Mannok launch 2021 student work placements

Local students to embrace ‘real-life learning’ with paid summer work placements at Mannok

MANNOK and St. Michael’s College, Enniskillen, have launched their 2021 Student Placement Programme for a number of the College’s students to avail of paid placements over the summer and enjoy real-life learning to complement their academic studies.

With placements available in Mannok’s Finance and Engineering departments, there are a range of roles entailing tasks and training designed to give students a strong understanding of the workplace environment and a good insight into the various career paths on offer at Mannok.

The students will spend up to six weeks in the various departments working alongside experienced professionals, using state-of-the-art technology and gaining an insight into the role and duties performed day to day.

The work placement programme is an important part of Mannok’s award-winning educational partnership with St. Michael’s, which aims to give students a blend of industry experience with mentoring alongside their classroom-based learning.

Mannok’s HR manager, Caroline McCaffrey, explained: ‘One of our key goals with our educational partnership is giving young people an insight into the wide range of roles and career opportunities we have here at Mannok, with a view to helping retain talent locally to help build a sustainable, skilled workforce in this region.

‘Initiatives such as these placements play an important role in achieving this and we’ve had very positive feedback about the programme, both from the students involved and from those individuals here in Mannok who have worked so closely with them through their placement.’

Now in its sixth year, the programme has been very beneficial to those students who have completed placements to date, as St. Michael’s industry links co-ordinator, Sean Carlin, explained: ‘This is a great opportunity for students to gain valuable insight into the reality of their chosen career paths and develop an understanding of the very high-calibre roles available to them locally with a company like Mannok.

‘We’ve found that students who have completed the summer placements in previous years have not only really enjoyed their time at Mannok, but have learnt a great deal about the workplace environment which you just can’t deliver in a classroom setting, and it’s been very beneficial in guiding their choices for further education.

‘We’re very pleased to have such opportunities available to our students, and to have the valuable expertise and mentorship from the individuals at Mannok who are highly skilled and experienced in their chosen field. The time spent with these mentors can have a very positive influence on our young people and we’re very grateful for the commitment from those individuals and everyone involved in Mannok.’