Next Generation of Technicians Interests Peaked at Skilled Trades Job Fair
By: Steve Butler – Business Development Representative
If you were to have a cup of coffee with someone from the foodservice equipment repair industry it will not take long until the two big industry topics, come up, recruiting new talent, and raising the profile of the industry. Luckily on October 1st, I was able to address both areas at the same time by attending the Ivy Tech Skilled Trades Fair in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
Our regular blog readers may remember that we had written about Ivy Tech back in July describing how it had helped with the hiring of a new technician in our Indianapolis office. It was a great blog, but it is part of a bigger story which is about our ongoing commitment to work with schools and colleges to bring awareness to what General Parts Group and indeed the wider foodservice equipment industry can offer to up-and-coming school and college graduates.
For the sake of full disclosure, I should probably let you know that I am a former Ivy Tech student myself and honestly, I have nothing but good things to say about their commitment to help their students transition into fulltime employment. This transition is where industry plays a vital role by supporting this type of Trade Fair in which General Parts was only too happy to take its place amongst other skilled trades industries.
We had a great day and boy were we busy. The event was open to junior and senior high school students as well as existing college students and the public, I estimate there was about 500 people who visited over the course of the day! I am proud to say we attracted a lot of interest, students easily understood how the HVAC skills they could learn at Ivy Tech could be easily advanced into food service equipment of all types. They were also impressed with the ongoing education and manufacturer training available as well as our company’s support of the CFESA certification program.
My takeaway for the day is really a confirmation of what I already knew. Our industry really does have an awful lot to offer and is rewarding not just financially but in the wider career context. Few careers can offer such a variety of equipment to work on. We shall keep on supporting these events and we will keep on learning from them as we must to attract the next generation of technicians.
If this blog interests you, and you would like to learn more about General Parts or need advice about how to select an appropriate community college program for advancement into our industry then please feel free to reach out to careers@generalparts.com. Inquiries from parents’ welcome.