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JA Inspire Career Exploration Fair

November 1, 2022 to August 31, 2023

Date

Nov 1, 2022

Location

No Travel Needed

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Semi-Live and On-Demand Webinars

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JA Inspire - A Career Exploration Fair

What is JA Inspire Virtual?

The JA Inspire program is a powerful, interactive experience for thousands of middle grades and high school students. It enables them to virtually interact with local business professionals and explore different types of careers. This experience empowers and informs their high school class selections and prepares them for life after high school graduation.
JA Inspire allows NYS companies to come together to represent careers for students to explore and see the connection to their future. Businesses can recruit and grow the future workforce. This promotes a stronger economy locally and regionally across NYS.
Students will be introduced to a variety of careers with a focus on top employers in the following career categories, which are also referred to as career clusters or industry clusters.

  • Business, Marketing & Management
  • Communication & Information Systems
  • Health Sciences
  • Human Services & Resources
  • Industrial, Manufacturing & Engineering

Frequently Asked Questions

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EDUCATORS FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Students in grades 8-12 are encouraged to participate. The benefit and growth is valuable for all. *Middle or high school students can access the link and explore up to 365 days after live event on November 1, 2022.
Contact JA of Central Upstate NY (Rochester) Marie Kamp at marie.kamp@ja.org or OR A of Western NY (Buffalo) Alycia Ivancie at aivancie@jawny.org.
JA will provide the school with downloadable career lessons and assessments, and other tools to evaluate the students’ interests and how they relate to those who are in different careers.
Yes. A downloadable workbook will be available to each school. Students may use the workbook during the virtual career fair. The actual experience is self-guided. Students should visit the exhibit halls and auditorium.
If attending scheduled semi-live or live webinars someone from your school needs to be present during the event(s) to monitor students.
Schools may provide the JA staff person they are working with the students’ rosters. JA staff will create unique login information for your students prior to scheduled time in the JA Inspire site.
Yes. A list of exhibitors can be found here
No. However, we suggest students visit the booths first and once finished, attend the webinars in the virtual auditorium. Students may revisit booths throughout the day. The workbook allows students to map their course before the day begins.
Students will be given a virtual backpack. They can add pamphlets, video links, flyers and other information from exhibitor booths to their virtual backpack and email it to themselves. Students are also able to return to their career fair until August 31, 2023.
Check with your school’s technology department for any firewalls that may deny access for students or teachers.

EXHIBITOR & SPONSOR FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Many companies are experiencing a shortage of skilled workers. Junior Achievement of Central Upstate New York’s Inspire event gives students an opportunity to explore careers they may not have considered previously. The JA Inspire event gives students an opportunity to explore careers they may not have considered previously. Your sponsorship makes this event possible. Your support broadens the horizons of what’s possible for thousands of students across NYS! You’re empowering them to dream bigger!
JA Inspire will have a minimum of 10,000 students from across our combined 33 counties in Central and Western NY attending throughout the year. Not only will students be able to visit booths, download documents, watch videos and explore careers on the Kick-Off Day, but they will be able to return 24/7 for a year for repeat visits so that they can show their friends, parents, and guardians or review something they want to look at again or missed on the day of the event.
JA expects thousands of additional students who were unable to attend the live event to visit the site during the 365 days on-demand period.
This gives sponsors and exhibitors recognition over the long-term – beyond the live event and provides a long-term, in-depth opportunity for students.
Yes. The vFairs Platform has created an automated process to create and populate each JA Inspire exhibitor’s booth. JA will send a link to the exhibitor contact and you can begin building your virtual booth. It’s important to have all files gathered before you begin this process! It will take approximately one hour to build your booth.
The JA Inspire exhibitor contact is usually someone from your marketing, HR or talent and recruitment departments. Once you have assigned this project, please forward their contact information to Kelli Maisel at kelli.maisel@ja.org. Cati will send your contact all information concerning the event and your exhibitor virtual booth link.
Each booth includes the following items:
  • Company profile
  • Contact information
  • Links to company website, and videos posted on YouTube or another site
  • Pre-recorded video(s) – optional but highly recommended for students to view after the live event because not all students will be participating live
  • Presentations or PDF documents that you want students to download. It is recommended to upload no more than 10 files and give them identifiable names.
That is an option available to you. If no one is available, the importance of having pre-recorded videos that will engage the students is even greater
The JA staff will send you a link to your booth so that you may access the easy booth uploader. You will be able to choose a booth template that will meet your needs as well as the design and color of your booth.
When you select your booth template, you will see the specifications for each.
All photos or graphics can be linked to your company website, YouTube, or any company/organization sites that will help you tell your story. If your company provides links to your social media pages (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.). please be cautious about the content the students will see. If it’s not appropriate for middle grades or high school students DO NOT share social media links.
You will be able to organize your uploaded information into a series of content links that will appear in a menu at the bottom of your booth page. You can name them whatever you want. Examples are: About Us, Careers, Internships, Apprenticeships, Hot Jobs, News and Events, Contact our HR Department, etc.
  • Students will be curious about what they would experience in “a day in the life” of someone who works at your company. You could choose several job types and create low-tech iPhone videos that follow your team members through different job activities.
  • You can film a cool chemistry experiment or some other activity that illustrates what your company does.
  • You should make sure to include footage of the work environment and the skills that you are looking for in prospective employees.
  • You can also use videos that you have already created to promote your company.
  • Keep in mind that students will want to take in information in “bite-sized” pieces because they will be excited to explore all of JA Inspire; for that reason, your videos should be no longer than 2-3 minutes each.
Exhibitors can show students images that are related to their company’s work. Examples: A pdf of an airplane could include an explanation of how pilots perform their jobs or could fascinate students with an explanation of aerodynamics. A pdf of a nurse could describe how fulfilling it is to care for others. Whatever you do, keep in mind that the goal is to inspire students to reach out for careers that they will love.
Students will be able to download any document that you post at your booth. You might want to post a document that gives students information about internships or apprenticeships. You might want to give them the email address of an individual in your HR department if students (or their parents) want to request additional information about careers at your company. You might even find that a parent applies for a job!

STUDENT FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

You will have the opportunity to learn about a variety of careers so you can do whatever you dream of when you’re an adult.
Approximately 2 hours, but you’ll have access for 365 days afterwards to return and view anything you didn’t have time to the first time or anything you want to revisit. Feel free to share this experience with your family.
Once logged in, you can explore the auditorium, participate in a scavenger hunt and explore the exhibitor booths where you’ll learn about careers via video and by downloading files to your virtual bag. You can also chat with company representatives to answer any questions you have about careers at their companies.
Yes. We hope you’ll have a great time exploring the virtual career exploration fair, learning about careers, chatting with company representatives about the careers you’re interested in and participating in the scavenger hunt. To ensure a thriving and respectful environment for all, we ask that you:
  • Remember you’re representing your school. Chat will be monitored for inappropriate language and conversations. Inappropriate language or questions won’t be tolerated.
  • Keep questions to exhibitors/presenters related to careers at the company or industry you’re visiting. Please see your teacher if you have any questions.