25 March 2009

Local schools visit Loughry to check out excellent career opportunities

Loughry Campus, College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE), recently hosted a careers fair for local school pupils.

With the agri-food industry being one of the largest employers in Northern Ireland offering a wide range of career opportunities at various levels, the main aim of this event was to highlight the vast range of careers that can be pursued by students studying on courses at Loughry Campus.

Pupils attended presentations from industry representatives and visited company exhibitions where they had the opportunity to discuss in detail potential careers opportunities for the Loughry Graduate. The school pupils also toured the Food Technology facilities and viewed demonstrations on ice cream and chocolate manufacture.

The event attracted an excellent turnout of industry representatives, many being Loughry Graduates, demonstrating the strong links that Loughry has with the agri-food industry and the support that they give to the range of courses on offer at the Campus. Companies in attendance at the event included: Allied Bakeries, Dale Farm, Doherty and Gray, Dunbia, Foyle Meats, Intertrade Ireland, Irwins Bakery, Linden Foods and Moy Park, O’Kane Poultry Group and the Prince’s Trust.

Offering courses in Food Technology, Food Supply Management and Food Nutrition and Health, Loughry students are equipped with both the qualifications and skills that are required to succeed in the Food Industry. Courses are available at Honours Degree, Foundation Degree and National Diploma Level, and are offered on a full time and part time basis.

Last year, Loughry’s excellent courses resulted in 100 percent of our students gaining employment or progressing on to further study within the first six months of graduation, with starting salaries of up to £22,000.

If you are interested in finding out more about the wide range of courses on offer at Loughry Campus and would like a career in an exciting and challenging industry, please contact us on Freephone: 080 0028 4291 or better still come along to Loughry’s Open Evening on Tuesday 28 April from 3 pm to 8 pm.

Angela Givan, HR Manager with Linden Foods, discusses the career prospects in the food industry with Nuala Grimes, Barry Potter and Pearse Warnock from Holy Trinity College, Cookstown

Maeve Coney, Maria McGuickin and Kathy Connolly, from Holy Trinity College, Cookstown, sample the delights of the dairy industry with Dale Farm HR Officer, Brendan Burdock

Sixth Form pupils Jann Hammond and Rebecca Higgins from Rainey Endowed School, Magherafelt and Danielle McIlroy, from St Ciaran’s High School, Ballygawley, check out what the bakery industry has to offer new graduates with Jacqueline Canning, HR Officer, Allied Bakeries