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UNK Program Tackles Need for Qualified Workers

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This article is being made available free through a partnership with PTDA and the Industrial Careers Pathway.

Marketing industrial distribution to younger generations without family ties to the industry has been a challenge for many companies. University programs, such as the Industrial Distribution program at the University of Nebraska at Kearney, are working to counter that problem and prepare students to meet the needs of the industry through a variety of experiences including internships and a hands-on simulation lab. MDM visited UNK during the program’s Spring Career Event to take a closer look at how schools are preparing students for careers in distribution.

The U.S. jobless rate remains a sticking point in recovery. In March 2011, the rate continued to hover around 9 percent. But several companies – including wholesaler-distributors – have reported having trouble finding qualified candidates to fill openings. At the same time, industrial distribution programs, such as the one offered by the University of Nebraska at Kearney, are graduating more students than ever before.

The ID program at UNK is now the school’s third largest major, but just a few years ago, they struggled to recruit students. Part of the problem was awareness of what industrial distribution was. “Let’s face it, no one grows up thinking ‘I want to sell toilets,’” says Brad Kulus, a senior in the UNK ID program from Grand Island, NE. Brittany Galvan, a junior also from Grand Island agrees.

“I had heard about the program, but I had no idea what it was,” she says. “But now that I’m here, this really is where I want to be.”

The challenge is connecting those qualified graduates with the companies who need them, says Brenda Jochum, internship coordinator for the ID program at UNK. “Academia cannot do it alone,” she says. “Businesses have to be involved.”

Many businesses are jumping at the chance to partner with the UNK ID program through their career fairs, offering internships or full-time employment to students. At the Spring Career Event in February, 29 companies held interviews with students looking for positions. And a majority of those companies had program alumni representing them.

Internships: the 12-week Interview
When considering interns, each company has its own set of attributes it looks for. For IBT Inc., an industrial distributor based in Merriam, KS, the most important attribute is a “personality that fits,” according to Gary Hense, director of marketing. “The students from UNK come so prepared we don’t have to worry about that aspect.”

Other companies, such as Summit Electric Supply in Albuquerque, NM, are looking for longevity. “Companies want to know that if they invest in talent they’re going to be able to retain the talent,” Jochum says.

Retention is high for companies who participate in the school’s internship program, with about 50 percent of students returning to full-time employment with the company where they interned.

“We tell the students and the companies to think of the internship as a 12-week interview,” Jochum says. In addition to students learning more about the business, companies learn if the student is a right fit for the company culture – something that isn’t always clear from a 15-minute interview.

Even if the company doesn’t keep the student who interned there, the odds of recruiting another student from the program are much higher because of the internship due to the networking requirements of the internship program.

Students keep journals and participate in online discussions about their experiences at the companies, Jochum says. “So if you’re not offering an internship, the students don’t know anything about your company, and chances are they won’t even consider you.”

The internship program from UNK requires students to get a broad-based experience

from the company. “Students have to see outside sales, they have to see inside sales. They have to experience administrative responsibilities,” Jochum says. “We want them to really understand the business of distribution. … The internship is really a transition from student to professional status.”

Some companies have been hesitant to allow students to have that face-to-face encounter with customers, simply because they don’t understand the role of the internship in developing the student, she says. For those naysayers, Jochum provides a report showing the successes other companies have had with allowing students to take on those roles.

“For us, internships are the lifeblood of our leadership development program,” says Chris Lyons, global accounts manager in Omaha, NE, for Shelton, CT-based electrical distributor Gexpro. “If they come in without that experience, it can be a real crapshoot if the business is going to like you and if you’re going to like the business.” Lyons graduated from the UNK ID program in 2001.

It’s not just about hiring students, says IBT’s Hense. It’s about “injecting young talent into the company.”

Hands-On: Learning through Doing
Students in the industrial distribution program at UNK don’t just know the industry from lectures; they also receive hands-on training through the school’s simulation lab.

The creation of the lab was led by Dr. Jim Toppen, who modeled the lab after an HD Supply training branch he used to manage with a $50,000 grant and donations from several distribution companies.

This included a Prophet 21 ERP system donated by a partner company.

“This lab is an $800,000 operation if we had to get everything in it at market value,” Toppen says. “The only thing missing is the smell of coffee and a popcorn machine.”

Students learn everything from front counter sales to packaging and shipping to forklift operation in the various sections of the lab. Students learn how to manage a showroom, how to stock and retrieve materials from different types of racking, how to operate conveyor systems to access mezzanine levels and even how to do take-offs.

“The best compliment we can receive is when someone walks through the front door and says ‘Wow, this really is what we do,’” Toppen says.

Faculty members – who all have experience in the industry – serve as customers, providing as many unexpected situations as possible to prepare the students for as many real-world situations as possible.

In one role play encounter, two students were faced with the challenge of explaining why there was Chinese writing on the sample part they brought with them to a firm “Buy American” customer.

“We try to make it as realistic as possible for the students,” says Greg Benson, coordinator of the UNK ID program. Benson worked in the purchasing field for about 25 years before joining the faculty at UNK.

Between the internships and the simulation lab, students learn real-world skills that they can take with them to the business world, Jochum says. And that goal is evident to the companies that hire from the program.

“The talent base here is incredible,” IBT’s Hense says.

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