Wow Factor Helps Students Choose Career Paths
In Southeast Alabama, job availability is outpacing employers’ ability to fill positions. With an area unemployment rate of just 2.6%, there are about 2 jobs for every one jobseeker. Sometimes it can be even 3 or 4 jobs, depending on the location. That amounts to a ton of opportunity but not enough skilled labor to fill those openings.
These statistics, provided by Southeast AlabamaWorks Executive Director Katie Thomas, have her organization working harder than ever to link employers with potential employees, including those who have not yet embarked on their career paths. One way Thomas’ group is doing this is through the WOW factor — the Southeast Worlds of Work career fairs, 2 annual events that bring together thousands of 10th and 12th-grade students with area companies.
The 2-day WOW events bring in students from the 10-county area served by Southeast AlabamaWorks, called Region 6, with a West WOW fair held in Andalusia and an East WOW fair in Dothan. This year, West WOW brought together 2,500 students on January 24 and 25 at Andalusia’s Kiwanis Fairgrounds, and the East WOW on February 14 and 15 drew 2,900 students to the National Peanut Festival facility in Dothan. In all, that’s 5,400 students with access to about 300 potential employers, Thomas says.
Each company or vendor at the events has a booth with interactive displays. Among these are PowerSouth Energy Cooperative, the electricity provider for South Alabama Electric Cooperative and 19 other distribution members, as well as serving as 1 of WOW’s biggest supporters. PowerSouth’s hands-on demonstrations, including poles set up and equipped just for the display, have earned recognition as the most interactive booth.
“WOW is a very hands-on career fair,” Thomas says. “The students can test-drive a career that’s available here locally. This event is an opportunity to show an entire generation what opportunities there are if they stay here. We can show these young people that they don’t have to leave home to have great jobs and to have high-paying jobs right here in their backyard.”
This is the second year the WOW career fairs, which began in 2016, have involved 10th and 12th grade students. Previous attendees were 8th graders. “We used to bring all 8th graders in because in 8th grade we could make those impressions on students before they selected their career pathways in ninth grade,” Thomas says. “But business and industry really asked us for older students and wanted to be connected with students that they could potentially hire after high school. So we swapped and went to 12th grade, and we also do the 10th graders so they can set up co-op and internship opportunities.”
Technical Direction
Southeast AlabamaWorks still reaches out to 8th graders, but it’s done at the schools instead of as an off-site career fair. The group takes virtual reality headsets to students in their classrooms, where they use VR as a captivating tool for career exploration.
Immersion in technology is also highly visible at the WOW fairs. Students can be seen staring at their cellphones as they walk among the vendor booths, but they likely are not looking at social media. Each student and vendor is given access to an app that helps them navigate the fair and provides a direct connection between employers and potential employees.
“When the students come in, they’re told that they’re going to go to 2 different buildings and experience different industries within each building,” Thomas says. “They’re encouraged to spend all their time interacting with the booths. Through an app we use called Career Fair Plus, each vendor has a QR code on their table, and each student has registered in the app ahead of time and has their resume uploaded. They can scan a QR code and drop their resume to employers they’re interested in, and on the back end of it, we share that information with the employers.”
The range of industries and careers represented at WOW is staggering, from medical to agricultural, construction to utilities, and just about everything in between. The common thread is the need for skilled employees. Southeast AlabamaWorks is trying hard to not only provide access to those potential employees but to also keep them in the region once they are no longer students.
“Southeast Worlds of Work is incredibly important to business and industry in our local communities because it’s a way to connect companies with their future employees and make an impression on young people who haven’t Agriculture Automotive Aviation Construction building science Health sciences Hospitality Manufacturing Media and IT Public service and military Transportation and logistics Utilities With this welding simulator, students are able to virtually weld, see the results of their efforts and get guidance from the teacher. decided what path to take yet,” Thomas says. “So, this is extremely important, not only to show them the jobs that are available but to retain that talent in our local community so we can thrive here. We want them to stay here.
“We fully believe in this event,” she adds. “It’s just a small portion of the work we do, but the main objective is to make sure people in Southeast Alabama can hire the best people.”
As a nonprofit, Southeast Alabama-Works gets its direction from the Department of Commerce and the governor’s office. “We have certain things we have to do to meet our metrics for the state of Alabama,” Thomas says. “Having this event used to be 1 of those things, but it’s not something we’re required to do anymore. Now we do it because we fully believe in this event and the opportunities it presents for our young people.”
While students are the focus at the WOW career fairs, Southeast Alabama-Works also has a program that takes teachers to visit area employers. “When we educate our teachers about the opportunities, they pass that along to the students,” Thomas says. “Students sometimes even educate their own families and parents about it, and there’s this trickle-down effect.
“Our main objective is to make sure that businesses in Southeast Alabama can hire the most qualified people,” she says. “So we’re just trying to make sure that happens in a number of ways. This interaction with high school students is only a small drop of what we do.”