BellTime Magazine Spring 2018 BellTime 9-5 | Page 7

BellTIME
IT IS NOT ALL ABOUT
THE CAO OR
SCHOOL LEAGUE TABLES
I didn’t follow a traditional career path to university. Instead
I pursued local career options on my door step. The result
has been the creation of a company in my home town,
with 500+ jobs in Monaghan, which has become a global
leader in the manufacture of innovative engineering
solutions in warehousing and distribution.
It does not feel long from I was 17 and considering life
after the Leaving Certificate.
I had initially planned to follow in my father’s footsteps and
become a farmer but Padraig Duffy, my career guidance
counsellor in St Macartan’s College, Monaghan,
suggested I consider a career in engineering.
So I filled out the CAO form putting UCD as my number 1
choice and for good measure I also applied to Queens
University. Since Padraig Duffy knew that I was unlikely to
pursue a degree course in Engineering, he encouraged
me to look for a summer Job with Moffett Engineering a
local engineering Company which I took up in July 1989.
They specialised in manufacturing the Moffett truck-
mounted forklifts. Working on the family farm I was used
to fixing machinery.
The Leaving Cert results came out and I got both my
choices. Instead I deferred offers from UCD and Queens
for 12 months and kept working. That "summer job"
lasted for the next nine years.
This appealed to me as I got hands-on experience of
working locally. In addition, I developed skills through
distance learning with Open University engineering
modules. I found that hard work and a keen interest in
learning was something that brought success.
At age of 19, I was Chief Engineer, in charge of a team of
five, some of whom had university engineering
qualifications. When Moffett Engineering was sold in 1997,
I went on to establish Combilift with Robert Moffett.
Combilift is now one of the most significant employers in
Monaghan. In 2018, as we celebrate our 20th anniversary,
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Martin McVicar,
Managing Director, Combilift.
we are opening a €46 million new manufacturing facility in
Monaghan.
This expansion will bring new career and job opportunities
to the young people of Monaghan and surrounding
counties. To recruit employees is a challenge in itself.
As I watch my own children navigate the education
system, I question the continuous focus on examining
college prospectus for career opportunities and the
implied necessity that young people have to leave their
home town to get a qualification.
It is not all about the CAO or school league tables and the
progression rate to university.
It is time that parents and guidance counsellors look and
see where the jobs are before they urge young people to
pack up, leave their communities and head away to
college. There are job opportunities in all our
communities, that will lead to careers, that will allow our
young people to develop the skills to contribute to
economic development.
As a society it is time that schools and guidance
counsellors recognise the fact that industry can contribute
to career planning and wants to engage.
Currently, the narrow choices heavily promoted by the
higher education sector to school leavers do not reflect
the broad skill set or job-ready skills required to sustain
economic growth and our communities. It is time to look
locally, think globally and draw on the experience of our
successful companies.
So I am urging career guidance counsellors as they
engage with students and parents to look beyond
traditional routes and the glossy brochures.
Locally, businesses throughout Ireland are involved in both
the design of the curricula and the delivery of the
programmes, leading to nationally and internationally
recognised qualifications.
Combilift has taken the lead in building a talent pool of
young people both for the opportunities available with us
but also across the border region. The Engineering
Traineeship developed by Combilift and Cavan Monaghan
Education and Training Board (CMETB) 3 years ago is
available at Monaghan Institute. Students spend 50% of
their time in the work place & 50% in the Institute gaining
practical hands-on experience in Mechatronics as well as
a nationally accredited qualification. Other companies are
engaging with ETBs around the country to develop
courses that meet the demands of Irish businesses.
This work will bring dividends to the region and ensure
that we are supporting the creation of jobs for our young
people. All of those who successfully completed the
Engineering Traineeship were offered employment with
Combilift in 2017.
A traineeship gives participants the opportunity to develop
cutting edge skills and knowledge on the job, making
them more employable. Traineeships also enable
employers to access a pipeline of talent and learners. The
training content and occupational standards for
traineeships are developed in consultation with employers,
the education sector and regulatory bodies.
Drop-out rates in some areas of higher education are high,
with up to half of students failing to progress to second
year in some courses. So pushing our children to enter
courses that they will drop-out of is economic madness as
BellTIME
well as damaging to their own self-esteem. Career
decisions should not be made based on the status of a
course nor on the number of points achieved in the
Leaving Cert. The push not to waste your points and
accept your highest offer should not be the defining factor
in a career decision.
Traineeships, apprenticeships and further skills-based
training, offer real opportunity to develop professional and
technical skills which are valued by employers and are
now so badly needed in industry. These courses are not
second best options, nor are they for those who don’t
achieve the high points, they should be considered
alongside all other options.
It is incumbent on career guidance counsellors and those
of us in industry to work collectively to create greater
awareness of the many alternative opportunities that exit.
As we face the challenges of Brexit and increased
competition we need to re-evaluate our approach to
training and education and invest in our future by offering
our young people real practical advice.
At second level, my recommendation to students is to
select subjects you enjoy rather than those that will get
you the highest points. The same goes for 3rd level
courses. Do not choose a career only for its potential
salary. You should try to choose a career you enjoy which
could even become one of your hobbies.
Martin McVicar,
Managing Director, Combilift.
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