Episodes

Making a plan for career success starts in K-12 schools! At Transfr, we’re passionate about helping the professionals at these foundational schools help their young students get on their own personal pathways to career success. Join us as we continue our conversation with Ashlyn Ozment (Career Development Coordinator) and Zach Martin (Career Exploration Teacher), both from Kannapolis Middle School in North Carolina, as well as Ross Kasun (Director of Content, Programs, and Strategy for K12) abou...

The world of work is constantly evolving! Dedicated educators and counselors at K-12 schools are working hard to help their students understand their career possibilities and create education and training plans that will help them reach their goals. We sat down with Ashlyn Ozment (Career Development Coordinator) and Zach Martin (Career Exploration Teacher), both from Kannapolis Middle School in North Carolina, as well as Ross Kasun (Director of Content, Programs, and Strategy for K12) from Tran...

Ryan Ott is the Executive Director of Big Ideas, a nonprofit in Minnesota that specializes in helping students understand the opportunities available to them in the building trades. From a challenging start in high school to starting a career in the building trades and eventually starting and running his own company, Ryan’s journey was filled with twists and turns. Hear how he got to where he is today and why he’s so passionate about helping young learners get on their own pathways to upward mob...

Almost no one’s career path is a straight line. Amanda’s had some unexpected turns that ultimately led her to the place — and the person — who she is today. From Galveston Bay and the restaurant industry to Austin and anti-poverty programs, join us for a look into one person’s journey to helping as many people as possible find their own pathways to prosperity.

Transfr’s own Amanda Longtain has spent years creating anti-poverty programs designed to help people forge their own pathways out of poverty and into living-wage careers that give them dignity and upward mobility. Amanda’s work here at Transfr continues that trend, helping job seekers in Texas get on a fast track to careers in the electrical construction industry. Join us for a look at how the idea for this and similar programs came about and what they have to offer.

Career exploration is a vital part of how people choose their a role for their working life. Ryan Ott, from Transfr client Big Ideas, and Transfr’s own Amanda Longtain delve into how VR career exploration is helping young people learn about an array of different careers and build their own unique pathways to well-paying jobs in high-demand industries.

Career exploration is a vital part of the educational journeys of students and job seekers of all ages — but what’s actually going on in the real world where the rubber meets the road? To find out, we sat down with Ryan Ott, from Transfr client Big Ideas, and our own Amanda Longtain to talk about how career exploration changes lives and get some real stories from the field.

Career exploration is one of the most important activities students and job seekers undertake along their career journeys. That's why we put so much time, energy, and thought into our VR career exploration product. We sat down with Transfr's own Bryant Harrison, Director of Project Management, and Shelly Hu, Executive Producer to discuss why career exploration is so important and how we've improved our industry-leading simulations to make them even more useful for schools, workforce boards, and ...

Understanding the effectiveness of VR is a complex process and one that the industry as a whole is only just beginning to grapple with. Here at Transfr, we’ve assembled a team of learning experts to put our own simulations to the test and find out from users of all kinds exactly what works and what can be improved. Join us for an engaging conversation with two of our lead researchers and hear about what we’re discovering in our studies and what’s coming in the future!

“Is VR effective?” “Does VR really work?” To answer these questions, Transfr has built up an industry-leading team of learning experts! Hear about the work they’re doing in this exciting episode.

Every nontraditional career path deals with overcoming challenges. Yun Jin’s story has twists and turns she never saw coming, which profoundly changed the way she approaches understanding each individual learner. Don’t miss her inspiring story!

The aviation maintenance sector is poised to have a lot of open roles to fill in the coming years. So how can educators and workforce agencies help fill those gaps? On this episode, hear from Brian Hartz (former Business Owner, Virtual Training Facility) as well as Emily Perks (Employer Services Manager at Man-Tra-Con) and Karen Johnson (Associate Professor and Program Coordinator, Aviation Technologies at SIU Carbondale and VP and Journal Editor ATEC) as they discuss the state of the industry a...

A lack of trained, certified aviation mechanics spells disaster for transportation, logistics, shipping, and a host of other industries. It's going to take the right tech and the right people to help train the future of this vital sector. For this episode, we're joined by Transfr instructional designer Jeff Hodson and Southern Illinois University professor (among other numerous titles) Karen Johnson for an fun, informative dive into how we turned Karen's years of experience into a series of in-d...

Instead of going college, Transfr Creative Producer Ryan McLaughlin went on tour. Join us on a journey through his unique background, complete with ups, downs, and an inside look into the life of a working musician and producer. It's a story of how life can take you to unexpected places and bring you where you need to be.

The challenges for present and future healthcare workers are great, but tools like VR training are helping level the playing field. Hear from Transfr's Head of Health Sciences, Lori Hardie, and Senior Experience Designer Sydney Beaumont how VR sims can help these essential workers get the reps they need to master vital skills. Plus nursing director Lori Yates-Hodges and Registered Nurse Sydney Denstorff help us understand how this kind of training can positively impact education for frontline he...

Healthcare is in crisis: Fallout from the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, combined with older professionals aging out of the industry, have created a looming wave of vacancies in this vital industry. Only a combination of human effort and technology can help stem the tide.

Jeanine A DeFalco, PhD, is Transfr's Director of Instructional Design, but getting here was anything but a straight path! Explore her story, from theater and retail to a PhD and career in learning science, in this fast-paced, compelling interview. You'll leave with a new appreciate for the power of data and storytelling.

Transfr founder and CEO Bharani Rajakumar's family immigrated to the US when he a small child. Growing up, he did a wide array of jobs before eventually founding Transfr. Check out his inspiring story and hear his vision for a world where there are more diverse pathways towards career success and upward mobility in this fun, thought-provoking chat!

Manufacturing is surging back here in the USA, but not everyone knows it — especially not young people just entering the workforce, as well as job seekers of all ages who could swell the ranks of this critical industry. Transfr sims give learners of all stripes the skills they need to tackle the manufacturing jobs of the future.

When it comes to finding the right job, you need to see it before you can be it! VR career exploration is one of the most important things we do hereat Transfr, so it seemed like a natural progression to bring career exploration everywhere — without special equipment — and thus our AR Experience was born! We sat down with Transfr's own Ali Zaccaria (VP, Creative) and Tom Darling (Director of Career Exploration and Product-Market Fit) for a spirited discussion of how we stood up this amazing prog...

The US Department of Labor projects that an estimated 795,700 electricians will be needed by 2030 to meet the demands of our evolving energy infrastructure and deal with current electricians retiring. Averting this crisis will take a team effort: Hear how TRIO Electric and Transfr are tackling it in this robust round table conversation, featuring TRIO CEO Beau Pollock, Transfr CEO Bharani Rajakumar, Transfr producer Eric Garner, labor expert Eric Seleznow, and electrical construction SME Myron L...

Building a line of new VR training simulations for a trade is a complex job — no one can do it alone! That’s why Trio Electric and Transfr teamed up to build an industry-defining package of simulations designed to help programs of all kinds give their trainees a background in essential skills for the field, making them more effective on day one. We sat down with Trio CEO Beau Pollock and Transfr CEO Bharani Rajakumar, and labor expert Eric Seleznow from Jobs for the Future for a fun, fast-pac...

The electrical construction industry is in crisis: Electricians are retiring at an unsustainable pace — averting disaster will take a combination of technology and human effort. Here at Transfr we partnered with Trio Electric, a Houston-based electrical construction company, to build industry-leading hands-on simulations to augment Trio’s own training programs and help empower schools and CTE programs of all kinds to get their local learners on the path towards rewarding careers in the Electrical Construction field. We sat down with former Director of Instructional Design on Electrical Construction Kelly Novic and Electrical Construction SMEs Johnnie Parker and Myron Laurent to discuss the process of building these new training modules and what makes these modules so powerful for learners and training programs.