More and more people are not only choosing
Northern Ireland (NI) as a destination to visit
but increasingly they are realising the benefits
of NI as a place to live and work. In recent
years there has been major investment in
NI with an increasing number of companies
choosing NI as the place to set up their
business and with this investment has come
an increase in job opportunities.
The multi million pound development at
Victoria Square in Belfast is an example of
how investment has brought with it many
employment opportunities. Store Manager
for House of Fraser, Michelle Jackson is now
only too aware of the benefits of living and
working in NI.
Michelle who is originally from Kells near
Ballymena, moved to England 16 years ago
to work for the leading department store and
had no hesitation in moving back to NI to
live and work when the opportunity arose last
year. Michelle had always hoped to return to
NI to live and work but the time was never
right and she was waiting for the right career
opportunity to come along. Michelle is the
first to admit that NI has changed over the
years and opportunities now exist beyond
what she ever expected: "Northern Ireland has
changed so much since I left almost 16 years
ago and there is so much more to offer. Being
part of the team to open Northern Ireland's
first House of Fraser store was an obvious
choice and it is a very exciting time."
Aside from the opportunities brought about by
the development at Victoria Square other NI
companies are crying out for graduates with
Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths and
IT skills, as well as experienced managers
and business leaders. Joanne Stuart, Chair of
the Institute of Directors (Northern Ireland),
is only too aware of this and reiterates the
fact that "Northern Ireland needs more skilled
people if we are to exploit the great potential
for business growth".
NI companies offer many opportunities
as well as competitive salaries alongside
excellent terms and conditions. Michael
Baxter was born in NI and has experienced
living and working outside of the region
having spent eight years in the South West
of England. Having visited his place of
birth on a regular basis it became more and
more evident that things had really taken off
in NI and he decided the time was right to
return home to NI to live and work. Michael
notes that; "There was a tangible feeling of
excitement and prosperity and a definite ‘feel
good' factor was in the air".
On searching for employment Michael noted
how, "Very quickly it became clear that the
job market had rocketed with a plethora of
both global companies and smaller local
enterprises. The real bonus however was the
realisation that the salaries and benefits offered
here now are at least on par with mainland
UK and in many cases much better".
Michael's job search took him to nijobs.
com where he applied for a position with
Openwave, the company with whom he now
works as part of the Quality Engineering
group. He has been introduced to the Openweb
product which is at the cutting edge of mobile
data technology. Both Michael and his wife
secured employment in a relatively short
space of time and now regard themselves to
be better off than before, enjoying their life,
living and working here in NI.
Such is the need to attract suitably skilled
people to live and work here that recruitment
agencies alongside employers are now
actively targeting people from outside of the
region, especially ex-pats, who have the senior
management skills required to take forward
new and established businesses here.
Alan Braithwaite, from Abacus Professional
Recruitment, comments: "the professionals
we interact with have a desire to enhance
their career path and subsequently command
opportunities that provide progression, access
to quality work and ultimately financial
reward.
"Although many candidates who contacted
us could have been aligned to specific life
episodes as triggers for the move including
marriage, family, education for children,
etc, we have witnessed an organic upsurge
of enquiries from professionals who view
Northern Ireland as an exciting region with
opportunity to make a career and home and
therefore make contact on a speculative basis.
So overall we deal with both people returning
back home and indeed those looking to
consider a new environment; and Northern
Ireland certainly offers a healthier attitude to
both work and life."
NI is definitely one place you should consider
if you are looking for work or even thinking
about a change in direction. There are many
employment opportunities which are further
complimented by the easy going lifestyle and
atmosphere that you can expect from life,
living and working in NI.
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