Eighth-grade students from across Oklahoma learned about working at Williams in a unique career fair offered virtually by Junior Achievement of Oklahoma.

The JA Inspire event typically is held in-person but because of COVID restrictions, this year transitioned to a fully virtual event that allowed even more students to participate.

Williams was among employers to host a virtual booth, where students could find out more about the company and industry, including videos and chats with employees.

“JA Inspire shows students the different career paths available to them,” said employee Duane Chalmers, who serves on the board of JA of Oklahoma. “Going virtual had some exciting benefits. With in-person events in both Tulsa and Oklahoma City in prior years, we were able to reach around 1,000 students in each location. With this new virtual medium, we were able to reach nearly 10,000 students from all across the state on the day of the event, and another 20,000 are expected to access the site post-event.”

JA Inspire offered students the opportunity to learn about careers directly from industry representatives in time to begin planning for their high school course work and better prepare themselves for life after high school graduation.

“One of the most important things for young people to see is opportunities in the communities and states where they live,” said Erica Irvine, vice president of operations for Junior Achievement of Oklahoma. “They are able to see a company like Williams and the vast array of job opportunities available.”

Williams engineer Danielle Rogers volunteered to chat with students and said she was amazed by the quality of questions they posed.

“Students inquired about what Williams does, where Williams operates and Williams employment requirements pertaining to education and work-life balance,” she said. “One student in particular asked several questions about what we’re doing to combat greenhouse gases and to what extent Williams is participating in the alternative energy arena. Overall, JA put on a great event that was well organized and I look forward to participating again next year.” Williams was a sponsor of the event, and also supports other Junior Achievement organizations around the country. Williams President and CEO Alan Armstrong serves on the board of Junior Achievement USA.