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As part of our commitment to provide our community with content relevant to your career in this industry, we have expanded the Professional Development Series to Twitter.
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For those of you planning to attend the IWCE conference in March, we thought we would pass along this information we received from PCIA.....PCIA Members Receive 25% off the Premium Package, 3 Day Option, or FREE Exhibit Hall Admission! Use Code H29 when registering to receive the discounts!The IWCE conference program delivers content that is informative and relevant, creates dialog and is on the cutting edge of the integrated communications technology industry.IWCE offers traditional sessions...
With Wall Street on a slide, the collapsing housing market, and a soaring unemployment rate, our country is undoubtedly facing economic uncertainties that are impacting all industries throughout the U.S. Cutbacks are prevalent; and while all sectors have been hit, the impact on telecommunications seems to be minimal compared to the magnitude of announced layoffs. From cable slicers (copper) to OSP engineers, telecom job skills are still hot in spite of the state of our economy.
“Despite the abundance of media stories regarding layoffs and unemployment, there are still many job opportunities in the telecom industry,” said Ron Deese, Vice President, Allstates’ Telecom Division. “With more than 60 years in the staffing industry, Allstates brings the experience needed to match those opportunities with the professionals that have the right skill sets.”
For Allstates Technical Services, telecom professionals such as COEI technicians, tower technicians and construction managers are still in demand at many client sites in particular in the northeast and southeast. Furthermore, growth and maintenance of wireless communications which has become imperative to modern life, does not show signs of significant slow down.
Only time will tell how the telecom industry will fare in these tough economic times; but, drivers of telecom jobs such as wireless and wireline communications indicate that this industry is weathering the storm and is well positioned for growth.
Since 1945, Allstates Technical Services has put the right people to work as a full-service provider of staffing solutions in the country's leading project and technology-driven companies.
Allstates serves clients nationwide providing contract recruiting, staffing and direct placement services of technical and project support personnel. With nearly 1,000 employees working throughout the U.S. and internationally each day, Allstates has earned a reputation for fostering the type of environment that provides for challenge and professional reward. We can offer employees many benefits and have the distinction of managing 30-plus year careers of many of our best employees. We’re in the best position to put you to work and keep you there.
Allstates’ Telecom Division uses a comprehensive approach to find qualified telecom talent to fulfill client staffing needs for project management, installation and everything in between. Telecom skill sets that we staff for include: Tower Technicians, Project Managers, Construction Managers, Construction Supervisors, Field Reps (Construction), IandR Technicians, OSP Engineers, OSP Planners, CXR Engineers, Switch Technicians, Central Office Technicians, Central Office Installers, Site Acquisition Managers, Field Installation Managers, Field Installation Technicians, Scheduling Professionals, Safety/Quality Specialists, Drafters/CAD Operators, RCDD Cabling Engineers, COE Engineers, BICS Engineers, DC Power Technicians, ISP Engineers.
For more information, visit www.asts.net
At a time of deepening economic concerns, encouraging more young Texans to get the appropriate training
to fill the available positions in the skilled trades becomes even more important than in good times. We need to
match skills training to the needs of the modern workplace, and that doesn't necessarily require a four-year college
degree.
A college diploma signifies one kind of preparation for life. Thanks to rapid advances in science and
technology, another kind of diploma (just as valuable to society) is a credential certifying that the individual in
question has received the training necessary for a particular kind of skilled work.
Whatever we call the certificate, it is significant because it shows that the student has been well prepared to
work in a particular field of endeavor. The name doesn't matter. The standardized, supervised, preparation it
represents is what counts.
More and more Americans are receiving these credentials, but Texas, and the country as a whole, can do a
lot more to train the individuals needed to handle the work that is there to be done.
Here's one example. If you want a construction worker trained to the exacting standards of the construction
industry, you want to make sure that the person hired has the ability to do the job. One way to do that is for the
worker to have a certificate showing training with the appropriate curriculum designed by an organization like the
National Center for Construction Education and Research (NCCER), in Gainesville, Fla. NCCER is a 12-year-old
nonprofit organization created by construction industry leaders to help ensure that tomorrow's workers receive
today the specialized training and preparation they need.
NCCER tailored an instruction curriculum to fit standards developed by the industry as a whole. It's a
national curriculum, consistent with federal guidelines. And here's the real beauty of it: Graduates acquire portable
skills. What qualifies them for work in Texas also qualifies them for comparable work in many other states.
It gets better yet. A document certifying skills training of a higher order is a point of pride for the one who
carries it. It tells the world he or she knows the job and how to do it: the very same message a college diploma is
meant to convey.
The construction industry's needs happen to be large, as I was reminded in a recent conversation with Ed
Prevatt, senior manager for workforce development at NCCER. According to the NCCER, U.S. schools aren't
"preparing young people for the career opportunities that are available in our workplace."
The NCCER study points out that "28 percent of today's ninth-graders will complete college, but
only 20 percent of the jobs will require a four-year degree … 32 percent of the population will have the
necessary skills that 65 percent of the jobs will require." Prevatt told me 275,000 construction jobs go unfilled
every year due to the lack of worker training. And that's before the baby boomers, some 75 million strong,
begin retiring in large numbers. Prevatt also told me about a study which shows that high school graduates
with NCCER training earn, over a lifetime, $375,000 more than they would have otherwise.
What works in construction would work with all skilled trades. And, by the way, nearly all trades and
occupations these days are skilled. Technology sets the pace. Gone are the days when a strong back was all the
qualification one needed for many American jobs. Nuclear development, nursing, refinery operation,
computer science – the whole roster of modern jobs – requires a knowledge of the basics combined with
appropriate skills training.
Job preparation, under the model I am talking about, can be tied to an existing secondary school,
community college, or qualified job-training provider. The time necessary to complete it can be a matter of
months or two years or more, depending on the difficulty or technical nature of the particular job. Flexibility
counts.
A good job is a goal that any successful society strives to make available. Having a recognizable skill
and using one's talents to fill needed demands in the workforce is my definition of a good job. Work boosts
the worker's morale, gives a sense of purpose in life, and a reason to get out of bed in the morning. In addition,
proficiency in a skilled trade can become a path to a secure economic future, even in difficult times that we are
currently facing.
It's high time we got over the notion that a four-year college degree is the only piece of paper that
shows a man's or woman's readiness for success and achievement. No well-trained worker is a second-class
citizen. He or she is a contributor to the economic well-being of our society and to the long-term good of the
place called home.
Tom Pauken is the Chairman of the Texas Workforce Commission.
Media Contact: Ann Hatchitt Phone: 512-463-8556
The Texas Workforce Commission is a state agency dedicated to helping Texas employers, workers
and communities prosper economically. For details on TWC and the programs it offers in unison with its
network of local workforce development boards call (512) 463-8556 or visit www.texasworkforce.org.
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