A JOBS fair took place in a Carlisle hotel yesterday

Carlisle Careers Fair was held in the Halston Hotel, Warwick Road between 10am and 2pm.

More than 20 employers held stalls at the event.

It was held by UK Careers Fair, who host dozens of similar events across the country.

Dan Mahon, from UK Careers Fair, said at the start of the day: "We set up the careers fairs around the country and bring in different exhibitors to get candidates jobs.

"We feel that it will be a successful event, we have 20 companies here today employing in lots of different areas."

Candidates were able to meet a wide variety of local and national employers.

Calvin Richardson, from the British Army, was behind one of the stalls.

He said: "We’re here to provide a recruiting stand to let people know about certain jobs in the Army, apprenticeships, bonuses, what kind of benefits that you will get.

"Face-to-face interactions are at the very forefront of our recruitment.

"If we get the right age range [careers fairs] normally work pretty well. Especially for younger people that are leaving school for apprenticeships."

Margaret Johnstone, from the University of Cumbria, was also present.

She said: "I’m here today to advertise our undergraduate and postgraduate courses for anybody who’s looking to get into education.

"We’ve already had some people come over to talk about courses. We’ve had other employers who want to build relationships with us to offer things like apprenticeship routes.

"It's very difficult for young people to know what to do at the moment.

"Whether to go into employment and start there or come to university, get a degree behind them and to go on and do great things where they want to be in the future."

Sue Taylor is an administrator for Creative Support, a not for profit provider of person centred care.

She said: "We’re here today to encourage people to look into the care sector. During Covid it’s been pretty difficult and it’s still like that now.

"It’s a rewarding role. You can get a lot back from it. We’ve all got parents that are going to get old and need that support and help.

"It’s about getting people to look at that side of things. I think during Covid care homes got a lot of stick from hospitals and things and we know what it was like first hand."