There are many ways to address our current workforce challenges – and we should be trying them all! It will take all of us as an industry to address the big issues, for example:
— We need to increase awareness about our industry and our careers.
— We need to shift the perception of the industry and our career opportunities.
— We need to offer more industry training and work-based learning options for students and potential workforce.
— We need to work with our representatives and government agencies to ensure that funding and access is available to employers and employees to match skills and jobs.
It can feel overwhelming, but if we all take small bites, we will begin making an impact. One thing that can be done at the individual (or business) level is virtual guest speaking for classrooms.
Saúl Martín of AWC speaks to students at Tri-Cities ROP (CA) in February 2022.
Career Technical Education teachers are usually welcoming to industry professionals speaking to their students about their career path. The students are generally receptive to the guest speaker — it’s a “new” and credible voice for them to hear.
If you already have a relationship with a school (i.e. as an advisory committee member, volunteer, sponsor, etc.), the opportunity may arise naturally: the teacher may schedule a time with you to speak to the class (in person or virtually). This tends to be the ideal approach, because everyone knows each other and the presentation can be tailored based on the industry professional’s strengths and the classroom needs.
Example: In February 2022, Tri-Cities ROP (Whittier, California) hosted a series of virtual “Career/CTE Events”. Advisory committee members from each of the CTE programs were invited to speak about their careers. Saúl Martín, of Architectural Woodworking Company (AWC) of Los Angeles, participated as a presenter. He showed the students images of finished AWC projects, and he discussed his educational background and the types of skills and qualities that are important for careers in a professional wood product manufacturing facility. Each presentation was brief (5-10 minutes) and students had the chance to ask questions via chat. Educators and students from three different schools within the district attended the event.
Hank Montgomery of Stiles Machinery presented to students at Sashabaw Middle School (MI) in March 2022.
What if you don’t already have a relationship with a particular school? There are online resources that help industry professionals connect with schools. One of these resources is Nepris. Any industry professional can sign up for Nepris for free, and schools will reach out to you directly to request and coordinate a guest speaking engagement. Nepris conducts a background check for all speakers and assists with all technical support for the Zoom session.
Example: In March, Hank Montgomery of Stiles Machinery delivered a 30 minute presentation to 7th grade students at Sashabaw Middle School in Michigan. This was part of their Career Day, where students heard from many virtual presenters in different industries. Hank’s presentation focused on the “Manufacturing Technician” career pathway. He addressed topics like the education and training needed for this job, salary ranges, important skills and abilities, his favorite aspects of the job, and much more. He emphasized that personal skills are most critical and strongly encouraged them to “begin developing habits for success now that will carry you into your career”. Because Hank and Stiles are also located in Michigan (Grand Rapids), the teacher was interested to hear about a viable employer for her students. We hope this could lead to more collaboration between Sashabaw Middle School and Stiles. You can learn about another Nepris event here.
Once you identify a school, either through an existing relationship or a platform like Nepris, you will want to get the details and start planning:
— How long will the session be? They usually range anywhere from 15 minutes to 1 hour.
— Will you be the only presenter or are there others — and if so, are they representing the same industry/career or different ones?
— Identify the questions or topics that should be addressed. The teacher will usually provide these, sometimes the teacher will also ask the students to prepare questions in advance (or ask during the session).
— Some of the most common questions relate to salary. If you have readily available salary information that you can direct the students to, it is certainly helpful. However, sometimes this information can be sensitive, or vary due to location, type of company, industry segment, etc. If that is the case, it’s still helpful for students to understand that you are able to make a good living from your career. Can you provide tangible examples of how this career supports you and your family without explicitly stating your salary? Sometimes this is more memorable and relatable than stating a salary range, especially for younger students.
— It’s best to show visuals for students, like images (or video) of machinery or process, images of the production environment, and images of finished products or projects.
— However, don’t plan on a lengthy “PowerPoint” with tons of slides and copy, which will be overwhelming and uninteresting to students. They would much rather see your face or other visuals.
— Try to make it engaging, ask questions or trivia. “Have you ever thought about how many parts are in a CNC machine?” or “Can you guess how long it would take to complete a project like this?”
— If possible, finish with a website or other resource where they can go to learn more. It’s generally not recommended to provide your personal contact information to secondary students (unless this is specifically requested by the school/teacher and you and your company are comfortable with it). On the other hand, if you are talking to post-secondary students and open to hire, definitely share your contact information!
Either way, you can always direct students to YouWood.com – a student and job-seeker focused website about careers in the wood manufacturing industry.
If you have any questions or would like to learn more about classroom guest speaking, contact Adria Salvatore at AWFS.