Hosted by The BUSY School campus at Coolangatta, the ‘NO LIMITS’ Careers Expo event was held again this year on the 19th February. The event saw Southeast Queensland students from The BUSY School Shailer Park, Brisbane, Southport and Coolangatta campuses explore a variety of career opportunities while engaging directly with industry leaders, training organisations and employers. Over 30 industry exhibitors were there to inspire students with different vocational career pathways.
The successful careers expo is now in its third year and this year’s event introduced some exciting new initiatives including the brand-new Main Stage, which brought career pathways to life with interactive live presentations by hospitality and IT and Tech industry representatives. On stage, students were invited to participate in interactive activities which included making their own ‘mocktails’ with Sir Mix A Lot from Mixology and cooking demonstrations with Commercial Cookery Training, among others.
Back for a second year, the Breakout Room Sessions invited students to hear about the requirements for different industry qualifications including Certificate II in Retail Cosmetics with The French Beauty Academy, Certificate II in Automotive with Allora and Trade Certificates with Gold Coast Trade College.
The live demonstrations and interactive workshops kept students engaged and inspired and to keep everyone’s energy up, hot beverages and lunch was provided with coffee and catered lunch available for students and exhibitors.
Attending on the day, The BUSY School student, Harry said, “The BUSY School has helped me expand my interest in different careers and made me more focused on my future and what’s actually important in life.
“I was looking around the expo, and then I saw this landscaping one that kind of interested me, because my dad has his own landscaping business, and I’ve always wanted to take it over when he retires, so I might look into that.”
Alyssa also attended the expo and said, “I spoke to Energex and they were talking about women in trades, so I was kind of interested in doing that. Seeing all the exhibitors here today makes me excited about my future opportunities!”
Kirra, a Student Leader at The BUSY School, also attended and said of the expo, “It’s great – I mean, I did it last year, but I just wanted to come again because it was such a good opportunity. All the information I’ve been told by the university and all the people and the different things on offer. It’s great everyone’s having a good time, everyone’s happy and smiling!”
Exhibitors also benefitted from the event by inspiring the next generation of skilled workers, as well as having their very own Chillout Lounge which gave them networking opportunities with other exhibitors and a well-earned break.
When asked what inspired her to exhibit at The NO LIMITS Careers Expo, Engagement Specialist for the French Beauty Academy in QLD Bronwyn replied, “The students! For me personally, seeing the students come out and fulfill a dream, which might be to get into beauty or makeup, it keeps me going and motivated to come and exhibit at these beautiful expos.”
For exhibitors, many are looking to inspire the next generation of skills for their business and industry. Justin Lee Smith, Training Instructor at Riviera, a luxury yacht manufacturer based on the Gold Coast, said, “I train all our marine craft construction apprentices. I’ve been with the business thirty-plus years and have held various roles. I did a boat building trade myself – it’s time to give back a bit now and assist in building the skills and knowledge of our young people.”
Maddi from NDIS and Aged Care organisation, Feros Care, agreed, saying “The younger generation is our new up and coming workforce and I think it’s really important to make those connections early and create an environment for the younger generation to feel comfortable transitioning into the workforce, having experience and seeing what options are available.”
Courtney Stewart, The BUSY School Coolangatta Employment Pathways Officer and key organiser of the NO LIMITS expo said of this year’s event,“We wanted to make the event bigger and better. The whole purpose is to engage our young people with key stakeholders in industry, and to get them thinking about what their pathways are.
“The most exciting part of this year’s event was the level of engagement. The amount of high-quality exhibitors we have who were really excited to get out there and talk to our young people and provide advice, guidance and support for them was outstanding. Also our young people being excited to chat to the exhibitors was a highlight.”
“If you’re interested in exhibiting at any of our future events, we encourage you to come along – there is so much on offer! You never know who you are going to meet – you just don’t know what talent is on offer until you are in that room talking to these young people. There is a lot of passion from them about where they want to go and what they want to do.”
Another No Limits Careers Expo will be hosted at The BUSY School Cleveland campus in Term 3 this year – stay tuned for more information and if your business is keen on exhibiting at the Cleveland event or in 2026 events, please contact: Carly Brown via email at carly.brown@thebusygroup.com.au
