of Irish students who continue to head to Australia on working holiday visas.

New Zealand companies are looking to meet with engineering and healthcare professionals. A New Zealand engineering consultancy - Beca - is to announce details of a campaign to recruit engineers and the Midlands Health Network in New Zealand is looking to recruit healthcare professionals predominantly GPs.