What does a career really look like before you have had the chance to experience it?

For Hellas Direct and St. Catherine's Futures team, that question helped spark a partnership that has grown alongside the school's Career Exploration Programme from its very beginning.

From a Pilot Programme to a Growing Opportunity

The journey began in 2024, when members of our parent community, Mr Alexis Pantazis and Mr Emilios Markou, Co-founders & Executive Directors of Hellas Direct, approached the school with a shared belief in the value of giving young people meaningful exposure to the workplace before they make important decisions about their future.

With their enthusiasm and the support of the wider St. Catherine's community, the school launched its pilot Year 12 Internship Programme in 2024, with 32 students completing week-long placements across 13 companies. Fast forward to 2026, and the programme has grown to 21 host organisations and approximately 45 Year 12 students, with more than 120 students gaining meaningful workplace experience over the past three years.

Hellas Direct has remained part of that journey from day one, continuing to open its doors and helping students experience first-hand what it means to work within a modern technology company.

Career Exploration in Action at Hellas Direct

This July, our Year 12 students returned to Hellas Direct as part of the programme's flagship Internship Week. But this was not a week spent simply observing from the sidelines. Students became part of the team.

Working together on real business challenges through design thinking, they experienced how ideas are explored, tested and developed in a professional environment. Along the way, they met engineers, marketers, data scientists, product managers and colleagues from across the organisation, discovering how different skills and perspectives come together to solve problems for customers.

For Hellas Direct, the purpose of the experience has always extended far beyond introducing students to the insurance industry.

As Alexis Pantazis, Co-founder & Executive Director of Hellas Direct, explains:

"One of the biggest decisions young people make is choosing what to study, often without ever having experienced the careers they are considering. We wanted to help bridge that gap by opening our doors and showing students what a modern workplace really looks like."

That opportunity to experience rather than simply imagine is at the heart of Career Exploration in Action.

By stepping into a real workplace, students begin to understand not only what different roles involve, but also the skills that connect them. Communication, teamwork, adaptability, curiosity and problem-solving become more than concepts; students see them in action and have the opportunity to practise them themselves.

And sometimes, the most valuable outcome is not finding an answer, but discovering better questions.

"The most rewarding part of the week is seeing students become more confident. They arrive with questions about jobs; they leave asking bigger questions about the kind of people they want to become and the impact they want to have,"

shares Emilios Markou, Co-founder & Executive Director of Hellas Direct.

A Partnership That Continues to Grow

Looking back, one of the most satisfying aspects has been seeing an idea that started as a parent-led initiative develop into a programme that now reaches so many students across such a diverse range of industries. What makes it special is the partnership between the school, parents, alumni and participating companies, all working towards the same goal: helping students make more informed choices about their future. 

Hellas Direct's involvement from the programme's earliest days is a powerful example of what this collaboration can achieve. By sharing not only their workplace, but also their people, expertise and perspectives, they give students access to something that cannot be replicated in a classroom: an authentic understanding of professional life.

As our students enjoy their summer and reflect on the experiences of another year, the learning from Internship Week continues well beyond those few days in July. New perspectives, greater confidence and perhaps even new possibilities for the future travel with them.

We extend our sincere thanks to Hellas Direct, and to Mr Alexis Pantazis and Mr Emilios Markou, for helping inspire the programme from its beginnings and for continuing to invest their time, expertise and enthusiasm in our students.

Together, we are helping young people move beyond imagining their future and start exploring what it could become.