Tag: careers

Guest Post: Is Your Class Model Preparing Students for Career Success?

Beverly Amer is President’s Distinguished Fellow in the W.A. Franke College of Business at Northern Arizona University. She is also author of a workbook for college students on practicing soft skills and director of the 45 videos we provide with our text

Chances are good you’ve followed recent trends and have blended or flipped your OM course. Great! You’re modeling the kind of “workplace” students will join when they start their careers. They’ll be expected to source and evaluate resources independently, and come to work with knowledge, ready to contribute. But I suspect you’ve encountered a few bumps along the way, not the least is student confusion about what’s expected of them when so much of the “work” – that which you used to lecture over in class – is squarely on their shoulders.

My flipped undergraduate courses have benefited greatly from what I call a “student responsibility agreement.” It’s a simple syllabus appendix that explains our class model’s role in preparing them for career success, and my expectations of them. We all have classroom expectations, but reframing them along the lines of “career preparedness” can change the lens students use to view how their class behavior now can impact their future. I give this piece of advice: “If you can be the person in the room who not only identifies the problem, but generates 1 or 2 workable solutions, you’ll be viewed as an asset everyone will want on their team.”

So here goes – my list that moves the student from passive recipient of information to active participant in knowledge acquisition: (1) Read syllabus policies and schedules and use a calendar to avoid missed deadlines; (2) Start work on assignments well before the deadline so there’s time to seek help, if needed; (3) Build relationships with classmates for out-of-class work so in-class contributions are more meaningful; (4) Maximize efficiency by figuring out technology needs – and backups – before needed; (5) Don’t waste the time of your instructor by asking questions already answered in FAQ files, the syllabus, or other assignment materials; (6) Technology failures are never an excuse for missed deadlines; and (7) Sending me an email excuse for failure to finish right before a deadline does not guarantee any acceptance of such excuse.

Earth-shattering? Probably not. But laying a foundation of expectations early and explaining why learning to be a self-starter and problem-solver now can only benefit your students later.

Teaching Tip: Attracting Students to Supply Chain Management Careers

Perhaps it’s not too much of a stretch to compare the changes that the current workforce is experiencing to the first time that human beings stood upright, writes IndustryWeek (Oct. 23, 2018). This change certainly feels life-altering to employees who have gone from a world where intelligence resided in their own minds to now working directly with intelligence housed in machines.

“Robotics, Big Data manipulation, machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques are enabling machines to match or outperform humans in a range of work activities, including ones requiring cognitive capabilities. These rapid advances also make it possible for workers to turn over the more analytical tasks to computers and move on to activities that require human intervention, such as resolving problems and managing change,” explains Prof. Richard Crandall, at Appalachian State U.

Where historically there was a strong emphasis on quantifiable capabilities, now it is the softer skills that are needed. Skills such as the ability to work well in teams and being innovative and creative when evaluating problems are at the top of employers lists. The challenge today is to find that person who is proficient at the technical level and can provide leadership. (One study, by the way, found the demand for supply chain professionals exceeds supply by 6 to 1.)

In a recent report by Deloitte, talking about talents that supply chain employees should have, 73% of respondents say it is extremely or very important to have technical competencies. But even more, 79%, say leadership and professional competencies are extremely important. Other skills that are becoming more important are the ability to manage global/virtual teams, the ability to persuade and communicate effectively, and the skills to both lead and develop others.

The good news in all of this is that Millennials have career preferences that exactly align with what is needed. They are looking for challenging work and like being on teams. So when you are talking to your OM students about careers, supply chain management may ideal. Employees are touching the lifeblood of the organization and doing foundation work that is influencing how decisions are made.

Teaching Tip: Talking to Students About Manufacturing

Our OM students hold many misconceptions about the manufacturing industry. There’s a widespread belief that the U.S. manufacturing industry is in decline, that jobs are going overseas, and that the industry doesn’t provide fulfilling or well-paying careers, particularly for younger workers. But this couldn’t be farther from reality.

The Manufacturing Institute says that nearly 3.5 million manufacturing jobs will need to be filled in the next decade, and 2 million of those jobs will go unfilled (Industry Week, Oct. 23, 2018). The available jobs, even at the lower rungs of manufacturing, pay well, too. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average annual salary for manufacturing production jobs is $44,595 ($21.44 per hour). In truth, the average pay for the manufacturing industry is comparable with jobs in the technology sector. For example, the average base pay for a manufacturing supervisor is $64,118, for a manufacturing engineer $71,679, and for a director of manufacturing, $146,412. That’s significantly more than what most students expect when they think about compensation in the manufacturing industry.

There’s also a perception that manufacturing jobs are repetitive, monotonous, underpaid, and involve working in decrepit, dirty factories. But the industry has evolved and is more dynamic and complex than it used to be. There’s more technology, more data, more analysis, more creativity, more gamification, more critical thinking, and more problem solving.

Our students often don’t view manufacturing as a desirable career option, and that poses a big problem. The growth of industry depends on worker participation of all demographics. Hopefully, our OM course will show that there are real opportunities for them, from professional growth to dynamic learning environments to competitive compensation. While the service sector remains a big part of the U.S. economy, manufacturing also contributes mightily and isn’t going away anytime in the foreseeable future.