What to Expect
The Orkney Careers Fair is the biggest careers event in Orkney, with over 60 exhibitors and attended by hundreds of people including pupils from local secondary and junior high schools, students from UHI Orkney and the general public. You might not be sure what to expect from the event, so this section includes some information to help you prepare.
ABOUT THE EVENT AND VENUE
The Orkney Careers Fair will be held in the Arena of the Pickaquoy Centre in Kirkwall, on Thursday 1 October 2026, 9.30am-6pm. The arena will be set up with three 'avenues' running the length of the room, with a row of exhibitors set up on either side of each avenue. There will also be some exhibitors set up at each end of the arena. The arena is brightly lit and with lots of people in the space, it can be quite noisy, with lots of competing conversations and activities happening at the same time.
We will not have a quieter breakout space available during the event, but there will be quieter areas in the Pickaquoy Centre you can go to if overwhelmed by the event. If you are finding the arena very noisy, it you can ask exhibitors if they can speak to you out of the Arena, or see if you can set up a conversation after the event. Our event staff can support you with this.
WHEN TO ATTEND
Pupils from Kirkwall Grammar School, Stromness Academy and Sanday, Stronsay and Westray Junior High Schools will be attending during three identified slots throughout the day. During the times the schools will be in attendance, there will be around 200 people in the space at the same time. If you have children at any of the schools and would like to support them in attending this event, you are welcome to do so and when your child(ren) will be attending will be communicated to you by school staff.
To support individuals with additional support needs, or those who may prefer to attend at a quieter time, there will be a relaxed / quieter session between 11.45am and 1pm. There will also be no large school groups at the event between 1pm and 2pm and 3.30pm and 6pm, so you may prefer to attend then as it will be less busy.
FLOOR PLAN
To help you plan who to speak to a floor plan, showing where each exhibitor will be located, can be found at the bottom of the page.
HERE TO HELP
Staff from Skills Development Scotland and DYW Orkney will be on hand to support you at the event. The teams can help you to find your way around the event, speak to exhibitors or support you to engage with opportunities following the event. Photos of staff can be found below.
ABOUT THE EVENT AND VENUE
The Orkney Careers Fair will be held in the Arena of the Pickaquoy Centre in Kirkwall, on Thursday 1 October 2026, 9.30am-6pm. The arena will be set up with three 'avenues' running the length of the room, with a row of exhibitors set up on either side of each avenue. There will also be some exhibitors set up at each end of the arena. The arena is brightly lit and with lots of people in the space, it can be quite noisy, with lots of competing conversations and activities happening at the same time.
We will not have a quieter breakout space available during the event, but there will be quieter areas in the Pickaquoy Centre you can go to if overwhelmed by the event. If you are finding the arena very noisy, it you can ask exhibitors if they can speak to you out of the Arena, or see if you can set up a conversation after the event. Our event staff can support you with this.
WHEN TO ATTEND
Pupils from Kirkwall Grammar School, Stromness Academy and Sanday, Stronsay and Westray Junior High Schools will be attending during three identified slots throughout the day. During the times the schools will be in attendance, there will be around 200 people in the space at the same time. If you have children at any of the schools and would like to support them in attending this event, you are welcome to do so and when your child(ren) will be attending will be communicated to you by school staff.
To support individuals with additional support needs, or those who may prefer to attend at a quieter time, there will be a relaxed / quieter session between 11.45am and 1pm. There will also be no large school groups at the event between 1pm and 2pm and 3.30pm and 6pm, so you may prefer to attend then as it will be less busy.
FLOOR PLAN
To help you plan who to speak to a floor plan, showing where each exhibitor will be located, can be found at the bottom of the page.
HERE TO HELP
Staff from Skills Development Scotland and DYW Orkney will be on hand to support you at the event. The teams can help you to find your way around the event, speak to exhibitors or support you to engage with opportunities following the event. Photos of staff can be found below.
Videos of previous events
Below are five short clips from the Careers Fair in 2024. These clips will help you understand how the event will be set up and enable you to hear what the arena sounds like during the busy sessions.
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Photos of Previous Events
The below slideshow includes some photos from careers fairs that were held in 2022 and 2024, so you can visualise how the arena will look during the event, and to help you see how exhibitor stands may be set up.