{"id":17890,"date":"2026-02-02T11:42:32","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T16:42:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/?p=17890"},"modified":"2026-02-02T11:42:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-02T16:42:34","slug":"virginia-western-uses-virtual-reality-to-help-students-explore-career-paths","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/02\/virginia-western-uses-virtual-reality-to-help-students-explore-career-paths\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Western uses virtual reality\u00a0to help students explore career paths\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Gamification is greater than old-fashioned career assessments.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s&nbsp;the theory behind Virginia Western Community College&#8217;s latest outreach through the Hall Associates Career Center, which is using virtual reality headsets to give students a preview of jobs that might interest them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Dr. David Porter,&nbsp;Career Center Manager, began work in his post this academic year and was looking for a tool &#8220;that would draw students into a situation where they could safely do what we call work-based learning.&#8221;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Robinhood is an investing app. The&nbsp;reason why&nbsp;Robinhood took off is because it took a very dry topic and it gamified it,&#8221; Porter said. &#8220;So now you have 20-year-olds that are doing a lot more investing because it&#8217;s fun to do.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"771\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2026\/01\/VR-Headset_Career-Center_resized-771x1024.jpg\" alt=\"At the Hall Associates Career Center, Virginia Western student Michelle Brown uses the virtual reality headset with career exploration modules from Transfr Trek.\" class=\"wp-image-17895\" style=\"width:350px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2026\/01\/VR-Headset_Career-Center_resized-771x1024.jpg 771w, https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2026\/01\/VR-Headset_Career-Center_resized-226x300.jpg 226w, https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2026\/01\/VR-Headset_Career-Center_resized-768x1020.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2026\/01\/VR-Headset_Career-Center_resized-1157x1536.jpg 1157w, https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2026\/01\/VR-Headset_Career-Center_resized-1542x2048.jpg 1542w, https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2026\/01\/VR-Headset_Career-Center_resized.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">At the Hall Associates Career Center, Virginia Western student Michelle Brown uses the virtual reality headset with career exploration modules from Transfr Trek.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>At the same time, he pondered the rise of virtual reality systems. &#8220;Well, if I bring you into the&nbsp;center, and&nbsp;I have you sit down at a computer and do an assessment, well, that&#8217;s something,&#8221; he said. &#8220;People like to discover themselves, but still,&nbsp;it&#8217;s&nbsp;just an assessment. Inside the headset, you can take a career assessment that is a gamified system where it asks you questions, and then based on the results, it will suggest to you any one of more than 50 career paths. You can then do 8- or 9-minute sessions of virtual reality immersion into that career.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The module for paramedics, for example, is at the scene of a simulated motor vehicle accident. &#8220;You&#8217;re assessing the&nbsp;patient,&nbsp;you&#8217;re pulling the patient out of the vehicle, putting them on a stretcher,&#8221; Porter&nbsp;said. &#8220;You get to see firsthand in a controlled environment, what could this be like? Could this be something that I would be interested in?&#8221;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The College invested in three VR headsets that use modules from&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/transfrinc.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Transfr&nbsp;Trek<\/a>, a program designed for immersive career exploration and training. Students can walk into the career center, sign in, and use a headset to explore at no cost to them.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The interactive VR simulations provide a &#8220;day-in-the-life&#8221; view\u202fof jobs that align with potential career pathways. Samples of module options include broadband&nbsp;utility&nbsp;construction, pipefitter,&nbsp;HVAC, surgical&nbsp;technologist, certified&nbsp;nursing&nbsp;assistant, robotics&nbsp;specialist&nbsp;welder,&nbsp;automotive&nbsp;service&nbsp;technician, financial&nbsp;analyst, soil and&nbsp;plant&nbsp;scientist, web&nbsp;developer&nbsp;and electrical&nbsp;engineer. Beyond the modules, users can&nbsp;discover detailed career profiles and up-to-date information&nbsp;on more than&nbsp;150&nbsp;careers.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;I completed the solar panel installation module in the VR program, and it was a great hands-on learning experience,&#8221; said Virginia Western student Michelle Brown.&nbsp;&#8220;It helped me understand the steps of installation,&nbsp;wiring&nbsp;and safety in a realistic way without needing to be on-site. I think students will appreciate how the VR modules make complex concepts easier to grasp and allow them to learn by doing.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2026\/01\/VR-Headset_CareerExploration_resized-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"The VR headsets use modules from Transfr Trek, a program designed for immersive career exploration and training. The module for paramedics is at the scene of a simulated motor vehicle accident. Image courtesy of Transfr.\" class=\"wp-image-17894\" style=\"width:400px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2026\/01\/VR-Headset_CareerExploration_resized-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2026\/01\/VR-Headset_CareerExploration_resized-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2026\/01\/VR-Headset_CareerExploration_resized-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2026\/01\/VR-Headset_CareerExploration_resized-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2026\/01\/VR-Headset_CareerExploration_resized.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The VR headsets use modules from Transfr Trek, a program designed for immersive career exploration and training. The module for paramedics is at the scene of a simulated motor vehicle accident. Image courtesy of Transfr.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>If a student&nbsp;doesn&#8217;t&nbsp;have clear ideas or plans, the VR headset helps staff members discuss&nbsp;possible career&nbsp;pathways. If the student talks about healthcare, for instance, &#8220;Let&#8217;s throw on the headset and take that assessment to see what you may be leaning toward,&#8221; Porter said. &#8220;Let&#8217;s&nbsp;do some&nbsp;modules, and&nbsp;now&nbsp;let&#8217;s&nbsp;debrief.&nbsp;Let&#8217;s&nbsp;have the human conversation where we sit down with you and talk through what do we do now.&#8221;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Users can take a guided tour of an industry and specific jobs, and the online&nbsp;Transfr&nbsp;Trek platform even offers the ability to examine budgeting based on inputs for expenses and what that career is projected to make. &#8220;So&nbsp;it will help me in budgeting the lifestyle, monetarily, and be able to do career planning from a monetary standpoint,&#8221; Porter said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to&nbsp;uses&nbsp;within the Hall Associates Career Center, the headsets are being deployed in two other areas: outreach to middle and high school students, and workforce programs.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>High school students at outreach events will be able to take a&nbsp;mobile career interest assessment and then complete&nbsp;a VR simulation within one of their top careers, said College Recruiter Paige Miller, who said that the modules will be projected&nbsp;so other students are able to view each simulation.&nbsp;&#8220;While students watch their peers, they will be taking notes on what they find interesting about the job and what challenges they may encounter in each job,&#8221; Miller said.&nbsp;The&nbsp;high-schoolers&nbsp;can then discuss&nbsp;what they noticed, what surprised them and how they feel about&nbsp;the&nbsp;career.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;At&nbsp;the middle&nbsp;school age, it is all about exploration,&#8221; Miller said. When middle school groups visit&nbsp;Virginia Western&#8217;s&nbsp;campus, they&nbsp;will rotate through a&nbsp;station with the headsets, see a projected simulation, discuss what they&nbsp;notice.&nbsp;&#8220;The headsets will help students gain an understanding of what these careers actually are and open up conversations to learn about the education requirements and pathways to getting a job in each field,&#8221; Miller said.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Transfr&nbsp;reports that 75%&nbsp;of middle school and high school students&nbsp;said&nbsp;the platform&#8217;s&nbsp;career exploration VR simulations were informative for their career decisions and expressed a desire to pursue further VR training.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For workforce programs, the&nbsp;TransfrTrek&nbsp;application employs the ability to assess skill level.&nbsp;A student has the ability to go through in-depth, curriculum-based interactions in the headset that are up to 20 minutes long. The program then grades the student on skills doing those curriculum-based activities in the headset.&nbsp;After that, there is an opportunity to remediate any weak areas by practicing the specific skill sets. Earning badges for workforce skills is another potential benefit.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The VR headsets provide engaging simulations and user-friendly analysis in short spans of time, Porter said. &#8220;That&#8217;s why I wanted to go with virtual reality, because it just ticks off so many checkmarks for what students these days need and what they&#8217;re interested in.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The Hall Associates Career Center offers a full range of comprehensive in-person and online career services to\u202fstudents\u202fand\u202falumni. Career specialists are available for in-person and virtual services Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.\u00a0Students may schedule a Zoom, phone, or in-person appointment through\u00a0the\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/advising\/schedule-an-appointment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><em>Navigate Student<\/em><\/strong><\/a><em>\u202faccount.<\/em> <em>Alumni and community partners may reach the Career Center by emailing\u00a0<\/em><a href=\"mailto:careercenter@virginiawestern.edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><em>careercenter@virginiawestern.edu<\/em><\/strong><\/a><em>\u00a0or calling 540-857-7298.<\/em>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2026\/01\/VR-Headset_Manufacturing_resized-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17893\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2026\/01\/VR-Headset_Manufacturing_resized-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2026\/01\/VR-Headset_Manufacturing_resized-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2026\/01\/VR-Headset_Manufacturing_resized-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2026\/01\/VR-Headset_Manufacturing_resized-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/14\/2026\/01\/VR-Headset_Manufacturing_resized.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Interactive VR simulations provide a &#8220;day-in-the-life&#8221; view of jobs that align with potential career pathways, such as this scenario in the Manufacturing module. Image courtesy of Transfr.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gamification is greater than old-fashioned career assessments.&nbsp; That&#8217;s&nbsp;the theory behind Virginia Western Community College&#8217;s latest outreach through the Hall Associates Career Center, which is using virtual reality headsets to give students a preview of jobs that might interest them.&nbsp; Dr. David Porter,&nbsp;Career Center Manager, began work in his post this academic year and was looking&hellip; <a class=\"continue\" href=\"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/2026\/02\/02\/virginia-western-uses-virtual-reality-to-help-students-explore-career-paths\/\">Continue Reading<span> Virginia Western uses virtual reality\u00a0to help students explore career paths\u00a0<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-campus-news"],"featured_image_src":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Erica Myatt","author_link":"https:\/\/www.virginiawestern.edu\/news\/author\/emyatt\/"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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