Higher Options: a starting point for your career path

• Author: Brian Mooney
• Published date: 20 September 2022
• Publication title: Irish Times: Web Edition Articles (Dublin, Ireland)

The conference is the starting point for many students as they begin to plan the next phase of their educational journey

It brings together representatives of institutions and organisations offering students information on almost every conceivable educational progression opportunity available in Ireland and abroad.

Representatives from the CAO, universities, colleges, further education institutions and educational bodies will be available at their stands in the exhibition hall, to speak with the students individually.

Talks will also be delivered by specialist speakers in three auditoriums over the course of the four hours of each morning and afternoon session.

Students are encouraged to consult the timetable in advance as they prepare for the event.

Each student will have their own interests and can attend the wide range of talks accordingly.

Preparation

The benefit to school-leavers of this unique event depends entirely on each student's level of preparation prior to it.

This preparation will have been ongoing over the previous two years through career exploration activities undertaken in transition year and fifth year in schools.

The Institute of Guidance Counsellors provides students attending the event, through their guidance counsellors in schools, with a comprehensive preparation document to enable them to plan their engagements throughout the day.

By working through this document, students maximise the benefits of attending the expo. Careful planning and an understanding of what they need to accomplish at Higher Options will hugely enhance the long-term value of attending.

Guidance counsellors will provide students with details of various talks at the event, covering every conceivable topic relevant to progression to higher or further education, both in Ireland and abroad.

There will also be extensive coverage of opportunities on offer through apprenticeships both in the traditional construction trades, where there are huge deficits of qualified tradespeople, and in the many 60-plus new apprenticeships co-ordinated by Solas.

Given the hundreds of exhibitors and the thousands of courses and other options on offer, attendees should draw up a list of colleges or other exhibitors they want to interact with on the day.

They should also compose a series of written questions they wish to tease out with the representatives on the stands.

Each college will, of course, present the most positive picture possible of the benefits of the various options their...