Hundreds of TY placements on offer in Leinster through Fáilte Ireland Programme

As Transition Year students across the country look to secure their work placements in the coming weeks, Fáilte Ireland is reminding tourism and hospitality businesses to upload their placement opportunities to its national database of tourism work experience opportunities.

Fáilte Ireland has developed the first of its kind database to help tourism and hospitality businesses provide structured, high quality work placements and practical training to Transition Year students with the aim of encouraging more young people to consider a career choice in the industry in the long-term.

The portal has been designed to connect businesses and students in one coordinated and accessible online space. Students and businesses can find out more on tourismcareers.ie

The Transition Year Work Experience Programme is part of Fáilte Ireland’s multifaceted tourism careers strategy aimed at addressing the staff and skills shortage in the tourism and hospitality industry. Over 160 businesses across the country have already uploaded over 600 placements to Fáilte Ireland’s Work Experience Programme portal and opportunities are available in every county in the country in workplaces including five-star hotels, outdoor and water-based activities and with some of Ireland’s top visitor attractions.

Over 50 tourism businesses in Leinster have signed up for the programme. Successful work placements can also lead to students securing seasonal or part-time work, helping to address staff shortages in the year ahead.

Fáilte Ireland has also worked with industry bodies, HR experts, education providers and TY co-ordinators to develop detailed manuals for both students and participating businesses to ensure the placements provided are of high quality and offer practical and relevant learning opportunities.

Head of Tourism Careers at Fáilte Ireland, Sarah Dolly, said:

“Tourism businesses are the backbone of many communities across Ireland, and there is a long-standing tradition of these businesses offering excellent placement opportunities. By getting involved in this programme and uploading a placement to Fáilte Ireland’s online portal at tourismcareers.ie, not only will businesses provide a really important learning opportunity for students and invest in their next generation of staff but they can also motivate students to return as paid, flexible staff in the future.”

Group HR Manager, Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel, Sarah Millea, said:

“Our business thrives on passion and facilitating Transition Year placements allows us to communicate this passion to the next generation of talent in our local area. By allowing our talented staff to share their skills through high quality placements, we often see the reward when a new generation is inspired to apply for a job for a season or even choose tourism and hospitality as a career. Through Fáilte Ireland’s TY Work Experience Programme we have facilitated a number of TY work placements, some of which have already/are interested in returning as part-time or seasonal staff.”

Guidance Counsellor at Grennan College, Kilkenny, Derek Dooley, said:

“The Fáilte Ireland Transition Year Work Placement Programme is an excellent tool to allow students to connect with businesses and gain valuable work experience at workplaces across Ireland. A work experience placement can help a student by showing them the reality of the working world and help a student decide what to do in college and adult life. A well-structured work experience provides an opportunity for students to reflect on their own development and to interact with individuals engaged in a variety of disciplines in the workplace. A student will never forget a good placement where they were treated with respect and learned a lot about a job, and they will likely be the future recruits these businesses seek out in the short and longer term.”