On Wednesday, 30th March, we attended an in-person careers fair at Queen Margaret Academy. We reached out to businesses and organisations across Ayrshire as the school were seeking engagement for their senior phase pupils.

This was a full day event with the focus of introducing senior pupils to employers to find out about career/ training/ volunteering opportunities available to them. With COVID-19 impacting these types of engagements, it was the first time many of the pupils had taken part in this type of activity.

In attendance we had almost 30 businesses who came along to talk to senior phase pupils about their organisations and how young people can pursue a career with them. Businesses brought along promotional materials and information detailing entry requirements/qualifications, career pathways and upcoming vacancies. This was a fantastic opportunity for young people to learn about the different areas of work across a variety of industry sectors!

The DYW Ayrshire team also had discussions with businesses about future engagements, as many were looking to continue their support in other forms; hosting work experience placements, offering workplace visits, offering to host mock interviews and attending similar events in the future. The support we received on the day of the event and for the future was overwhelming and we are grateful to all of the businesses for their ongoing support.

Thank you to the following who volunteered to come along to this event and made it a success:

J&D Pierce, Booth Welsh, NHS, DSM, Linear Design & Construction, Hub South West, Ashleigh Scotland, Morgan Sindall, Woodward, Neogen, SAC Employability & Skills, William Duncan, Ayr Gaiety, UWS, RAF, Tesco, Regency Clean, GE Caledonian, Egger, The British Army, Scottish Fire & Rescue Service, Wildpacks, Break the Silence, SAC Waste Management Team and Buzzworks.