EXHIBITORS at Kingston Maurward College showed visiting pupils that choosing a job doesn't have to be dull.

From farm animals to helicopter simulators, there was something at the festival to hold the interest of every single pupil.

And the visiting teenagers were quick to realise that there's something out there for everyone.

Taking to the skies and seeing the world could be more than a pipe dream, pupils discovered.

It can become a reality through Weymouth College's travel and tourism courses.

Pupils got a taster of what it might be like to work 37,000 feet in the air by trying out stewarding skills in a plane interior replica.

The college's popular cabin crew course is now in its second year and requires students to run their own travel agency.

Travel and tourism lecturer Janine Hodson said: "A lot of young people do the course because it's a way for them to get out of the area.

"But there are also plenty of employment options around Weymouth in its tourism industry."

Flying a helicopter in the Army - the dream stuff of many teenagers - is a career option open to all pupils.

Lance Corporal John Morrison, of the Army Air Corps, said: "With our helicopter simulator it's the first time a lot of kids have sat in an aircraft.

"A lot of them don't realise that they can be a pilot in the Army without having to take loads of exams and needing lots of qualifications."

Others explored dreams of working in the field of fashion during the skills day.

Joshua Pickering, 15, even took to the catwalk as part of a models' fashion show.

"I'd like to do something in the fashion retail industry one day and have learnt about visual marketing on a work placement," he said.

Getting inside the mind of a child was the daunting prospect faced by pupils who've dreamed of a career in childcare.

The teenagers were challenged to step back in time, roll up their sleeves and go wild with some play dough - to get them in touch with toddlers.

Dorset Sure Start's Tina Ironside said: "A lot of it is getting down to a child's level. We want them to imagine what it would be like to be a two-year-old.

"There are so many levels in which you can enter the profession - from school with training or as an early years professional with a university degree."