Students learn about job openings at IDC |27 July 2011

The event, held at the IDC aviation base at Pointe Larue, was timed to coincide with this year’s Careers Week which was officially launched on Monday.

The IDC was set up in 1980 for sustainable development of the outer islands. The company presently has 14 groups of islands under its jurisdiction. These include Silhouette, which is the biggest -- almost 2,000 hectares and only 20km from Mahe -- and Poivre in the Amirantes group, consisting of three islets, 270km away and the biggest coral island at 1,467 hectares.

The smallest are Remire with only 27 hectares, Desnoeufs 35 hectares and Providence 157 hectares.

The IDC manager for human resources and public relations, Thelma Pool, said though the Open Day is showcasing all departments of the company, special emphasis is being placed on aviation. 

She said gone are the days when the IDC was linked solely with birds’ eggs and salted fish.

The students visited the IDC hangar and were told that the company has three planes -- one Beechcraft, one Caravel and the latest addition the Y12 gifted in June by the Chinese Government.

IDC currently employs nine pilots and thanks to them the many far-flung islands are linked to Mahe regularly.
Ms Pool noted that it is a three-hour flight by Beechcraft to Assumption, the farthest IDC island -- which is a longer flight than Mahe to Mauritius.

Besides the pilots, there are 30 other employees in IDC aviation. These are in operations, aircraft maintenance, aviation security and human resources.

Once an aircraft is airborne, a ground officer is responsible to inform the island manager of its arrival time and continues to monitor the flight until it lands safely back on Mahe.

During the Open Day yesterday, a very colourful exhibition organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Education’s Career Counselling section, was inaugurated by the IDC deputy CEO, Ronny Renaud.

He said the exhibition was opportune as it coincided with Careers Week, being held under the theme “No success without hard work”.

Mr Renaud noted that the IDC has invested in a broad spectrum of activities - based on land, sea and air.  He said that since 1980, hundreds of people have had successful careers with IDC. Some are still with the company while others have moved on. 

Mr Renaud said that staff based on land providing support to the pilots and seafarers did it from the heart. “Our boats have never met with any misfortunes at sea,” he said.

Catherine Magnan of the Ministry of Education’s Career Unit, who was accompanying the students -- from the Maritime Training Centre, the School of Advanced Studies, Belonie and other establishments -- said the IDC exhibition and Open Day will help teachers counsel better on career choices.

She said most often careers depend not only on interests and skills, but availability of opportunities. 

Ms Magnan said it is obvious that employees are presently on the look-out for “quality workers”.

At IDC career opportunities may exist in the fields of engineering, mechanical, ground operations and as trainee pilots.

The basic requirements for entry are A- Levels in maths, physics and geography.

Ground operations officers need a certificate from the Seychelles Tourism Academy (STA) with O-levels in English, French and sound knowledge of customer service.

Control Officers need a higher diploma or equivalent in operations management plus a sound knowledge in aviation security with good operational and supervisory skills.