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Students ready for careers will set up booths and welcome prospective employers in a series of reverse job fairs to be held across West Virginia in April and May.

The West Virginia Development Office’s “Apprenticeship In Motion” program will stage the reverse job fairs at career technical education centers, according to a news release from West Virginia Workforce Development.

“Reverse job fairs are a spin on the traditional job fair where Career Technical Education Simulated Workplace students will set up industry-specific program booths to showcase their technical skills, portfolios, and talents to employers who are looking to hire skilled workers,” Sharon Adams, Workforce Development manager for the West Virginia Development Office, said in a news release.

Apprenticeships combine classroom instruction and paid on-the-job training to teach high-skill or in-demand occupations, Adams added.

She said the Apprenticeship In Motion (AIM) program promotes registered apprenticeships in West Virginia, with particular emphasis on nontraditional industries such as health care, manufacturing, high-tech, information technology, cybersecurity, logistics, tourism, and hospitality.

“Since launching the AIM initiative, our team has engaged with more than 400 small-business owners, company representatives and other critical workforce development partners in the Mountain State,” Adams said in the release. “AIM helps expand the apprenticeship model in West Virginia and close the gap for our diversifying workforce.”

To continue to build out programs, AIM and the West Virginia Department of Education are partnering to host the series of reverse job fairs in April and May around the state.

Potential employers who should attend the reverse job fairs include small-business owners, senior business leaders, company representatives and human resources executives.