In a day of meaningful connections, 52 unique employers and more than 130 job-seeking students participated in the largest Accelerated Training in Defense Manufacturing (ATDM) career fair to date on Sept. 23.
Representing organizations across the submarine industrial base, employers connected with students training in one of five high-demand manufacturing disciplines: additive manufacturing, CNC machining, metrology, non-destructive testing and welding. Throughout the day, companies conducted interviews, discussed career opportunities and, in many cases, extended job offers directly to students.
Every student in the four-month ATDM program, administered by the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR), participates in two career fairs during his or her training experience. In addition to more than 600 hours of hands-on technical instruction, students receive extensive career readiness support, including resume development, interview preparation and career coaching.
To date, ATDM students have come from 48 different states and found manufacturing roles in 42 different states.
“Our goal is to ensure every student leaves ATDM with both technical skills and a clear pathway to employment. The career fair allows students to connect directly with companies that are actively hiring for the exact skills they’ve spent months developing.” – Tiffany Geiger, ATDM Career Services Manager, IALR
Not A Typical Career Fair
Unlike traditional hiring events, every employer participating in the ATDM Career Fair is actively seeking talent with the exact skills students are developing through the program.
For employers, the event provides direct access to a concentrated pool of trained, work-ready candidates who have demonstrated a willingness to relocate and launch careers in advanced manufacturing. For students, it eliminates the challenge of searching through countless job postings to find opportunities that match their skills and interests.
“We have confidence that if we hire from the talent pool at ATDM, we’re starting with an employee who is ready for the training program they’ll receive at Big Metal Additive,” said Slade Gardner, President of Big Metal Additive.
The career fair format is intentionally designed to maximize meaningful interaction between students and employers.
“This was by far the most well-organized, fun and productive hiring event I have attended. One thing that stood out to me was the quality of the questions the students were asking.” – Jacob James, IMIA LLC
Students attend one career fair near the beginning of their training and another as they near graduation, allowing them to build relationships with employers over time.
“It’s a constant flow of students that are coming through. Every career fair brings a new group of students, and employers have the opportunity to connect with them early, then reconnect as they progress through training.” – Joel Nester, ATDM Industry Engagement Coordinator, IALR
Why More Employers Keep Coming
Employers ranging from small suppliers to major manufacturers continue to return to ATDM career fairs because of the quality of both the technical training and the professional preparation students receive.
“We found at least 10 good candidates for our workforce to explore for employment,” Gardner said of the most recent career fair. “We have been growing, and ATDM has been a lifeline for our success. We have hired 10 ATDM graduates to date, and we are looking to add more.”
Pernell Lewis, a hiring manager with BWX Technologies (BWXT) who has hired extensively from ATDM, says he was initially skeptical that the program’s graduates could hit the ground running after four months, especially when compared to a more traditional two-year program.
“ATDM is giving us good employees,” he said. “We’re batting a really high average.”
BWXT has hired out of the CNC machining, metrology and non-destructive testing pathways. Lewis, who said he visits the program once a month to connect with students in the metrology training path, noted that students arrive with both technical skills and workplace habits that can be difficult for employers to develop from scratch.
“ATDM has structure,” Lewis said. “These graduates know how to work. The knowledge that they do have is unbelievable. Students come in, come to work on time and know what it’s like to be at work.”
For John Martin of Curtiss-Wright, the consistent quality of candidates keeps his company returning to ATDM. He says the program’s structure, which includes shift work and rigorous academic standards, is a major value for Curtiss-Wright and other SIB companies.
“You have confidence that when they leave here, they’re used to coming in every day at a regular time,” he added. “It’s comforting knowing that’s already been reviewed here, and you know they’ll be good employees.”
Kevin Grass of Northeast Tool attended his first ATDM Career Fair after learning about the program earlier this year and quickly recognized its value.
“The ability to engage with work-ready talent is a major value-add and differentiator ATDM provides over many other training programs,” Grass said. “There is no other type of environment like the ATDM Career Fair.”
Building the Defense Manufacturing Workforce
Funded by the U.S. Navy, ATDM was created to help address critical workforce shortages across the defense industrial base. Students temporarily relocate to Danville for four months of accelerated, intensive training designed to prepare them for immediate employment.
During that time, they develop technical skills while also gaining the professional competencies employers consistently identify as essential for success.
“Recruitment’s an expense. Recruitment is difficult. It takes time, it takes personnel, planning,” Gardner said. “A lot of times, if you’re doing recruitment on your own, it’s a chaotic and scattered process. ATDM gives us an efficiency in identifying pre-vetted candidates that come with a certificate of training.”
