Police, fire and ambulance staff joined forces for a special event held at the Dartford Campus, to showcase various jobs opportunities with the emergency services.
North Kent College were approached by Matthew Scott, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Kent to help host The Bluelight Jobs Fayre as part of their recent recruitment drive. Open to both the general public, as well as college students, it was a key event in promoting the careers available at this current time, as well as advising on the pathways to get into them.
As well as the three main blue light services, the event featured stands from partner agencies such as the British Transport Police, Crown Prosecution Service and Kent & Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust amongst others. There was also the chance to find out more about volunteering with groups such as Victim Support, The Young Lives Foundation Kent’s Special Constabulary and the fire service.
The elected Police and Crime Commissioner for Kent Matthew Scott said: ‘I was delighted to welcome more than 300 people to my first Bluelight Jobs Fayre in Dartford. A number of agencies said that it was the best recruitment event they had exhibited at for some time. I am tremendously grateful to my team for all the effort they put in, to North Kent College for hosting, and to all the agencies and charities for coming together.’
The event was a huge success, receiving many visitors on the day, with positive feedback from all that attended. People travelled from all over Kent to utilise the opportunity to speak face to face to an employee already working in the industry. Public services students from the college used the event to research their next steps after their studies, with many leaving inspired by their possible future career path. Andy Rowett, Recruitment advisor, HMP Rochester, said: ‘The calibre of the students who attended was excellent and we spoke directly to more than 40 who had specifically attended to question us on the application process. One even logged on to her phone and started the application process there and then.’
Nikki Franks, Curriculum Manager for Public Services at North Kent College, commented “It was a brilliant opportunity for our learners and members of the public to find out about the careers that they are interested in as well as the variety of potential careers available to them. At the same time it was also fantastic to be able to showcase our learners and our programmes. I think the careers fayre really helped our learners to make the link between education and employment and we’d love to be able to do it again”.
