National Careers Week 2025
With the average person expected to have seven careers in their lifetime, this National Careers Week, we aim to show how careers can evolve through a variety of activities and events.
We want students to see the benefits of flexible career paths and ease the pressure of choosing a lifelong career right after college. We're excited about the work being done and can't wait to see students engage throughout the week!
What's happening at COPC during NCW 2025?
Careers and Employability Fair
Sixth Form & Highbury Campuses
Tuesday 4th March 10:00 - 1:30pm
An opportunity for all students to speak to local employers, apprenticeship, and HE providers about their next steps. All employers in attendance are looking for talent to recruit into jobs and apprenticeships within their company.
Come along and showcase your brilliance!
The attendees so far:
- Adams Morey
- Community Integrated Care
- HTP Apprenticeship College
- IMES International
- Lidl
- Little Thinkers Nursery and Pre-School
- Prospero Teaching
- Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI)
- Royal Navy/Royal Marines
- RSM UK
- Southampton Solent University
- Steve Willis Training
- STS Defence
- The You Trust
- University of Portsmouth
COPC staff are getting involved!
As part of our celebration of National Careers Week, our staff will be taking part in an exciting poster activity to inspire students and promote conversations about careers.
Staff members have been encouraged to complete a poster detailing their previous jobs, showcasing the diverse career paths and experiences that have led them to where they are today in their current roles. These posters will be displayed on classroom walls throughout the College, serving as a reminder that career journeys can take many different routes, and can evolve over time.
The idea is to highlight the wide range of possibilities available to all our students, and encourage them to think creatively about their own futures. Let’s work together to make this an engaging and impactful week!
Employability Workbook
Check out some hints and tips to help build your unique CV and be interview ready to start your career.
Our staff's evolving careers
Our staff bring a wealth of knowledge, experience, and expertise to COPC and it's what sets our College apart from the rest.
Take a look at the career journeys of five of our team.
Yasmin Ahmed
Student Attendance and Support Officer
What was your dream job?
Running my own beauty and wedding management company.
How many jobs have you had in your lifetime?
Seven.
What was your first job?
Foreign books publisher at a British Publishing House.
What has been the hardest part about your career history?
Having to go through a complete transition between my home country (Egypt) and moving to the UK and starting from the beginning. I had to work speaking English, which is my second language.
What has been the best part of your career history?
Working as a Public Relations and Event Management Coordinator at the Library of Alexandria, and having to deal with high-profile guests.
Have you overcome anything to get to where you are today?
Leaving all my friends and family in Egypt, and starting a family here in the UK.
Do you have any advice for our students who are about to enter the world of work?
Looking through my challenging career journey, I can highlight some key points:
- Embrace life-long learning: your education doesn't end here. Be curious, seek opportunities to learn, and adapt to new challenges
- Build relationships: networking is key. Connect with colleagues, mentors, and industry professionals - relationships often open doors
- Be proactive: show initiative and a willingness to go beyond what's asked. Employers value problem-solvers and self-starters
- Communication is key: practice clear and respectful communication, both written and verbal. It’s a cornerstone of professional success
- Stay resilient: challenges are inevitable, but they are also opportunities for growth
- Manage your finances wisely: start saving early, budget effectively, and plan for the future. Financial security provides peace of mind
- Work-life balance matters: prioritise your wellbeing alongside your career. A healthy balanced life leads to sustained success
- Last but not least, always always believe in yourself: confidence and self-belief will take you far. Trust your abilities and be open to learning from your mistakes.
Ai Parlagreco
Personal Tutor
What was your dream job?
To become an artist.
How many jobs have you had in your lifetime?
I've always been a florist. I've worked several places back in Japan and England, then taught floristry here at COPC and now I'm a personal tutor!
What was your first job?
Florist.
What has been the hardest part about your career history?
Dealing with difficult customers.
What has been the best part of your career history?
Making people smile!
Have you overcome anything to get to where you are today?
Yes!
Do you have any advice for our students who are about to enter the world of work?
Just be positive, confident and always smile!
Darren Coventry
Assistant Principal of Apprenticeships & Business Development
What was your dream job?
To be a gamekeeper.
How many jobs have you had in your lifetime?
Five.
What was your first job?
Working for Mcdonalds.
What has been the hardest part about your career history?
Working a difficult role. The hardest being a team leader within the AA Complaints Team and adapting to managers and their differing levels of maturity and experience.
What has been the best part of your career history?
Designing and delivering strategy for the Solent Careers Hub.
Have you overcome anything to get to where you are today?
Yes, I've been in senior management roles at two different colleges and embraced departmental challenges and made improvements, once in my role.
Do you have any advice for our students who are about to enter the world of work?
Be curious about how far you can go in the world of work.
Matt Hancock
Events Manager
What was your dream job?
I wasn't sure to be honest! Something sports event related.
How many jobs have you had in your lifetime?
6 full-time jobs, and including part-time, 15+.
What was your first job?
My first full-time job was teaching English abroad in China. My first part-time job was in a village pub peeling vegetables, washing up and restocking drinks.
What has been the hardest part about your career history?
Not getting feedback from job applications and even acknowledgment when applying for roles.
What has been the best part of your career history?
Getting a buzz out of events I helped organise, working with fab colleagues, and visiting some amazing venues across the country.
Have you overcome anything to get to where you are today?
I've had a stutter since childhood and when I started going to interviews for full-time, permanent positions, I was getting knocked back due to coming across as introvert, shy and nervous, which isn't great when applying for event related positions, where you need to be fairly outgoing and confident. This was mainly due to having a stutter. After 9/10 interviews, I decided to do something about it and went on a speech therapy course, which taught me new ways of breathing/speaking to control the stutter. My first interview following that, I got the job and stayed there for 15 years.
Do you have any advice for our students who are about to enter the world of work?
Be yourself, try and find your passion and something you love to do, it's not always easy but do persevere. Surround yourself with good role models/managers, learn from them, but on the flip side, don't be shy about what you can bring to the table. They too can learn from you!
Rachel Benson
Study Centre Lead
What was your dream job?
Working in Hospitality.
How many jobs have you had in your lifetime?
Ten.
What was your first job?
Working in a cafe at 14.
What has been the hardest part about your career history?
Balancing working and having a baby.
What has been the best part of your career history?
Starting washing up, progressing my skills to assistant chef, waitress, and then achieving my Hospitality Management HND and becoming a Meeting and Events Supervisor.
Have you overcome anything to get to where you are today?
I have pushed through self-doubt and shyness as a young teenager.
Do you have any advice for our students who are about to enter the world of work?
It doesn't matter where you start your working life, as every job adds experience, skills, and knowledge which helps you progress to reach your goals.
Guess the job
Can you guess the job these people do from the GCSEs they took?
National Careers Service
Looking for further careers information, advice and guidance? The National Careers Service can help you make decisions at all stages in your career.
Take the careers quiz!
Why not see how you score in the UCAS careers quiz?
Talk to us
If you would like to discuss your next steps or would like to talk about careers with a Careers Advisor, please complete the form below and someone from the Careers Team will be in contact.
