[dropcap]IT[/dropcap] Sligo hackers hope they can convince job seekers to choose Sligo as their destination of choice this Friday, October 12th.
The hackers will be on a train bringing job seekers to the west coast for a jobs fair organised by Career Zoo.
Led by Sligo IT and Hack Access Dublin, the hack team will conduct a number of workshops on the train.
Activities will include attempting to solve public transport accessibility for the mobility impaired, surfing accessibility for the disabled and reducing plastic waste along the Wild Atlantic Way.
The fair, entitled ‘Tech on the Wild Atlantic Way’, is the second time Career Zoo has run a career expo in the west of Ireland.
Speaking to The College View about the fair, Brian Ó hOisín, Director of Recruitment fair Career Zoo, said he noticed numerous high profile jobs announcements in the Med-Tech and BioPharma sector in the north west. He decided to find out for himself how these companies were succeeding in attracting talent out of Dublin.
Ó hOisín saw first-hand the quality of life in Sligo when he went up to visit. In particular, he noted the low cost of living and the vibrancy of Sligo Town.
“I just thought ‘Gosh, if I can get people, tech folks and biotech folks and pharma and MedTech people from Dublin to hear first-hand what’s going on up here and meet the folks that are doing it and living it, that could be something really interesting,” Ó hOisín said.
The ‘continual narrative’ of people like artist David Kitt leaving Ireland and criticising the cost of living in Dublin is a backdrop to this fair Ó hOisín said. “I do think certainly we hear sometimes about the same companies again and again in Dublin and there is an untold story [in the west]” He added.
Ó hOisín also acknowledged the conscious use of the slogan “The Wild Atlantic Way”, saying it was one of the most successful marketing campaigns in the last ten years. Sligo, he noted, was a part of the Wild Atlantic Way and said it “just made sense in that regard”.
Ó hOisín added there weren’t any firm plans to use the other tourism slogans, such as the Hidden Heartlands as a hook for jobs fairs in the near future.
Held in the Model in Sligo Town, the fair will showcase jobs in the tech and biopharma sector available along the west coast of Ireland. Exhibitors on the day will include Abbott, Pramerica, Abbvie, Boston Scientific and many others.
By Brian Mahon