Attracting The Workforce Of Tomorrow

Toolmakers and precision machinists know that it is a lot easier to get the job done if you have the right tool, and it is even easier if you can use a standard tool instead of making a customized tool. These same principles hold true in promoting careers to the workforce of tomorrow. A great variety of standardized manufacturing career promotional material exists, but, until now, it has never been cataloged and made readily available to the U.S. manufacturers, high school instructors, guidance counselors and community colleges that could most effectively use the material in their recruiting efforts. As a result, the material is rarely used.

Five or ten times a year, I train machining instructors on how to recruit new students. I am always surprised at how few of the instructors are aware of the wealth of material available to them. This column is a first step in making these materials readily available.

Promotional materials are available in a great variety of formats ranging from traditional paper handouts and CDs to e-mail newsletters, T-shirts and access for high school and community college students to manufacturing trade shows. This table lists the items from five associations and Charmilles.

Souce	Trade Show Attendance for Students	Paper	CD	Live Presentations	T-Shirts	VHS Tapes	Web Site	E-Mail Newsletter
AMBA		X
AMT	X
CT		X	X	X			X
NTMA						X
PMA	X	X				X	X	X
TMA	X	X			X

 

Contact information for each of the sources is available by selecting the links to the organizations in the table above. There you will find details about the materials provided by that organization.

Later this year, the Careers in Manufacturing section of the Charmilles Web site (www.charmillesus.com) will include the same information, with links to each of the sources so that you can easily obtain access to all of the items. Additional material will be included on the Web site as soon as it is received. Our plan is to have one site linking everyone who wants to promote careers in manufacturing to all providers of relevant promotional material. We also plan to identify gaps in the available promotional material and try to fill in those gaps.

I encourage you to contact the sources listed and use the listed materials. In addition, please send any unlisted material to me at Harry Moser, President, Charmilles Technologies, 560 Bond Street, Lincolnshire, IL 60069 or harrymoser@charmillesus.com.

I will add all relevant material to the Web page soon. Working together, everyone will have the right tools for recruiting the workforce of tomorrow!