Become an Industry Champion
Inspire local talent. Strengthen your future workforce.
Industry Champions are at the heart of how the Kent & Medway Careers Hub connects young people with the world of work. By volunteering your time and expertise, you help students understand real career pathways, develop essential employability skills and make informed choices about their future – while strengthening your own talent pipeline.
Working with the Careers Hub, Industry Champions take part in flexible, practical activities that fit around business priorities and create meaningful impact across Kent and Medway schools and colleges. You don’t need previous experience of working with education – we’ll support you every step of the way.
Turning engagement into impact
Already engaging with schools & colleges? Turn that activity into clear impact for your business and future workforce. At the Kent & Medway Careers Hub, we help employers move from one-off activity to a more focused, strategic approach that delivers long-term results.
More information
As an Industry Champion, your engagement could include supporting:
- in‑school workshops and careers talks – bringing roles, routes and industries to life
- Skills360 events – Reverse Speed Interviews where young people with SEND ask the questions
- skills development sessions – helping students build confidence, communication and workplace behaviours
- future recruitment support – CV workshops, mock interviews and assessment centre activities
- co‑designing engagement – working with the Careers Hub to shape impactful, employer‑led activities
- teacher encounters – hosting educators to give insight into your industry, roles and skills needs
- workplace tours and visits (1 hour, half a day, a full day) – whatever your capacity opening your door to young people will broaden their horizons and inspirations
- work experience placements – give young people real insight into your business, while spotting and shaping future talent.
Activities can be one‑off or ongoing, delivered in‑person or virtually, and tailored to what works for your business.
- Build awareness of your sector and career opportunities.
- Support future recruitment and workforce diversity.
- Develop your employees through meaningful volunteering.
- Strengthen links with local schools, colleges and communities.
- Contribute to tackling local skills gaps in Kent & Medway.
Give an hour. Share your expertise. Help shape the next generation of talent.
We work with you to connect engagement with real business outcomes. This includes helping you build a stronger talent pipeline, develop a clear and consistent approach to working with education, and reach a broader, more diverse range of young people.
We also support you to understand what’s working, measure your impact, and continuously improve your approach.
To underpin this work, we use the Employer Standards from The Careers & Enterprise Company.
This free framework provides a simple way to review and strengthen your approach, helping you align activity with your business goals, benchmark your progress, and deliver high-quality experiences for young people.
Employers using the framework see stronger talent pipelines, improved diversity, and better alignment between skills needs and recruitment.
Why it matters
Effective engagement with education is not just about giving back — it’s an investment in your future workforce.
A more structured approach helps you address skills gaps, strengthen your brand, and plan with confidence for the future.
Interested in becoming an Industry Champion?
If you’d like to play a strategic role in shaping the future workforce across Kent and Medway, we’d love to hear from you!
Together, we can help you build your future workforce while creating meaningful opportunities for young people.
To register your interest, please click the link below.
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