If you’re looking for a career change that dose not also demand an address change, sooner or later you will need to look at jobs in the auto industry. And if that sounds like hard physical labor to you, you couldn’t be more mistaken.

The Wall Street Journal recently ran two articles that prove Max’s point:

There are 607 automobile production businesses in Ohio. More than one-half of those are in Northeast Ohio. that translate to more than 76,000 auto production jobs in Ohio, second only to Michigan, with the vast majority of those jobs in Northeast Ohio.

That takes care of the address part, now take a look at the skills part.

The new advanced manufacturing model used in the auto businesses depends heavily upon people with computer skills for software, automation, networking and robotics not unlike many of the jobs you find in the MaximusJobs.com Health Car-Medical, Accounting, IT or General Business categories.

In fact, people with those aptitudes and training would be welcomed into the hundreds of local manufacturing jobs that are going unfilled right now. Manufacturing jobs may say “machinist” or “skilled craftsmen”, but the “skill” part is going to include a keyboard.

So, if you have a technical background and find yourself stuck selling business to business software, you may want to consider shifting gears.

News reports trumpet new job growth, but they don’t tell you that the jobs now opening are very different from those lost at the start of the Great Recession.

In fact, if you have been unsuccessful in your job search for one-year, there is a good chance the job your are looking for does not exist anymore. If you are employed, the job you were originally hired for has changed so much you may not be hired for it today.

Analytics now drive sales. Computer programing is essential in the machine shop. Electronic data recording, organization and storage is one of the fastest growing needs in health care.

Entire industries and professions from printing to law and marketing to manufacturing have either vanished or dramatically reinvented themselves to stay competitive and relevant.

Max has four thoughts that will prepare you for this changing world as well as some cautions behind the fast answers you hear today:

Accept change. Get over the resentment that you once were a prized employee in a business that doesn’t exist or seem to want you now. A good help to achieve this difficult task is a 96-page book by Spencer Johnson: Who Moved My Cheese. Your library has it and if you can’t wait, it sells for under $15 at your local bookstore. This little story with fun illustrations can help get a TODAY frame of mind.

Learn the job market. Look at the places that are hiring. The job reports tell you “manufacturing” is hiring. They may even say “automobile manufacturing” is hiring. But there are a lot of parts in a car and there are a lot of new ways they are getting there. Ask friends or employees at your old shop what they do and what new skills they need/use. Go to job fairs and ask employers what skills they most prize.

Improve your education. Everyone will tell you to get more education, but what education and where? Schools and colleges are among the slowest to change when they need to, so do not assume that the machinist, health care or IT certificate they offer is right for the times. Don’t give one-dime of your money to a school until you have asked and they have answered some simple questions: Where are the people who took this course (or program of study) working today? What employers do you work with to place graduates? And, get references of graduates to check their answers with. If you are getting an education to get a job, make sure the education works.

Broaden your search.  MaximusJobs.com lists job categories for which our employers are are seeking employees.  We do that to help you and them, but find we often need to change these categories or put the same job in several categories.  Who would know to look for a security position in Health Care, yet you will find such jobs for Southwest General Hospital or the Cleveland Clinic under Health Care.  Do not limit yourself or minimize your skills–Max won’t.

Now, go to work and good luck to you.

New manufacturing job opportunity is emerging, but it is not your father’s shop floor so it is a good idea to know what you are looking for before you start the search.  Here is a quick peak into the new world of Ohio manufacturing and a couple of keys from Max on how to enter it.

First, understand that many jobs are coming  back for the same reason they left: it is now cheaper to manufacture here than to make and ship goods from overseas.  Not even today’s UAW members get yesterday’s UAW pay and benefits.

But the freshest ingredients in the growing on-shore manufacturing recipe are increasing demand by owners for control and innovation.  Manufactures want hands on control on how their products are machined and/or assembled and that means being on site when it is done.

He or she wants their product improved when they design the improvement not months after it is explained, interrupted and taught through several different time zones and languages or worse to wait while the old product keeps being loaded on ships for a long cruse and more shipping costs.

This trend is impacting the appliance and automobile business where Ohio is strong and now benefiting from recent manufacturing decisions by Whirlpool, Honda and Ford.

But is is also true for the small manufacturer like EdenPure, space heater manufacture in North Canton, and Horton Archery of Kent, Ohio.

It is the small manufactures and suppliers of plastics, rubber and electronics for the big manufactures who hold many opportunities for Northeast Ohio manufacturing employment.  Such employers are open to change and looking for employees who can learn, adapt and help them change.

So here are a few tips from Max on where to find and what to ask in the job interview for that new manufacturing job:

1. Aim small and your misses will be small.  Don’t overlook the small shop (Horton Archery  has moved 20 jobs from China) because that is where an innovative attitude and skills will be prized and because many in the supply chain will grow as the big guys grow.
2. Show your desire to expand your abilities.  Once you land an interview, ask if the company will participate in your own efforts to learn additional skills.  Let them know that you see additional education as a personal necessity.
3. And, ask the interviewer if the company values feed back from its employees on improving the process or product.  This sends a clear message that you want to be involved and understand the value of change.

Remember, it isn’t your father’s shop floor where you will be allowed only to repeatedly perform one task because “that’s the way it has always been done.”

Turn resume views into job offers by following three keys–or Max’s maxims–for preparing winning online resumes.

First, you must have your resume in the right place at the right time. Pay attention to the several job categories that hold employers seeking people with your skills.

For example, you would assume Health Care-Medical includes jobs for doctors and nurses, but a closer look shows employers in that category are also hiring teachers, sales persons, security experts, computer programs and bus drivers. That leads us to Max’s first maxim:

• Investigate several job categories to determine the three, four or five that are looking for people with your skill sets.

Secondly, think how your skills can be applied in different fields or job categories and prepare resumes focusing on your skills that are needed in that category. Maximusjobs.com allows you to prepare and store up to five resumes, so create a resume that fits each of the categories you are mining for job offers. Putting your best foot forward leads to Max’s second maxim:

• Don’t depend on one general resume that shows you as qualified for everything, but prepared for nothing specific.

Finally, when your prepare your category-specific resume, write it to show the skills you have mastered and will bring to your new job. An employer might be mildly interested in the fact that spent three years as a sales associate for ABC Company, but that same employer will be energized to read that you “created new approaches turning social media into sales leads….” So Max’s last maxim on basic resume success is:

• Don’t use your resume to label yourself. Always reference how you applied specific skills to the challenge you faced.

The Job Fair Season is almost upon us so here are five tips to make your visit as successful as possible. Job Fairs are usually not for on-the-spot hiring, but for employers to gather likely candidates. So treat the experience as a fun, be positive and be pro-active in making contacts to build your network.

1. Know your audience:
Research the companies who will be attending the job fair and know what positions they want to fill. The research can begin online, but call the company if you must to learn the details of what skills they are seeking at the specific job fair you plan to attend.

2. Prepare your materials:
Custom fit your resume emphasizing your skills for the jobs positions the employers are hiring. Don’t apply for a sales job with an accounting resume. If you have to write additional contact information on your resume when the recruiter requests it, your resume is not ready. A business card with your contact information is a nice addition to your resume.

3. Prepare your message:
Know what you what to say about yourself so you can look the recruiter in the eye, shake their hand and summarize your value for the job. Hello, I’m Rick Jones and I enjoy meeting new people and learning what makes them tick. I would like to put those skills to work in a sales career.” This type of message is far more successful than: “Hi, I just graduated with a fine arts degree and really need to move out of my Mom’s house.”

4. Ask for the Next Step:
The job fair gives you an opportunity for in-person meetings that you probably would not get by calling for an appointment. Make sure you leave with contact information on the person you have talked with. Ask what the next step in their hiring process is and what you need to to do to take that next step.

5. Follow up:
After your talk with a recruiter, write a few notes on the information they give to you. This will allow you to send a thank you note and refer to their specific conversation. Make sure you send an additional resume and business card with that thank you note. Do this as soon after the job fair as possible as a long time lapse between meeting and second contact dulls the memory of even the best meeting.

Honda will build a new central Ohio factory to make a luxury “supercar”, and that is not even the best news.

The best news is that the car is promised by Honda to be “groundbreaking and trendsetting” in every way. That news assures Ohio auto suppliers a front-row seat at the design of a car for the future.

The Acura NSX, a Ferrari-type car for less than Ferrari-type money, will go on sale in about three-years. Honda said it will be made at a new Ohio plant, but added that the car is not planned to be a mass-market seller.

Rather, it is planned to be the vehicle that all technology is and can be imagined will include. This high-tech meets auto will be done in Ohio.

“Honda associates are up the challenge of producing the new NSX for global customers with a high degree of craftsmanship,” Hidenobu Iwata, president of Honda North American manufacturing said.

Wall Street’s big shots face a substantial cut in bonus money this year–in fact one of the lowest payout these tycoons have seen since the housing bubble burst that started all the economic woes.

Pay cuts are never good news for those seeking work, but Max is moved to wonder if the short-term Wall Street pain
may be an economic motivator.

When you throw in the politicians who will fight for their jobs in elections this year and the Wall Street leaders suffering, Max thinks we may finally have urgency in New York and Washington to get the economy going. And the “economy” to both Wall Street and Washington is as simple as you working and spending.

The first punch in a fight worth watching will be thrown at the Detroit Auto Show as US car manufacturers will unveil new models aimed at no less than reclaiming the passenger car market from foreign competitors.

Northeast Ohio has long been a leader in automobile parts manufacturing and and heated competition featuring new car models can quickly translate to jobs on the shop floor and growth in the logistics (shipping) business.

“Armed with good-looking, fuel-efficient and technology packed cars, Detroit’s revived auto makers insist they have a historic opportunity to strike back at their Japanese rivals and regain the upper hand in the North American auto industry,” The Wall Street Journal reported on the eve of the Detroit Auto Show.

Add to this a decision by Ohio manufacturer Honda to spice up its Civic and Acura lines in the face of the competition and you have a mix that would make any parts supplier happy.

The Detroit show opens with:
.A new Dart from Chrysler for the compact buyer,
.General Motors unveiling a Cadillac ATS to compete with the BMW-3 series as well as punching up promo for its new well received sub-compact Chevy Sonic made in Orion, Mich.
.Ford’s introducing a new design for its already popular Fusion model.

And, while Europe’s economic troubles are never encouraging, a subdued Europe means lower gasoline prices for the US which keeps the popular American SUV and small truck sales humming.

Washington has spoken with its ideas for attaching unemployment, but we have no idea what you think ought to be done to put people to work.

All of the ideas in the news are from people who haven’t spent a day looking for work in today’s economy.

President Barrack Obama told Congress last week to spend $447 billion in employment tax cuts for business and workers and invest in infrastructure repair for roads, bridges and schools.

Republicans in Congress said they shared some of the President’s ideas.

GOP presidential candidates said a day before the President’s speech that they would also open America’s known oil and gas deposits for drilling. Republican hopefuls agreed that this new U.S. exploration would lower gas prices at the pump and put people to work.

MaximusJobs.com wants to hear what the people on the front line of the jobs front in Northeast Ohio suggest for getting the economy back on track…and the jobs that come with it.

Write your ideas below here and MaximusJobs.com will make sure those ideas get to the Washington political leaders.

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