Fact: Your Leaving Cert results do not determine your future.

Whether you didn’t quite achieve the number of points you were hoping for or you’re still considering your options after the grueling schlep that is sixth year, there are plenty of options to get you on the right career path.

As more than 60,000 people receive their Leaving Cert results today, James Whelan Butchers, through its Butcher Academy, is launching their three-year Butcher Apprenticeship, with on-the-job training, as well as earning, backed up with structured FETAC Level 5 training and qualifications.

The opportunity is specifically relevant to young people who are looking for a more hands-on and practical approach to further education, in a creative space.

“Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have seen a large amount of people using the enforced downtime to re-think their career choice and looking for more fulfilling and secure career paths in these uncertain times,” said Pat Whelan, CEO of James Whelan Butchers.

“For example, within our Butchers Academy at present, there are students from a wide range of backgrounds, for example, from hospitality and engineering, changing their career path to a more rewarding, creative and fulfilling profession as a Master Butcher.”

“Through the three-year programme we are training people who are as committed to their craft as we are to ours and giving these students who are interested in a career in the food industry, on-the-job training with some of the leading Master Butchers in Ireland.”

On graduation, this new crop of craft butchers will take up positions within James Whelan Butchers across the business’s premium retail shops around the country, with lots of opportunities for further career progression into management as well as product and business development.

For more information on James Whelan Butchers three-year apprenticeship, visit jameswhelanbutchers.com, or email careers@jwb.ie.