Since the program began in 2016, Seafood Trainee has linked 160 candidates to various companies in the seafood industry. As companies receive candidates based on the skills they need, this can provide insight into the educational needs in the industry in recent years.
The program has attracted a wide range of candidates. Seafood Trainee has brought in graduates from typical "blue" studies such as fish health, biology and marine technology, but also other educations such as marketing, logistics and engineering.
The largest proportion of candidates so far, 44 percent, have had an education in economics. This is followed by aquaculture, logistics and biology. In the last cohort, for example, 13 percent had a background in logistics.
By appealing to a diverse group of graduates, we ensure the right expertise that is needed going forward. Innovation and sustainability are best achieved when smart minds with different expertise and fields collaborate, and that is what Seafood Trainee wants to contribute to.
Popular with several educational institutions
The cluster has close cooperation with the most important educational institutions, which provides good opportunities to get in touch with students. Through career fairs, internships, student events and information meetings, they can become aware of the seafood industry and the opportunities that exist there after their studies.
This has led to, for example, recent graduates from the fish health study at UiB, economists from NHH and civil engineers from NMBU, and many more talented candidates finding their way into the industry.
According to our statistics, 80 percent of candidates continue after completing the program. This means that they not only find their way here, they also stay.
Useful recruitment tool
Lerøy is the company that has used the program the most so far, and they have already had 49 trainees. They have been an important driving force from the very beginning, and have helped establish an educational program for the new graduates.
Siren Grønhaug, Lerøy
– Lerøy has used the Seafood Trainee program for several years to find highly motivated candidates with new and future-oriented expertise. The trainees also get a valuable start-up year with broad insight into both Lerøy and the seafood industry's value chain and future potential, says Siren Grønhaug, CEO HR at Lerøy.
Seafood Trainee can also help attract and strengthen expertise outside of major cities.
– By recruiting committed and skilled new graduates, Seafood Trainee helps us ensure the necessary expertise for the districts, says Olaf Barmen, Director of Sales at Coast.
The seafood industry has traditionally had a strong connection to districts and local communities along the coast, and it is therefore important to ensure that expertise also reaches there.
Responding to the industry's challenges
NHO's competence barometer from 2021 showed that a large proportion of the member companies of Seafood Norway (consisting of 800 member companies with approximately 16,000 employees) have an unmet competence need to a large or some extent because there were few or no qualified applicants. There is much evidence that many of the qualified applicants do not find their way into the seafood industry.
An attractive trainee program can help turn that around.
By being available to both companies and new graduates, Seafood Trainee can help to acquire the necessary expertise for the seafood industry, thereby ensuring that the industry is equipped for the future.
"By recruiting committed and skilled new graduates, Seafood Trainee helps us ensure the necessary expertise for the districts"
