Facebook, IM, And Chat Rooms Allow "One-on-One"
Recruiting
College job fairs and campus recruiters may soon become a thing
of the past (those tactics are so 20th century!) for aerospace
industries working to appeal to college students and young
professionals.
In an effort to attract the young to augment and replace the
rapidly graying US aerospace industry, reports the Associated
Press, recruiters are turning to techniques that are second nature
to this generation and provide as much one-on-one interaction as
technology can provide.
Let's face it. With the average age of an aerospace worker in
2005 at 45, by 2008, approximately one of four will be eligible to
retire.
Industry analysts say there is still time to avert a shortage --
if the effort begins now, said Jeremiah Gertler, assistant vice
president of the Aerospace Industries Association.
So what's a BAE Systems, a Boeing, a Lockheed Martin, a
Rolls-Royce PLC to do?
Answer? Go directly to their target market and stay in constant
touch by chatting with, say, MIT students, online and putting
future leaders on the professional fast-track.
Boeing, yes our Boeing, last year advertised a contest on
Facebook to win an iPod Nano or iTunes gift card. Facebook users
who entered listened to a short video promoting the company and
answered a multiple-choice quiz. The company followed up with job
openings.
Lockheed Martin, the nation's top military contractor, started a
chat room on its Web site earlier this year where recruiters host
daily one-on-one instant messaging sessions with job seekers, said
Pete Bugnatto, a Silicon Valley recruiter.
In addition to using the latest technology, aerospace companies
are "fast tracking" their own young workers.
Rolls-Royce PLC, the
world's second-largest aircraft engine maker, started a training
program in 2004 grooming 20-somethings to become its future
leaders. Where normally it can take 10 years to get promoted, under
the accelerated program, a worker can become a middle manager in
five to six years.
So how is this being accepted by those 20-somethings? Said MIT
aerospace engineering student Justin Wong, who came across a sleek
Boeing job ad on Facebook.com last fall, "My first impression was
that Boeing is getting with the times. It shows the company is
making an effort to talk to us on our level."
Wong saw the banner as a "two-way street," reaching out to
today's youth in their virtual playground.
The 21-year-old senior, who interned at Boeing, will work at the
company's satellite division following graduation.