Veteran Opportunities in Advanced Manufacturing

CAREERS

GET INTO THE ADVANCED MANUFACTURING INDUSTRY

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hen Daniel Brewer was getting ready to transition out of the U.S. Navy, he really had no idea what he was going to do for the rest of his life. “I enlisted when I was 18, so I basically grew up in the Navy,” he says. “When I got out at 24, I was like a young person getting out of college. I was still trying to figure out what I wanted to do.”

While in the service, Brewer worked as an aviation electronics technician, serving in Norfolk, Jacksonville, Italy, Africa, and Afghanistan. He worked a high stress job on the flight line, servicing C-2 Greyhounds and E-2 Hawkeyes.

Our industry nationwide sees vets as a preferred workforce.

Once discharged from service he happened to get a job at the Advix manufacturing plant in Lebanon, Oh., and it was while working there that he learned about Get Skills to Work, a coalition managed by The Manufacturing Institute in partnership with major advanced manufacturers like GE, Boeing, Alcoa, and Lockheed Martin. With a goal of getting 100,000 veterans into advanced manufacturing jobs by 2015, GSTW seemed to Brewer like a perfect avenue for advancing his career. “I learned about it while studying at Cincinnati State Technical and Commu-

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CAREERS

nity College and heard GE was looking to hire 1,000 veterans every year for five years,” he says.

He entered the program, taking an aptitude and personality test as well as participating in a certification program, landing an interview with GE two weeks after getting out of GSTW. “I was the only one in my class with an aviation background,” he says. Today Brewer works as a testing technician for GE in Vandalia, Oh., earning comparable pay to his Navy salary. “It’s almost the exact same job I did in the Navy, just different parts.”

Advanced Manufacturing Sector is Looking for Veterans Brewer’s story isn’t unique. Brett Vassey, president and CEO of the Virginia Manufacturers Association, says right now there is a massive skills gap in advanced manufacturing across the nation. He says there is a 56 percent shortage in talent in specialized jobs like tradesmen and technicians.

In Virginia, Vassey says 20 percent of the advanced manufacturing workforce is 55 older and that the industry in Virginia alone will need to replace about 40,000 retiring workers in the coming years. “It’s a major driver of opportunity,” he says. “Vets may be our saving grace.”

That’s because the industry has moved from being “labor intensive to technology intensive,” and veterans often already have those specialized skills.

That’s one reason for the launch of the Get Skills To Work program and others like it. Advanced manu-

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Workers Needed Now Vassey says that 85 percent of the occupations for which the advanced

leadership capacity will make vets especially career-ready in this sector.

The following entry-level jobs have high demand now for workers: • Manufacturing, chemical and industrial maintenance technicians

• Fabricators • Quality control workers

• Welders

• Transportation service providers

• Machinists

• Logistics personnel

Weil indicates that certain advanced manufacturing sectors have substantial demand for employees now. Those include the oil and gas sector with highest demand in Texas, Louisiana, Pennsylvania and Ohio, as well as the bio-tech/medical device industry. “Precision machining,” he adds, “is universally in demand.”

facturers are in dire need of committed and talented manpower, and military veterans offer it. Like GSTW, Virginia’s own Military2Manufacturing program offers vets a streamlined way to find career information in advanced manufacturing as well as ways to translate their military skills into civilian employment. Military2Manufacturing has an automated system that translates MSO codes to RSO codes.

“Then we send the vets through an assessment, and if there is a skills

gap, we show them how to get the certification or degree they need to land a job in our industry,”Vassey explains. He admits it has taken awhile for the industry to make sure that military certifications translate in the civilian world. “Industry certifications have finally started ‘cross-walking,’” he says. “We now have reciprocity in the private sector.”

With that reciprocity in place, through programs like GSTW and Military2Manufacturing, Vassey says a vet can acquire two to three

What Can You Make?

One major appeal of advanced manufacturing is not just the transferability of military to civilian skills but also the salaries. According to Vassey, an entry level manufacturing technician can expect to make wages of $50,000+ per year. With more academic training and industry experience, a vet could

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Where To Find Training and Jobs For more information on available jobs in the advanced manufacturing sector as well placement assistance, check out these resources: Get Skills To Work: www.getskillstowork.org Right Skills Now: www.rightskillsnow.org Military2Manufacturing: www.manufacturingskillsinstitute.org/ military2manufacturing Dream It Do It Virginia: www.dreamitdoitvirginia.com/ occupations/military For more information on schools around the country that offer National Asso-

credentials in six to eight weeks of training that will make him or her employable in an entry level position in advanced manufacturing.

Another training and job placement option for veterans seeking careers in Advanced Manufacturing is the Right Skills Now program, a partnership among The Manufacturing Institute, ACT, the National Institute of Metalworking Skills, and the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. “This program started in Minnesota at two community colleges,” explains Brent Weil, senior vice president for education and workforce at The Manufacturing Institute. “With 16 weeks of training in CNC machining operations, for example, you can get four industry certifications, and you’ll participate in an eight-week paid internship.”

Meanwhile, the GSTW program, specifically for veterans, can get one certified in advanced manufacturing production in as little as four weeks with four industry certifications.

“Many manufacturers across all in-

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to do applied mathematics and familiarity with workplace safety and quality assurance practices.

• The ability to take initiative and handle a crisis are critical skills for this industry and ones where vets already have substantial experience.

• Employers are seeking a highly motivated workforce that can fill gaps in employment now.

dustries have made a commitment to hire vets,” Weil says. “They possess so many employability skills needed in this industry.”

“Our industry nationwide sees vets as a preferred workforce,”Vassey says, though he admits veterans will probably have to go to larger companies to encounter a Human Resources department that understands the important skills they bring to the job.

“The new veteran is one who problem solves, is entrepreneurial, and a team player,”Vassey adds. “We love people who thrive in change.”

What’s Required of an Entry Level Employee in Advanced Manufacturing?

• Secondary training, typically at the community college level, is necessary for an entry-level advanced manufacturing position but not an advanced degree.

• Workers need core competencies, including the ability

Advanced manufacturers are in dire need of committed and talented manpower, and military veterans offer it.