Olympic champion Lizzy Yarnold was among the inspirational figures giving youngsters expert advice at a careers fair at Detling Showground today.

Around 5,000 students and jobseekers are expected to attend Kent Choices 4 U Live, staged by KM Group on behalf of Kent County Council.

There were more than 100 stalls manned by potential employers, giving youngsters a taste of a diverse range of careers, from hairdressing to horse racing, engineering to further education.

Representatives from BAE systems, Army Careers, Microsoft and the KM media group were among the exhibitors.

Nearly a third of all secondary school children from Kent are thought to have attended the event, which began yesterday.

Lizzy, the former head girl at Maidstone Grammar School for Girls, joined celebrity chef Rosemary Shrager and kmfm’s very own Rob Wills on a panel of successful young people who offered advice to students about to start thinking about their own careers.

Rosemary, who was originally an artist before moving into cooking, said her recipe for success was 30% talent and 70% hard work - a sentiment she shared with Lizzy.

The gold medal winning skeleton athlete, 25, said: “At age 16 knew I wanted to be an athlete. It is about following your heart and making yourself work hard every single day to improve.

"It has also been alot about mental strength and how you approach every single situation and being prepared to fail

"I had to make 100 mistakes to work out my technique.

“For my sport, success is about physical talent and skill but the majority is hard graft.”

Maplesden Noakes School student Scott Greenwood, 14, said the fair had made him think about a career as an electrician. He said: “I didn’t know what I wanted to do before I came, but after speaking to people from JTL Electrical and Plumbing I’m considering that as an option. I like the idea that being an electrician is a career for life.”

The event was supported by The Skills Show, The European Social Fund and the National Careers Service.