With 60,000 new jobs expected to be created this year and employers continuing to encounter staff shortages, jobseekers and school-leavers attending this weekend's Fás Opportunities careers fair can expect the world to be their oyster, writes Gabrielle Monaghan

More than 100,000 people will visit Europe's biggest career, education and skills exhibition in Croke Park over the next four days, according to employment authority Fás, which is organising the 13th annual jobs fair.

Companies recruiting at the exhibition will include Allianz, Accenture, Ryanair, CityJet, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, MBNA, and Bank of Ireland.

Fás director-general Rody Molloy advises jobseekers who are interested in meeting potential employers to bring a polished CV with them and avail of Fás's on-site seminars on interview techniques.

"As GlaxoSmithKline continues to expand its Irish operations, we see Opportunities 2007 as an ideal platform to highlight the range of career opportunities that exist within GSK, as well as an opportunity to meet some of our future employees," said Finbar Whyte, site director of GlaxoSmithKline's plant in Currabinny, Co Cork.

The exhibition is designed to be a one-stop shop to help school-leavers, graduates, skilled workers and women wishing to return to the workplace to plan all aspects of their career and education. Demand for new jobs is particularly high, with a recent survey from Irishjobs.ie showing that 42 per cent of employees in Ireland resolved to change jobs at the start of this year.

"One of the major stands at the exhibition will be Fás's employment services stand, where we will have officers available to deal with any issues people want to raise," Mr Molloy said.

"The conference is an opportunity for us to identify people's issues and match their needs."

The exhibition will be organised around three different "villages" in the stadium's conference centre.

The "Careers Village" will play host to stands from Ireland's leading employers and Fás's Employment Services Division. At the "Skills Village," visitors can get information on apprenticeships, traineeships, and specific training programmes.

The "Skills Village" will have practical demonstrations on plastering, motor mechanics, media training and other skills.

For those considering working in the equestrian field, Race Ireland will have a stand aimed at giving visitors tips on how to become a jockey or groomsman.

At the "Education Village," visitors can meet representatives from universities, Institutes of Technology, and private educators such as Portobello College and Griffith College to discuss options for further education.

This year could prove an opportune time to meet with potential employers, with experts predicting the job market will be just as buoyant in 2007 as it was last year.

The Irish economy ended 2006 with almost 87,000 more people in employment than at the outset. The number of those employed passed the two million mark for the first time since records began.

The number of vacancies notified to Fás last year rose 18 per cent to more than 140,000, according to Gregory Craig, director of corporate affairs at the employment body.

Over the last five years, the numbers at work have increased by 300,000, with the majority of jobs being created in the services and construction sectors.

However, the Republic's strong economy has left some businesses with a shortage of labour.

Fifty-three per cent of Irish employers expect staff shortages this year, a recent survey by Ibec showed.

Mr Molloy believes there is still a short supply of professionals in the construction industry as employers continue to seek civil engineers, quantity surveyors, engineering technicians and architects.

Other areas experiencing a dearth of job candidates include the financial services, IT and healthcare sectors. "There is a shortage of accountants and actuaries for financial services," he said.

"In information technology, there is demand for software engineers, computer analysts and programmers. In the healthcare area, there is a need for dentists, therapists for the health service, and radiographers."

Events such as Fás Opportunities 2007 are also a useful way for recruiters to reach migrant workers. As the economy neared full employment last year, companies strove to attract foreign talent to fill vacancies.

More than half of the 87,000 people who gained employment last year were foreign nationals and migrant workers now make up more than 10 per cent of the labour force, the Central Statistics Office (CSO) has said. In 2006, the level of net migration reached 52,000.

All in all, 300,000 PPS numbers have been issued to workers from the 10 states that joined the European Union in May 2004.

"We did a survey before Christmas of the nationalities of people using our offices and found that almost 50 per cent of them were not Irish and 25 per cent were Polish," Mr Molloy said.

He expects a "substantial" number of foreign nationals to attend this year's jobs exhibition. Fás will facilitate job-seeking at the careers fair by providing an electronic translation service for foreign nationals who do not have sufficient English to communicate with its staff.

Its brochures will be available in six of the most commonly spoken foreign languages in Eastern Europe, he said.

FÁS Opportunities 2007 runs from today until Monday at the Croke Park Conference Centre and admission is free. Entrance to Croke Park Conference Centre is through Jones's Road, Dublin 3.