If you’ve ever talked to an AV integrator, you’ve probably heard them gripe about not being able to find many qualified candidates for entry-level jobs. Audio visual hiring has been and remains a big challenge.
They’re often forced to hire people with little AV experience. Recent IT grads or young professionals make up a good amount of workers. After that, it really runs the gambit: electricians, musicians, audio engineers — I even had one integrator tell me he’s hired a few DJs.
Despite this audio visual hiring problem, many integrators don’t quite know what to do.
Related: Hiring AV Employees: If You’re Not Taking Advantage of These Programs, You’re Losing Out
The AVIXA Foundation and NSCA are doing their due diligence and working on educators from all levels to expose their students to new career paths in the industry. A small amount of colleges and universities even have degree programs in the field.
In a previous life, I wrote about manufacturing in the abandoned mill region of Massachusetts. Ever since the last recession, manufacturers and industry groups have led an effort to revive manufacturing and rebuild that pipeline of young talent.
It should be no surprise to anyone that this came with the incredible help and support of local high schools, vocational/technical schools, colleges and universities.
That even sparked new career paths in advanced manufacturing and biomanufacturing that hadn’t previously been available.
Tell those educators about the industry’s growth and the dozens of career opportunities in the industry.
Instead of hiring someone off the street and spending a year teaching them the ins and outs, leave it to the career educators to do that work for you.
At the very least, introduce the industry to your local high school and colleges. Attend career fairs to drum up interest.
Talk to those schools about internship opportunities for kids studying a parallel industry like IT, engineering or production.
Tell those educators about the industry’s growth and the dozens of career opportunities in the industry.
It’s 2019 and kids learn with their eyes and devices, so show off what your company can do. Maybe you’ll catch the attention of school administrators and the next great AV integrator.
After all, schools are one of the biggest markets for the industry, so use those relationships to your advantage.
