Talent Insider

Wednesday, September 1, 2021

How Military Talent Can Help the Automotive Industry Battle the Chip Shortage

We have all heard about the chip shortage brought on by the quick contraction and following expansion of various markets due to COVID-19. A decade ago, this may not have hit the automobile industry that hard, but today, when cars have an average of 1,400 chips in them, it has crippled manufacturers.

Chip Shortage

Projected to cost the global automotive industry $110 billion in revenue this year, the semiconductor shortage is shining a spotlight on the need for a larger digital transformation in the industry.  In his recent Forbes article, Actify CEO Dave Opsahl explores this shortage, pointing out that supply chain disruptions and the reportedly low availability of skilled workers must be overcome as the industry moves toward electric vehicles (EVs) and autonomous vehicles (AVs).

Electronics with Seats

According to Opsahl, car companies need to reinvent themselves as “an electronics company with expensive packaging and seats,” where designs are refreshed faster, more in line with the pace of technology. 

One way to begin this reinvention process is to consider the talent the automobile industry is hiring. Diesel mechanic skills are obviously still important; but, as Opsahl points out, car companies should be actively recruiting new employees and senior management from technology industries.

For some automobile companies, as well as consumer electronics and aerospace companies, a solution has been to bring select chip designs in-house. As this article in The Fast Mode points out, not only does this allow for specific use cases but also gives “more control over cost, performance, features and time to market, often leading to market differentiation and a competitive edge.”

Innovation with Military Talent 

This brings us back to the fact that automobile companies need to start retooling the way they hire and begin considering recruiting strategies designed to appeal to top high-tech and semiconductor talent. One excellent source of this talent is the military.  Junior Military Officers and Military Technicians possess unmatched technical training in electronic, mechanical, and electrical systems, as well as proven leadership skills making them an ideal fit for various technological positions across the industry.

Time and again, veterans have proven themselves in both the High Tech and Semiconductor industries and are poised to leverage these skills to help transform the automotive industry. They excel in positions like:

  • Electrical Design Engineers
  • Process Engineers
  • Technical Program Managers
  • Systems Engineers
  • Application Engineers
  • Product Support Engineers
  • NPI Engineers
  • Field Service Technicians
  • Project Managers
  • Process Engineers
  • Test Engineers
  • Process Engineers
  • Buyer/Planners
  • Software/Applications Developers
  • IT Leadership

Military Talent Solutions

An excellent way to access this talent is through Orion Talent Military Talent Solutions. Our rich proprietary military database of leadership and technical talent can help you locate the talent you need to drive transformation without a typical training curve. 

"In the 10+ years that I have been working with Orion, their candidates have consistently proven to have dramatically shortened training curves and better performance in a faster time than any other hiring strategy we have used…Tell them what you want, and they go and achieve it,” explains a VP at Lam Research. You can learn more about our work with Lam in this case study.

Get Started

Unencumbered by NDAs and non-competes, military talent can help automobile companies combine mechanics and electronics in a new way that embraces the future of the industry. Learn more about Military Talent Solutions here or contact us to get started building your team here.

What Does Your Hiring Process Tell Candidates About Your Company?

Far too many HR leaders still believe that it really doesn’t matter how candidates feel about their hiring process. The general attitude is that if they want the job, then candidates will just have to suffer through their organization’s process — no matter how exhausting and ridiculous it might be.

While that may have been true many years ago when employers had their choice of top talent clamoring to get a job, today’s candidate-driven market is changing all that. Organizations today have to work much harder to be competitive and win over the best candidates.

So that really begs the question – What does your hiring process tell candidates about your company?

Every stage of the hiring process tells your candidates a story about your organization, what it stands for, what it’s like to work there, how much employees are valued, and if they would love or hate working there. Your recruiting team isn’t just selling an open position to candidates; they’re selling your company during every step of the process.

What is your hiring process telling your candidates? To know the answer to that question, you’ll have to try to look at your entire process from the candidate’s perspective.

Start with Your Careers Page

It’s almost certain that anyone interested in working in your organization will visit your careers page, so you’ve got to put your best foot forward. Make it a great place for candidates to begin their research into your company.

While you should obviously have an updated list of open positions on your careers page, it’s also an opportunity to really showcase what your organization is all about. Posting a 10-year-old photo of a work retreat and your mission statement just won’t cut it.

Here are some career page best practices you should consider:

- Keep your careers page updated with current images of your team.
- Use images that show your team working and playing together.
- Offer images of your employees participating in fundraisers, if you have them.
- Post a video that shows a day in the life of an employee.
- Interview employees about what it’s like to work at your organization and post the video.
- Include content that addresses your company’s core values. Video team members talking about it if you can.
- SHOW candidates what it’s like to be an employee, don’t just tell them about perks and unique office spaces.
- Address work/life balance and your organization’s philosophy about it.
- Help candidates to see employment with your company as joining a family, not just taking a job.

Manage Your Company Reputation Online

Like it or not, social sites play a huge role in your organization’s employer brand. While you can’t necessarily do anything about a bad review from a disgruntled employee, you can water down those bad comments by getting current employees to post positive comments about their experience on sites like Glassdoor and Indeed.

Managing your company’s employer brand online goes far beyond review sites and includes social media sites as well. Here are some social media best practices you should consider:

- You should also have a careers page on LinkedIn in addition to your company page. This gives you a central hub to promote your employer brand and jobs.
- Encourage employees to update their profiles on LinkedIn and ask them to add links to the company’s careers site or employer brand content.
- Ask employees to follow your company profiles within every social media platform your organization uses, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
- Encourage employees to like, share, and repost your branded content to their own followers.
- Regularly post status updates on social media that highlight your brand, culture, and mission. You might even consider periodically featuring an employee in your posts.
- Create Compelling Job Descriptions
- Never underestimate the power of your job description to build your brand. In many cases, your job description is a candidate’s first exposure to your organization, and it creates the foundation for how that candidate feels about your company.

A simple bulleted list of duties just won’t cut it.

You need to not only sell the role but the organization, as well. Use descriptive language that not only explains the position but why it matters to the company and why the right person will love the job.

The Application Process

Nothing frustrates candidates more than a cumbersome and painful application process. While your applicant tracking system (ATS) makes recruiting easier for your team, it may damage how candidates feel about your organization.

Some top candidates may simply abandon their application if the ATS isn’t user-friendly or requires them to complete the same fields repeatedly. An ATS can make candidates feel like just another number or that their application enters a black hole as soon as they click the submit button – neither of which works in favor of your employer brand.

If you want to see how your ATS might be affecting your brand, try applying for a job with your organization. How did you feel about the process? Can improvements be made?

Interviews Matter to Your Brand

Whether it’s by phone or in person, candidate interviews are not only important to your hiring process, but they also can make a big impact on your brand. Interviews provide a great opportunity for candidates to vet your organization beyond what they can learn from online research.

If you’re unprepared, haven’t read the candidate’s resume, and pummel them with questions, your candidate won’t leave the interview with a positive image of your organization. Here are some best practices to make sure that doesn’t happen:

- Review the candidate’s resume before you talk to them, not as you’re conducting the interview.
- Have your questions prepared in advance.
- Be prepared to discuss the position in more detail.
- Make the agenda clear at the beginning of the interview and make sure they know what the next steps in the process will be.
- Keep your interview conversational so it doesn’t feel like an inquisition.
- Skip questions that are clearly stated on the resume.
- Allow candidates to ask questions.
- Make sure hiring managers, or those who will be conducting in-person interviews, have been coached on how to conduct an effective interview.
- Communication Throughout the Process
- Your communications with candidates throughout the hiring process, whether via email, phone, or in person, tell candidates a lot about your organization. Poor communications can tell candidates that your company is disorganized, apathetic, or disrespectful, and that you probably treat employees the same way.

Obviously, that does serious damage to your employer brand.

Candidates expect to be kept informed at each stage of the hiring process. Always be clear about the next steps, let them know about changes in the hiring timeline, and notify them when they won’t be moving forward with your organization. While some of this will occur over the phone, be sure to use email best practices if you’re communicating via email.

Conclusion

It’s clear that every stage of the hiring process tells candidates something about your organization. Your goal throughout the process is to make sure that you’re painting an accurate picture of your company, what it stands for, what it’s like to work there, and how much employees are valued.

Ultimately, your aim is to make them really want to work for your organization and know that they would love it.

So… What does your hiring process tell candidates about your company?

Military Hiring for the Pharmaceutical Industry

If you have ever considered hiring military talent for pharma roles, we'd like to invite you to listen to a podcast in which Orion Talent CEO Mike Starich recently participated from PharmExec.com, "The Strength of Veterans in Pharma". In it, he is joined by Dr. Armand Balboni, CEO of Appili Therapeutics, to discuss how veterans have specific skills and qualities that can set them up for success in pharma, and what the industry can do to uncover their potential.

The Strength of Veterans in Pharma

As you will hear, veterans possess unmatched technical training and expertise, as well as proven communication, customer service, and leadership skills, making them an ideal fit for various positions across pharma. In particular, they excel at:

- Manufacturing / Operational Leadership Positions

- Field Service Positions

- Maintenance Positions in Manufacturing

- FDA Compliance and Quality Related Positions

- Sales and Marketing Positions

Check out the PharmExec podcast to learn how the pharma industry can capitalize on the unique qualifications of veterans. And then read “Military Veterans in Pharma: Serving to Improve Lives” by Tim Sweeney, Orion Talent VP of Business Development, focusing on Andrew and Jeff, two Orion alumni who have found success in the industry in both the field service and sales side.

Get Started

Contact us today for an in-depth look at how our Military Talent Programs can help you attract, hire, develop and retain the right pharma talent.

On-Demand Virtual Hiring Events Through Orion Talent

 
In addition to our scheduled industry- and region-specific virtual hiring events, we are excited to offer our clients the ability to customize an On-Demand Virtual Hiring Event. These events are catered to your scheduling, recruiting, and compliance needs, enabling you to overcome travel and social distancing restrictions, all while meeting your ongoing recruiting needs.
  
 
With an Orion Talent On-Demand Virtual Hiring Event you can recruit skilled specialists and professionals for a wide range of permanent and contingent roles. All we need to know to get started is:
 
- What positions would you like to fill?
- How many candidates would you like to hire?
- When would you like to virtually interview Orion's candidates?
 
We take it from there and set you up with military talent ready to start a new career with your company. Before you know it, you have recruited top leaders and technicians, without having to leave your office, just like the environmental engineering firm below.
 
 
Whether you are looking to ramp up hiring for project based needs, are seeking a company-wide coordinated Military Talent Strategy, or need to fill just a few positions, Orion virtual interviews make it faster and easier to interview the right Military Talent. Contact us today, and put the industry's most committed, outcome-driven recruitment force to work for you today!

Military Hiring Conferences

Interview Junior Military Officers, Noncommissioned Officers and Enlisted Technicians Recruited for your Hiring Needs

An Orion Hiring Conference is your chance to interview the best military job seekers, selected specifically for your open positions. You will be presented with pre-screened, qualified and suitably matched veterans that are interested in your available opportunities. Click on the dates below to learn more about our upcoming hiring conferences.

 Click here for more information.

 Click here for more information.

Join our LinkedIn Group - Talent Insider with Orion Talent

Have you joined our LinkedIn group, Talent Insider with Orion Talent? Talent Insider with Orion Talent is a group for all hiring managers, employers, and talent acquisition professionals interested in learning more about how to hire top talent. We are proud to offer access to employer resources, including thought leadership, hiring event notifications, podcasts, blog posts, news, other insights and advice, and more!

We also encourage you to share your expert insight, as well! Whether it be through RPO, Search, Military, Attraction & Sourcing, or Total Talent Solutions, this group will help you achieve the talent outcomes your business needs.

Join Talent Insider with Orion Talent

According to our Clients

Refer a Military Job Seeker or Client Company to Orion

If you would like the chance to win a $50 gift card, enter into our monthly drawings for Client referrals and Job Seeker referrals. If your referral results in a hire, you will personally receive a $100 gift card as our way of saying thank you. As always, we will maintain your privacy and never share your information nor that of your referral. That's one entry for each referral that you submit - good luck and thank you for the referral!

Kimberly Mallory won the Job Seeker Referral monthly drawing
and is the winner of a $50 gift card.