News & Events

Career Zoo returns for 10th Birthday with focus on opportunities in Big Data and Fintech

Thousands of people expected to attend leading technology recruitment and networking event Thousands of job opportunities on offer, with highlights including recruitment campaigns by Twitter, Zalando, Pramerica, Amgen and Bank of Ireland

Career Zoo – Ireland’s leading technology recruitment event – returns to The Convention Centre Dublin for its 10th event this September 12th.

An estimated 10,000 people will attend #CareerZoo10 to meet with many of the world’s most innovative employers.  Participating companies are aiming to fill opportunities across multiple sectors, including big data, fintech, finance, pharmaceuticals, science and technology.

Welcoming the launch of #CareerZoo10 today, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, said: “Technology is a key sector which we have targeted as part of our Action Plan for Jobs, and over the past four years we have seen an impressive jobs performance in this area. This has massive knock-on impact across the whole economy, and as last week’s figures show over 125,000 extra people are at work since we launched our Action Plan for Jobs in early 2012.

“Career Zoo is a brilliant initiative which helps to connect tech employers with vacancies with the people who might fill those jobs. I am delighted to be involved, I commend Brian Ó hOisín and his team – but more importantly, I hope that the employers and job-seekers involved will have a successful event with many jobs filled.”

Director of Career Zoo, Brian Ó hOisín, said “This will be the tenth Career Zoo event, and it’s really interesting to look at how the profile of attendees has changed over the past few years.  The big shift is that it’s now a candidate’s market, rather than an employer’s market: candidates with the right skills-sets have all the power, and employers have to pull out all the stops to attract and retain the talent they need. 

“Skilled candidates are no longer wowed by companies that just offer decent salaries and a cool office.  What they want are opportunities to progress, to be challenged, to do exciting work, and to join a company that matches their values and outlook on life.  

“The other really interesting trend is to see how Ireland has become a magnet for international talent.  Because so many tech giants have their EMEA headquarters here, our workforce is becoming more and more globalised.  Our last Career Zoo event saw attendees from over 35 different countries, and we expect this trend to continue at #CareerZoo10.”

Today’s launch event was attended by a number of people who were hired by leading companies after attending the last Career Zoo event – in February of this year. 

“It’s great to see people coming along to the event, and finding jobs on offer that really excite them,” said Brian Ó hOisín.  “Some of the organisations that participated in February made over 20 direct hires as a result, and – already – companies participating this time round are announcing major recruitment drives centred around their attendance at Career Zoo.”

What’s happening at #CareerZoo10:

New additions for #CareerZoo10 include an emphasis on opportunities in Big Data and Fintech; a focus on women in tech; and a Start-Up area to support new indigenous organisations.   Highlights will also include: 

  • An exciting Speaker Series by industry leaders; and Tech Box, featuring a range of tech activities hosted by some of Ireland’s most prominent tech      organisations.  CEOs of some of Ireland’s most successful indigenous tech companies will contribute to panel discussions and speaker sessions,      alongside senior figures from global companies such as Zalando, Amgen and Accenture. 

  • Big Data Focus – new for this Career Zoo event, exciting Big Data employers such as online fashion giant Zalando will focus on opportunities in one of the country’s key growth sectors, including in areas such as predictive analysis and forecasting trends.

  • Fintech & Finance – Showcasing the numerous opportunities available across the Finance and fast-growing Fintech sectors, with hiring companies including Bank of Ireland, Pramerica, Mediolanum, Accenture and Fidelity, to name a few.

  • Return of ‘Smart Badges’ - Allowing companies and candidates to digitally share content such as CVs, company profiles and videos, with an average of 440 CVs collected digitally by each employer involved in the last Career Zoo event.

  • Tech Town – a dedicated space showcasing career opportunities with indigenous tech companies and their cutting-edge technology.

  • BioCluster – showcasing exciting opportunities with pharmaceutical and medical devices companies and the general Life Sciences. At the forefront of BioCluster will be sponsor Amgen who last week announced a €300 million investment in its Dún Laoghaire facility. 

  • Python Coder Hack Space – with coding workshops taking place throughout the day. 

  • Women in Tech space – a new addition to Career Zoo, facilitating mentoring workshops for women in tech.  Mentors and mentees will interact, share experience and be inspired by guest speakers.

Employers recruiting at #CareerZoo10 will include multinationals such as Twitter, Zalando, Pramerica, Amgen, Citi, Uber, Ericsson, Accenture and Fidelity, as well as indigenous employers such as Bank of Ireland, ICON Plc. and Fenergo.

Leading organisations and education institutes including Science Foundation Ireland, NIBRT (the National Institute for Bioprocessing Research and Training) and the Open University are also participating in #CareerZoo10.

Career Zoo is sponsored by: Bank of Ireland, Twitter, Zalando, Pramerica and Amgen. 

Admission is free. To register to attend the event, go to www.careerzoo.ie

ENDS

For more information, please contact:

Selene Alford, MKC Communications: 01 703 8600 / 086 022 7264 – selene@mkc.ie 

Martina Quinn, Career Zoo: 01 679 2042 / 087 652 2033 - martina@careerzoo.ie

Follow Career Zoo on Twitter: @CareerZootweets, #CareerZoo10