The Irish careers fair is striving for a 50/50 gender balance among attendees.

A startup and and technology jobs fair scheduled for later this month is taking a proactive approach to ensuring an equal gender balance at the event. UpStarter, now in its seventh iteration, is hosting the event in Dublin’s Mansion House which aims to connect tech professionals with hiring companies. Encouraging a gender balance amongst attendees is an initiative director Sean Judge hopes will result in an improved gender balance in the tech industry. Speaking to JOE, Judge reiterated the importance of gender equality in tech jobs, an industry that is notoriously male-orientated. "We hope that having a 50/50 gender balance at UpStarter will help promote gender equality in the companies attending our event," he said. "Whilst it is certainly only the first step, we believe that raising awareness of the importance of gender equality before a first round interview even takes place, the more likely that a 50/50 balance will be achieved across technology roles. “We are partnering with numerous organisations such as Ladies That UX, Girl Geeks & Coder Girls Rock that seek to drive women to technology jobs. Since starting UpStarter we have increased female attendance from 20% to just under 40% with a goal of reaching a 50/50 gender split by 2019." Padraic Flood, Vice President and Service Centre Head of ServiceSource Dublin, also commented on the expansive nature of job opportunities that will be available at the event. “UpStarter provided us with an opportunity to engage with a high volume of candidates with varied work experience from multilingual sales roles to senior sales management. We are looking forward to participating in this year’s event.” The event, which is powered by Jobbio, is a careers marketplace that connects candidates to the world's top companies privately, directly and quickly. Attendees with a Jobbio bio will be able to apply for live roles on the night instantly. Attendees should expect a casual networking event held over a few drinks rather than a long-winded careers fair. The event is also open to those not necessarily looking for work, but are interested in exploring the vast range of opportunities available in Ireland right now. Tenable, CarTrawler, Intercom, Service Source and eShopworld are a selection of companies in attendance, with 500 roles on offer on the day. UpStarter takes place from 5pm on Wednesday, 14 March at The Mansion House Dublin, with free tickets available on Eventbrite.