Members of Valley Leadership’s Class 33 launched a virtual career fair which will allow students from sixth to eighth grade to have access to insights about their possible career options from professional role models, via an innovative website called AZCareerConnect.com.
The website hosts short video interviews from professionals in more than 20 fields, with more being added on a regular basis. Professionals answer the types of questions young students are most likely to ask when thinking about future professions, such as what they need to study to be in that field, or what is the best part of one’s chosen profession.
AZCareerConnect.com has reached eight middle schools and 500 students in its pilot project, with over 400 unique visitors to its role model videos. The project expects to reach 300 more students this year.
The project team called “Dream, Inc.” has partnered with Be a Leader, a Phoenix nonprofit dedicated to building leadership skills in students between this age range.
The project is not only a virtual “career fair,” but is also paired up with a matching curriculum, which teachers can access for free to help students think about their future careers, as well as a detailed worksheet that helps students map out a personal career exploration plan.
