Kelley Fujino
Marketing & Industry Awareness Committee Member
Lubbock Electric Co.
“My shop is understaffed. I don’t have enough winders.” This is an increasingly common refrain that we hear at EASA meetings. I’ve spoken with owner-operators who are spending more of their time winding motors nowadays. What’s worse, some shops have been forced to close their winding departments. Even if your shop is fully staffed now, you should anticipate this trend to eventually impact your business.
One challenge that our industry faces in recruiting young workers is lack of awareness. Today’s youth have grown up in a digital economy. Even those who report an interest in skilled trades say they don’t know enough about them. Motor winding certainly doesn’t show up on their radar. It’s up to EASA members to teach them about the viable careers in electromechanical repair.
Fortunately, EASA has already done some of the heavy lifting for us with Motors Drive Success. Motors Drive Success is a free, turnkey PowerPoint presentation that introduces the electromechanical repair industry to the uninitiated. It comes with completed slides and a script, but you can customize both. The presentation starts with a narrative that helps young people reflect on how rotating electrical equipment makes every facet of their daily life possible. From there, the presentation delves into the role that electromechanical repair companies play in keeping critical industries running and how to start a career in this field.
In October 2022, I visited a nearby middle school to speak to students in a vocational career-focused club during their lunch period. I used the Motors Drive Success presentation and finished my talk within the 20 minutes I was allowed. Most of the students were engaged throughout my presentation, and the faculty advisor asked me to return next year. I believe it was worth my time to talk to students, and I challenge all members to give it a try!
How to Get Started
First, download the presentation for free from EASA’s website, easa.com. After logging in, you can easily find Motors Drive Success under the Resources header on the homepage. You can also go directly to https://easa.com/mds.
DOWNLOAD THE POWERPOINT FILE
Next, select schools to visit and identify the personnel to contact. Most high schools have college and career readiness programs, and trade schools have career advising programs. You should be able to find the contact information of school counselors involved in these programs on the school’s website. In my experience, they are eager to have industry representatives come speak to students, so it shouldn’t be difficult to pitch in most cases.
Make it Your Own
Motors Drive Success is designed to be a complete presentation, but I would encourage you to tailor it to your business and local industrial landscape. Substitute some of the pictures with photos from your shop. Add pictures of motors in the facilities your company services (with your customers’ permission, of course). More importantly, tell stories of repairs your company performed that are highly relevant to your audience.
When I gave my talk, the South Plains Fair had recently left Lubbock. One day during the fair, a motor failed and was brought to our shop. This forced a ride to shut down while our mechanics worked quickly to repair it. Hearing this story, the students immediately grasped the importance of the work we do. No one wants to experience the disappointment of their favorite ride being closed!
Discuss Specific Career Paths
or my presentation, I added slides about being a mechanic, manual machinist, winder and field service technician. I included videos of our own employees working in the shop to help them visualize the day-to-day activities. I explained the opportunities for certifications and career progression in each role, and I discussed the earning potential of each job as well. This is the number one question on students’ minds, so don’t avoid the subject.
Give Them the Next Steps
What should students do to prepare for a career in electromechanical repair? You will need to lay out their next steps for them. Motors Drive Success ends with an introduction to EASA, and I would suggest that you add more guidance. In my presentation, I introduced my company and invited the students to follow us on social media. Our social media channels often function as a “lookbook” for our company culture and the life of electromechanical repair technicians. Actively following this content will help students see if this field is a good fit for them. Moreover, this keeps our company in front of them as they begin to plan their careers. I also introduced the students to trade schools in our city and state.
Our efforts to teach students about our industry will take time to pay off, but we can’t sit back and expect tomorrow’s workers to find us if they don’t know our industry exists. Giving talks at schools a few times a year is one step we can all take to open young minds to careers in electromechanical repair. I plan to visit more schools in 2023. I hope you take the first step by downloading Motors Drive Success today!
Visit easa.com/mds for more information.
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