Web Seal Promotes Manufacturing Careers to High Schoolers

Web Seal joined a group of local area businesses at a first-time high school Career and Trade Fair this morning, specifically to promote manufacturing as an important career choice.

With the declining number of high school-age students across the country entering the workforce, along with the impending retirement of many seasoned professionals in the trades and manufacturing, industries across the country are challenged to find enough young talent for their businesses.

Most students today have little or no knowledge about the manufacturing field.  Julia Magone, director of employee development at Web Seal, sparked interest in students participating in the fair through several activities:  having students match Web Seal fabricated parts with the correct blueprints, guessing the function of selected parts, and demonstrating simple hand-held measuring tools.  Once students had gained some basic insights into Web Seal’s job shop operations, they were intrigued about the little-known world of industrial sealing components as well as the larger world of industrial manufacturing.

The expo was a perfect opportunity to speak to students directly about the wide variety of jobs available in manufacturing and STEM fields, from the production floor, materials management, and warehousing to quality, R&D, supply chain management, engineering, and packaging.  Students were interested in learning what kind of educational preparation would be needed for manufacturing jobs, what on-the-job training is typical, and salary ranges.

Greece Arcadia High School, part of a large suburban school district outside Rochester, NY, sponsored the fair to introduce sophomores and juniors from three schools to a wide range of career opportunities, challenging them to broaden their ideas about the workplace.  Web Seal offers entry-level manufacturing jobs and on-the-job training to high school graduates.