SCHOOLS ARE back next Monday, and the cycle of the education year starts anew.
For the tens of thousands of CAO applicants who were offered college places last Monday, decision time is fast approaching. I hope that this column has been of some assistance to you, over the past two weeks, in clarifying some of the questions you are facing.
For the 15,000 Leaving Certificate students who did not apply to the CAO, the educational, training and employment options are narrower than they have been for many years past, but there are still opportunities out there.
Should I accept my first round offer? Having received an offer from the CAO of either or both of a level eight higher degree, or a level seven/six certificate/ordinary degree, you have until Tuesday next, 26th August, at 5.15pm to confirm your acceptance of the place offered to you, after which time the offer of a place will lapse. How will the places not accepted be distributed? On Wednesday 27th the colleges will calculate the number of places that remain unfilled, and will instruct the CAO to offer the places to those next in line on each course list. These applicants will include those of you for whom this is your first offer. They also include those who have already been offered a place from lower down on their list of course choices for whom a place higher up on their list becomes available, due to non-acceptance by other applicants who were offered the places initially.
On the following day, Thursday, August 28th, the CAO will post out these offers, which will arrive on Friday, August 29th. At 6am that morning the offers will be made available to applicants on the CAO website. The Irish Times will publish a supplement on Friday 29th outlining the full details of the revised points requirements for each course. The number of places offered in the second round will be quite modest, and the points for most courses will remain unchanged.
Will the CAO continue to offer vacant places on its website? Where a college has more places on offer than the number of applicants who have met the minimum entry requirements who are still on the application list for that course, they will place that course on the CAO vacant places list. This process will continue until all places are filled. You can opt to apply for any of these courses, even if you have accepted a place already, simply by amending your CAO list of course choices by inserting the advertised place at the top of your list of choices.
New applicants are fully entitled to apply for these courses by simply making an online application to the CAO. Vacant course places are offered automatically on a first-come first- served basis, as applicants amend their application records.
How do I go about finding employment, if I want to get a job now? If you are looking to start your career by getting a job and developing your competencies and skills in the workplace, you may find a recently launched Irish-based website, www.careersportal.ie,
useful. This new national careers portal collects and presents a wide range of useful information to people seeking to enter the employment market. In times of global or national recession, it is important to take into account where vacancies will arise both now and in the future. It is therefore particularly important to inform yourself of where the skills shortages are in our economy, so that the choices you make will not only be taken because of your particular interests but also be directed to where the job opportunities lie.
However, judging by the list of occupations which are experiencing skills or labour shortages, published by the Expert Group on Future Skills Needs, you still have a wide variety of occupations to choose from. Examples include accountants, psychologists, architects, engineers, chefs, business analysts, pharmacists and opportunities in the funds investment sector, to name but a few. The full list is available on the careers portal website, with over a hundred occupations augmented with videos of people in those roles.
Many major employers and industry sectors which are profiled on the site have opportunities for school-leavers, subject to satisfying certain requirements. Look at the opportunities for school-leavers in the public jobs area. You can research these fully at www.publicjobs.ie. Opportunities also exist with the Defence Forces and with An Garda Síochána. The banking sector, including large employers such as AIB and Bank of Ireland, has traditionally been very positively disposed to taking in young people with the Leaving Certificate, and supporting their education while working. While these opportunities might not be as plentiful as in previous years, these options are still worth pursuing.
Series concluded. Brian Mooney’s Q A column returns next month.