The transportation industry is more than driving a truck.
This is the message Schneider, in partnership with the Green Bay Chamber of Commerce Youth Apprenticeship Program, is sharing with high school students in the Green Bay area.
Since February 2019, a group of Schneider associates from Corporate Recruiting and I have been educating high school students about jobs in transportation and logistics. We have helped nine local high schools incorporate material about the transportation industry into their curriculums and look forward to growing that number even more.
Why going into high schools matters
Since starting this program, my team and I discovered there is a definite lack of knowledge amongst teenagers in regard to the transportation industry.
Many young people seem to have little familiarity of the job opportunities available. They don’t know there are people working in offices, warehouses and shops to keep trucks moving.
Additionally, very few have any idea there is a $5 billion transportation company, a leader in the industry, right in their backyard: Schneider.
What our program consists of
Beyond providing materials for teachers to add to their curriculums, my team is going into the classroom to talk with students. We are doing mock interviews, presentations and even providing tours at Schneider’s headquarters.
We’re teaching high schoolers about the basics of the trucking industry – what makes it so interesting and why it’s so vital to everyday life.
We’re also telling them about the types of jobs this industry offers – including everything from accounting to operations, marketing, customer service and more.
Lastly, we are sharing information about Schneider, including our apprenticeship and part-time job opportunities for high schoolers and college students.
What we hope to gain from it
In general, we hope to continue to change the perspective of students – to show them the transportation industry is more than driving a truck, that there are thousands of career opportunities beyond that.
We also hope more young people will continue to seek jobs at Schneider, in realization that we are an employer of choice.
