The Annual Careers Fair at the end of February was billed as the most successful one to date.

Support for the fair from local employers has been growing year on year since the first event was held two years ago at Bayside School. In fact, the level of interest has been so great, that the event had to find larger premises last year to be able to house all the employers who wanted to take a stand. The event has been held for the last two years in the new Sports Hall at Victoria Stadium. The fair was organised jointly by Bayside School, Westside School and the Gibraltar College.
This year, the growth has continued with around sixty local employers ranging from Government agencies such as the Health Authority and the Fire Service, to dozens of private sector companies attending. Interest about career options available in Gibraltar was correspondingly high among pupils approaching school leaving age.
Pat Orfila, one of the organisers from Bayside School, was delighted by the response from both employers and pupils alike: “It’s great that employers can see the value of showing what career options are available to pupils when they leave school or graduate from university. Gibraltar’s economy is much more broadly based than it was 20 years ago and the variety of jobs and careers has expanded greatly.”
Derek Sene, Deputy Managing Director of Barclays Bank which took a stand at the fair said: “Our presence in the careers fair further reinforces our commitment to the youth of Gibraltar. Choosing the right career is a significant milestone in anyone’s life and we want the students to feel that we are right there with them making things as easy as possible for them.”
Young Enterprise, a new initiative that is being introduced this autumn at the College of Further Education, also had a presence on the Barclays stand which is primary sponsor of Young Enterprise Gibraltar. Mr Sene said, “The Young Enterprise scheme is new to Gibraltar and introduces youngsters to the business world. The Department of Education has expressed an interest in the programme and the course is to run at the College of Further Education later this year.”
Dee Murphy, Human Resources Manager at Ladbrokes Gibraltar said, “We are delighted to have attended the Careers Fair for the past three years and each year the event has grown in terms of the number of stalls and the level of interest.
This event provides Gibraltar-based businesses with the ideal opportunity to inform the public of the differing job roles available and career opportunities within an organisation.
This year’s event was very well attended and from the moment the doors opened, our stand was inundated with young people and their parents wishing to know more about future career prospects with our company. We found the evening to be both enjoyable and worthwhile and would highly recommend participation to other businesses.”
Similar sentiments were highlighted by Maria Vencino Ramos from the Royal Bank of Scotland, which was among sixty or so organisations present at the fair: “Once again the fair has proved to be an excellent showcase to illustrate to students the diverse and exciting career options in Gibraltar. I am sure students and exhibitors alike benefit greatly from the event.”
Next year, the organisers are looking for even more local employers to be present to make this annual event a continued success.

Young Enterprise coming to Gibraltar
Young Enterprise is the UK’s largest business and enterprise education charity. The charity’s main role is to forge links between educational institutions and commerce. Its mission is to inspire and equip young people to learn about business through real life examples and by showing students how to set up and run their own business whilst still studying. Many head teachers cite the biggest barrier to making the Diplomas a success is engaging with and developing the necessary links with business.

Young Enterprise is planning to begin running a pilot programme at the Gibraltar College from September this year. A steering committee has been set up to introduce the programme to Gibraltar. The Chamber is represented on the steering committee of Young Enterprise and in due course the Chamber will be seeking Business Advisors from members of the local business community. Business Advisors give useful real world experience to students and it also helps company employees with their own personal development.
www.young-enterprise.org.uk