Posts Tagged ‘Heath Weems’
How To: Get a Manufacturing or Wholesale Distribution Job After College
Monday, October 27th, 2008
A recent study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers revealed that in light of an economic downturn, employers plan to hire 1.6 percent less college graduates than they anticipated in August
But while more than half of the 146 organizations surveyed also said they planned to cut hiring, the study revealed stark differences in hiring expectancies between the manufacturing and distribution industries. While manufacturing industry plan to hire nearly as many college graduates as they did two months ago,the distribution and utilities industry expects to hire 17.6 percent less.
The association typically conducts its job outlook survey annually, said Andrea Koncz, its employment information manager. Researchers felt compelled though to poll the respondents again for more than a week in October, seeking more up-to-date information.
"We kept hearing more bad news coming from Wall Street," Koncz said, "and with the original projections in August… we didn’t feel comfortable going with that."
Despite expected cuts, today’s employers still plan to hire 1.3 percent more college graduates than they did from the class of 2008, In response to the study’s findings, Heath Weems, National Association of Manufacturers director of education and workforce policy, and Phyllis Russell, Power Transmission Distributors Association Foundation executive director, talked with goWholesale about these industries’ abilities to hire and how college graduates can find jobs in both.
The Current State of the Industries
In general, manufacturers are downsizing unless they export or carry a product with a niche, Weems said. He attributes this trend to increasing global competition, though he also argues that its full impact has yet to be seen.
In a National Association of Manufacturers survey conducted three years ago, 81 percent of manufacturers responding said they faced a moderate to severe shortage of qualified workers. About 65 percent of them said also that they could not find enough scientists or engineers. Not much has changed since, Weems said.
Meanwhile, because of their close ties with manufacturers, distributors are just as affected by the economic downturn, Russell said. But college graduates can also look forward to a number of job openings to come, due to, at the very least, the number of baby boomers retiring.
"This year’s tough everywhere, but that is not a long-term trend," she said.
"Homework" Assignments for College Graduates and Industries
From a manufacturer’s perspective, "just because you’re unemployed doesn’t mean you’re employable," as Weems said.
A lot of positions available in the industry now require some sort of post-secondary training, by either working toward a two-year degree or participating in some other credential program. The great question then becomes, "How do we target resources to the unemployed to give them the training and skills employers are looking for?" as Weems said.
With that, the time for an answer is now. Since training programs take anywhere from six months to two years to complete, Weems says that the manufacturing industry needs to make them more readily available as soon as possible.
"If we don’t try to address those challenges now, we’re going to be back to where we were before, in need of those skilled workers. It’s going to hurt our ability to rehabilitate."
Meanwhile, Russell assures college graduates that they still have a number of job opportunities available – but they cannot wait for them to come knocking.
College graduates first need to look beyond the bigger distributors, to the smaller ones located outside of the cities.
"We still hear from many industrial distributors that they are hiring, that they are interested … that they are looking for folks," Russell said. "But those companies are not always located in the biggest cities."
In such an economic environment, college graduates also need to be assertive. They need to be seeking employment in those smaller distributors, for they "are not going to be showing up necessarily at college career days," as Russell said. Graduates can also still approach the bigger distributors, or any distributor they wish.
"If you know that you’re prepared for walking in and introducing yourself, not waiting for those openings, but rather saying, ‘this is the work that I want to do’ … that is tremendously appealing for an employer."
Bottom line: whether college graduates want careers in manufacturing or distribution, they must understand the industry and develop the necessary skills. As for the industries themselves, they may need to prepare themselves as well for the class of 2009’s arrival.
"Now may be a great time to snatch up some talented graduates," as Modern Distribution Management said last week .
Tags: Andrea Koncz, christina lee, college graduates, distribution, employment, Heath Weems, manufacturing, Modern Distribution Management, NAM, National Association of Colleges and Employers, National Association of Manufacturers, Phyllis Russell, Power Transmission Distributors Association Foundation, PTDA
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