All the newly appointed supported interns at Eastleigh College have benefitted from hearing first hand from an employment and skills expert who visited the college this week.

Lea Hampton, Employment and Skills manager with Eastleigh Borough Council, is working to promote awareness of where there are skills shortages in the area and encourage the development of skills.

Lea, who delivered the interactive presentation to over 30 learners, is a champion of the borough’s One Horton Heath initiative – an innovative and exciting new industry-leading development which will be focusing its approach on people, place making and large-scale environmental improvement.

Lea said: “Part of my role is to support both young people and adults already in careers on their career journeys, by providing labour market information, training and other learning opportunities, and knowledge of where the local job needs are likely to be in the short and medium term.

“As someone who works in the community, it is great to be able to meet and talk with learners and find out about the industry-focused training that is available locally.”

Eastleigh College’s Lead Job Coach, Liz Wright, said: “Our interns gained so much from Lea’s visit which was interactive and really got them thinking about what employers expect from them in the workplace and in applying for work.”

Max Wilson, who is currently completing an internship with Wickham-based McCarthys Fruit & Vegetables Ltd, said: “It was fascinating to hear about Lea's job and about what employers expect. I enjoyed learning about interviews; I think I will be more confident about my own skills when I attend an interview as we all talked about how we saw each other and other students saw me as funny, kind, professional and resilient."

Liz concluded: “During the last few months the College has primarily used online platforms to ensure our learners still have access to invaluable input from local industry and employability experts. However, it was uplifting to welcome a speaker onto our campus – obviously while adhering to all the college’s Covid secure guidance - and see the enthusiasm among the learners.”