Founders4Schools Careers Jam Supports UK Youth in Career Planning

Quick Takeaways

• This was Founders4Schools’ first Careers Jam with vFairs.
• The virtual event was engaging, informative and exciting for a young audience of 16 – 25-year-olds from across the UK, looking for support in their careers.
• 255 individuals from all across the UK joined the Careers Jam to gain quality career education.
• Overall feedback about the event was positive, with attendees loving the engagement features the most!

About Founders4Schools

Founders4Schools (F4S) is a careers education charity that improves the employment prospects of people under the age of 25. It does this by ensuring these business role model encounters are accessible to all, without barriers. It makes it easy for educators to provide these experiences for their students within the classroom or virtually through a free online platform that connects them with volunteer role models in a matter of minutes. The charity also hosts free online events to make career inspiration accessible directly to young people and provides a catalog of on-demand sessions on its YouTube channel as an ongoing career education resource.

Goals for Futures4Students Careers Jam 2022

The Futures4Students Careers Jam 2022 was set up to provide quality career education to young people and support them in their transition from education to the workforce. This applied to 16 – 25-year-olds from across the UK looking for support in their careers, as well as their educators.

Why vFairs?

Founders4Schools wanted to make virtual events engaging, informative and exciting for a young audience. Many contacts from other organizations recommended vFairs, so they decided to go with it. vFairs had a lot of flexible features which helped them create a bespoke environment that was interesting to navigate and explore. By holding the event virtually, they were able to provide equal access and opportunity to career support for all young people.

Event Features

The event hosts used a number of excellent features to make the whole experience enjoyable and engaging for the attendees.

Interactive Workshops

The attendees had the opportunity to participate in hands-on workshops, as well as watch free panel discussions covering a wide variety of subjects and fields. They could also look through the virtual booths to learn more about different companies and the jobs they offer for people just starting out in their careers. In addition, they could apply for open positions as well.

Speakers came from a wide range of groups, from business leaders to young entrepreneurs. They talked about a variety of things, like what it was like to work in their field and how they got there. The people who ran the workshops were experts in their fields and shared their knowledge with the attendees to help them with things like writing CVs and cover letters and practicing interview skills.

Flexible Virtual Environment

vFairs offered a flexible platform to Founders4Schools Careers Jam. The attendees thoroughly enjoyed the interactive sessions and learned a lot from the workshops conducted by speakers from a range of organizations.

The virtual environment was no less than an in-person one. There was a range of companies involved in the event, including large corporate organizations, SMEs, training/apprenticeship providers and educational establishments. Everyone thought the platform was great and they enjoyed being part of the day. 

In The Spotlight: Engagement Features

One of the well-received aspects of the event was the engagement features. There were various ways for attendees to engage and learn, with a multitude of organizations to explore. The young attendees were able to interact with the platform and really benefit from Careers Jam.

The leaderboard was also a great feature where attendees could gain points by completing different tasks. This also encouraged attendee interaction. 

Going Forward

Moving forward, Melanie Bodaly, the Fundraising Partnerships Manager was extremely satisfied with the event. They had a few technical issues which were resolved promptly by the vFairs team. 

Melanie says that they thoroughly enjoyed the session, therefore, they are willing to host more virtual events or hybrid events in the future with vFairs. She praised the flexibility offered by the vFairs platform. All attendees thought that the platform was great and benefitted from the successful Careers Jam!