This blog is written by Thomas Little, Sales Development Representative, speaking on his experience at the Build My Future trade show.
Finding quality employees is a pain point that most companies currently struggle with. Therefore, new ways of finding talent are essential to remaining competitive in the current job market. The Build My Future trade show is one great way to engage with potential future employees.
The Build My Future trade show started in Springfield, Missouri but now pans many states, including Arkansas, Florida, Iowa, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin. For the first time the trade show occurred in St. Charles, Missouri as well. This trade show consists of local organizations inviting high schoolers to spend a day learning about potential career paths. In addition, employers set up booths where they will have a hands-on activity that shows what individuals may be doing if they go into that field of work.
The first Build My Future trade show was in Springfield, Missouri at the fairgrounds on 4/13. Approximately 2,700 high schoolers attended this event. I was blown away by the level of interest that was shown. Students were highly engaged and excited for an opportunity to learn more about potential career paths. Unfortunately, we do not have a location near Springfield, so I took the opportunity to speak with students about what is of interest to them. Many students said they are grateful to be exposed to options outside of a traditional 4-year university.
We had our scale models of units for the Cambridge booth, some steel parts with a cordless pop rivet gun to piece the parts together, and material on what Cambridge does.
On April 20th, I attended the second Build My Future trade show with Michael Harmon, M-line Team Lead, held at the St. Charles Family Arena. This was the first year that St. Louis has hosted, so the turnout was less than the Springfield event. There were around 900 students in attendance. Michael and I shared how Cambridge aims to enrich the lives of every life we touch, both internally and externally. I was surprised at the level of engagement that this messaging was met with. Students were highly intrigued by a company that cared for more than just profit margins. We also shared the different career opportunities that Cambridge offers and that we are all about growing our people.
Those that showed high interest in our culture and what we do took our flyers, my card, and a flyer directing them to our website to apply.
I also made some connections with a handful of opportunity and career centers in the St. Louis area that I will get in touch with our HR department. It was a terrific opportunity to meet interested prospective talent and share the Cambridge way with other people in our area.
If you would like to learn about the potential career opportunities at Cambridge check out our careers page.