KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – Around 3,000 Knox County 8th graders, high school students and their parents were expected to attend the eighth annual Knox County Schools Career Fair on Tuesday evening.

The free event was sponsored by AT&T and brought in 80 area businesses to meet with students about making the transition from school to the workplace.

According to school officials, the event is important to the success of students, regardless of their plans for the future.

"Some of these young people are going to be in jobs that haven't even been invented yet,” said Scott Bacon, Supervisor of Business Partnerships at Knox County Schools. “It sounds like it's a young age, but it's not too young as an 8th grader or high school freshman to think about careers and the opportunities that are ahead of them.”

Each business that participated set up a booth in the Knox County Expo Center. They represented various industries that ranged from restaurants and retailers to construction, banking and medical care.

“We tell kids all the time, when you are 14, 15, 16 years old, you need to get out and ask a lot of questions,” he said, “talk to a lot of folks and go to events like this.”

Some businesses also offered week long internships for junior high school students.