One of the easiest ways to search for your next employee is to post to the AWFS® Job Board. Free to everyone, this resource is provided by AWFS to the entire industry to help our members and other wood industry companies find the right person for the right job.
 |
The Society of Wood Manufacturing (SWM) is AWFS®‘ volunteer arm with a long-established chapter in Southern California and a developing chapter in the New Jersey/NYC area. Working with SWM allows companies and employees the opportunity to reach out to students, teachers, and administrators through activities like career fairs, helping coordinate student competitions, giving out information at industry conferences, and more. See more about SWM here. |
What is a shadow day? Sometimes a school or student doesn’t have the time or knowledge to participate in a longer-term program like an internship or apprenticeship – but this doesn’t mean they can’t come to your company and learn about what you do! Shadow day(s) can be one or more day where you invite specific students to come into your place of business and shadow one or more employees. This way a student really gets to see what your business and the industry is like before making a larger commitment. See some resources below about how to approach a school and offer Shadow Days as an option for their students:
 |
If your business is looking to open its doors to more than one or two students, consider planning tours with a whole class of kids. Whether you plan this for Manufacturing Day in October each year, or another time of the school year that makes more sense for your business, hosting students and teachers for a tour is a brief and exciting way to inform students about the wood industry. Usually spanning less than 2 hours, a tour is a lighter lift for a business than a long-term venture like offering apprenticeships. See some resources below to get started: |
One of the best ways of reaching students (your future employees) is to get that information to them through their teachers! A big part of being an educator is continuing to learn and interact with industry to explore career options for their students. A teacher externship has teachers (or sometimes administrators or guidance counselors) come to your business for a tour, interactive activity, career panel, and more to help them plan out lesson plans or projects for their students. If you are interested in hosting a group of teachers for a day and working with them to develop curricular content for their classes see:
An internship is a step above the education interactions listed above. Typically, a high school or college internship lasts one to three months and offers students a sustained opportunity to work in a real business and learn from the ground up. The type of work that students perform is usually lower-level office work or shop floor tasks (with appropriate age and liability covered). Internships do not need to be paid positions – but it is encouraged for companies to do so. Building an internship program requires deeper interaction with a school or school district but can lead to a long-lasting partnership with that school and provide a dedicated talent pipeline for your business. See some information below on how to get started:
 |
Unlike an internship, apprentices are hired positions for someone that is looking to gain in-depth skills of a particular trade. Apprenticeships typically last one to three years depending on the career and are linked to an officially registered apprenticeship with either the Department of Labor, the state your business is in, a trade union, or even a local Department of Education.
The goal of hiring an apprentice should be to mold your employee from the ground up the way you want them to work. You are teaching them the trade as opposed to a school-based program that may or may not align with contemporary industry practices. This is the most in-depth way of building your workforce pipeline and possible getting logistical and financial support through a government agency to help. Interested? See more information below: |
Contact AWFS® Education Director Tovi Spero at tovi@awfs.org or (323) 215-0311
