Autumn Conference 2024

Where

La Mon Hotel and Country Club, Belfast

When

Thursday 21st November

Starts: 09:00

Ends: 16:00

Conference Agenda

Click below to see the agenda for the day.

Our Biannual Conference For Careers Professionals

What does the future careers landscape look like? What new challenges will the students of today face, and how can we help them rise to meet those challenges? Join us for the Autumn Conference 2024 to discuss these topics and more with our great line up of speakers and exhibitors. Booking is now open!

The conference is free to attend for full members. Additional school members will be charged the day delegate rate of £30 per person, and for non-members or affiliate members it is £60 per person.

We’re pleased to announce that our chief sponsor for this conference is Trinity College Dublin, and our secondary sponsor is Construction Futures NI.

Workshops

Atlantic Technological University: ‘Student mobility and institutional barriers project’

Focus group session understanding barriers for Northern Ireland students when considering university study options in the Republic of Ireland. The session will be led by Fiona Kelly, Head of Market Engagement, ATU and Christina Cuffe, Schools Engagement Officer (NI region), ATU.

The Higher Education Authority (HEA) in the Republic of Ireland has recently funded ATU to undertake a qualitative research project on ‘Student mobility and institutional barriers (NI market)’. Understanding the barriers and drivers of student mobility creates an opportunity to support prospective learners from Northern Ireland.

Overall finding from this research project will be presented to the HEA and NISCA members in May 2025.

Sentinus: ‘Skills acquisition paving the pathway to Employability’

This session will outline a range of STEM support activities to enhance and enrich a student’s skill set in preparation for Employment. A hands-on deep dive into collaboration, communication, creativity and critical thinking skills.

Delivered by Beth Harrison (Operations Manager), Gerard Hughes (Project Manager) & David Pilkington (CEO) of Sentinus. .

Empowering Career Choices with ChatGPT in Education

During this workshop Gerry Reilly will take us through his journey in using ChatGPT and other AI tools to work more effectively with students in their career decision making, breaking down the language barrier for students with limited knowledge of English, and streamlining the admin tasks of his role as a guidance counsellor.

Gerry Reilly has been a teacher for 34 years in St. Macartan’s College,Monaghan. He has taught History and ICT and for the past 15 years has been the school’s Guidance Counsellor. He is also a counselling supervisor. Gerry teaches on the part time Masters in Guidance Counselling programme in DCU. He is the current National Secretary of the Institute of Guidance Counsellors.

Dunbia

Representatives from Dunbia, one of Europe’s top food companies with over 8,000 employees across the UK and Republic of Ireland, will explore the wide range of career opportunities within the food industry. Renowned for its world-class quality products, the food and drink sector is the second largest industry in Northern Ireland, offering significant potential for progression, driven by the rising demand for new products and healthier alternatives, making it an exciting and innovative field to work in.

Find out more about the sector and to hear from Graduate Trainees on their experience in the workplace.

So Many Great Benefits

Connect With Careers Professionals

Stay Informed With Expert Speakers

Attend Bi-annual Conferences

Professional Development Opportunities

About NISCA

NISCA – the Northern Ireland Schools & Colleges Careers Association – is an association which works to enhance the quality of Careers provision in schools and Regional Colleges and to create a desire for life-long learning. NISCA is a registered charity (charity number : NIC107497)

Our Exclusive Range of Speakers

See the agenda for more details.

Gallery From Previous Years

Our Sponsors

Our great range of sponsors make the whole conference possible!

Our Exhibitors

We have a range of exhibitors ready to show you what they do.

Previous exhibitors have included: ParentPay; Schoolcomms; BSO Procurement and Logistics Service (HSCNI); Staffordshire University; Education, Recruitment and Marketing (ER&M); British Army; NI Social Care Council (NISCC); Ernst and Young; University of Winchester; NUI Galway; W5; PwC; Edinburgh Napier University; CITB; Liverpool John Moores University; Queen’s University Belfast; Eye4education; University of Strathclyde; University of Edinburgh; Accounting Technicians Ireland; Harper Adams University; Career Encode; CAFRE; National Flight Centre Ireland; Chartered Accountants Ireland; Bring IT On – Belfast Metropolitan College; Abertay University; Belfast Metropolitan College; University of Cumbria; University of Stirling; University of Glasgow; The Woolmark Company – Wool4School; PSNI; Northern Ireland Screen; University of Dundee; Aberystwyth University; People 1st.