DkIT Win National Employability Awards

Dundalk Institute of Technology were absolutely thrilled that their DkIT Careers & Employability Centre was recognised with not one but two prestigious Employability Awards at the GradIreland & AHECS 2022 Awards in the Mansion House last week (28/04/22). These awards recognise and showcase the very best in employability initiatives implemented by Higher Education Institutes throughout the year.

The DkIT Embedding Employability initiative won the Award for Supporting Student and Graduate Employability. This is a fantastic achievement and important recognition of the quality of this project. DkIT were up against strong competition including MTU, NCI, TU Dublin, UCC, and UCD. The independent Award Judging Panel comprised of Jameson International, Engage People, GTI, and Musgraves. Furthermore, the DkIT Careers & Employability Centre were delighted to be Highly Commended for their Creative Sector Collective Series in conjunction with WIT and IADT.

Dundalk Institute of Technology completely recognise that the contemporary job market requires fast-moving, innovative, and transformative working mindsets in their employees. The award-winning DkIT Embedding Employability Toolkit, is an online resource developed by the DkIT Careers & Employability Centre and was created to support lecturers and careers practitioners to advance, enhance and measure graduate attribute development through a suite of specifically designed employability activities and employability tools. This toolkit has been extremely successful in boosting students’ confidence whilst getting them ready for the workplace.

Catherine Staunton, Head of Careers & Employability said: ‘This Award is an important recognition of the unique way in which DkIT brings employability to the centre of our student’s experience, connecting our bespoke DkIT graduate attributes to the curriculum so that all students can link their academic learning to practical employability skills. All of this work is the result of a series of genuine partnerships and research with our students, alumni, DkIT Staff and network of employers, ensuring that our graduates continue to successfully manage their career development, navigate the world of work and make their impact, locally, nationally and globally. I am extremely proud of this work and the skill of the Careers & Employability Centre team in bringing it together, and I know it will positively impact on the employability and confidence of DkIT graduates’.