We're celebrating National Careers Week by spotlighting inspiring career journeys

Barnsley College is proud to be supporting National Careers Week, helping students explore future pathways and discover the wide range of opportunities available to them.

National Careers Week is all about encouraging young people to explore career options, build confidence and get excited about the future. 
As part of the celebrations, the College is shining a spotlight on staff members whose own careers show there is no single route to success.

Kira Morris, Course Leader for Design, Surveying and Planning and Higher Education in Construction, has been with Barnsley College since 2024 when she started as a Lecturer.

Her role now sees her not only working to support students in their studies, but strengthening links with industry partners and developing opportunities for work placement opportunities.

Kira said her journey into teaching was quite unexpected, adding: “I took a job at another college, where I supported learners within their individual learning plans.

“And my manager saw that I got on really well with the learners and asked if I wanted to start teaching. And then from there I did another qualification, a Higher National Certificate (HNC) in Modern Methods of Construction, while starting to take the Entry Level 3 provision. While I was doing my HNC, I also did my Building Information Modelling qualification.

“And then I started teaching Level 2 across the board. As my career has gone on, I've just taken more and more responsibilities and gone up the teaching ladder, from Entry Level 3 to Level 3 and 4.”

Kira added she has been pleased to see more female students coming into the Construction department.

She added: “The last time I checked it was about 15 per cent of the construction industry is female, but the majority of those females still work in administrative roles.

“Every year that I've been here, we've had more and more girls come into the department. I'm glad that I'm here, and especially in a management position, because students will feel comfortable talking to me as a woman because there is that representation.”

Engineering Lecturer Jack Bradbury joined Barnsley College in December, after 24 years in the Royal Engineers.

Jack joined the armed forces as an apprentice electrician, straight from school – and would go on to serve in Germany, Afghanistan, Iraq, and the Caribbean.

“It probably took me about two years to qualify as a soldier, combat engineer and electrician,” he said. “I went straight to Germany for five years and I loved every minute of it.

“Combat engineering is loads of fun, and then I was getting paid to train to be an electrician as well.”

Jack said he now wants to pass his knowledge and experience on to the next generation – with his background often serving as a talking point to spark their interest.

“I have coached swimming and football for the last few years as my kids have grown up, and people have told me I should look at going into teaching,” he said.

“It's something I can grow into, I can gain qualifications and diverge into other things. When you get your first rank as an Engineer, you’re already teaching other people – you instruct all the time. It’s something I’ve done for probably 20 years, but now I’m getting that actual progression to teach formally.

“Moving into education felt like a natural second career.”

At Barnsley College, careers guidance is embedded across the curriculum, helping students make informed choices about further study, apprenticeships and employment.

Stories like Kira’s and Jack’s show that career journeys are rarely linear, and new opportunities can begin at any stage of life.