Crowds ponder career options

Students and the public pack the Pettigrew-Green Arena for the annual Hawke's Bay Careers Expo. Photo / Paul Taylor

Hawke's Bay's 21st annual careers expo ended yesterday with almost 2800 keen young students attending the event at the Pettigrew Green Arena.

The expo hosted more than 70 exhibitors from all over the country.

Academic, trades, the forces, overseas exchange schemes and many more career paths were on offer to students and the public.

Susan Macdonald is in her first year co-ordinating the expo following the death of Richard Edmunds, who ran the expo for the past 20 years.

"The expo was very well received and we have had some great feedback from the exhibitors," she said.

"I'm exhausted now but am very pleased with the final day."

Teachers and students commended Ms Macdonald for the great flow of the expo and the number of interactive stalls.

"We had Patu and the New Zealand Institute of Sport putting on competitions such as rowing, cycling and press-ups," Ms Macdonald said.

"We had pilots from Air New Zealand, wood carving, visual arts and the EIT even had a hairdressing competition."

Scholarships were on offer for promising students who demonstrated ambition and had identified a clear career path. The Pettigrew Green Arena has also offered a scholarship for the first time this year to a promising EIT sport and recreation student.

Ms Macdonald said she hoped to make next year's expo even bigger and better.