Rubber industry career fair pleases companies

CLEVELAND—The ACS Rubber Division held a Career Fair at its 2015 International Elastomer Conference, and most of the participating companies were ecstatic.

“I said, 'Are you kidding me?' ”  said Elaine H. Box, senior manager of human resources for York, Pa.-based Engel Machinery Inc., when asked whether she was in favor of having a career fair at the conference. “This is huge! You get them to do it, and I'm there!”

Engel was one of nearly 30 companies representing rubber manufacturers and suppliers that participated in the Career Fair, which was held in the Cleveland Convention Center Oct. 15 between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

“Looking for a new opportunity in our great industry?” said the notice in the conference brochure. “Meet with representatives from several respected companies about career and professional opportunities.”

The opportunities available at the Career Fair, which was spread over two rooms in the Conference Center's Concourse, varied from company to company.

Some had only one or two openings, though their representatives said they were happy to collect resumes for possible callbacks later.

For other companies, the sky was the limit.

Engel was looking for service technicians, account managers, engineers and inside sales people among other positions, Box said.

Engel also used the Career Fair as one of the places to unveil its new International Trainee Program, which is designed to recruit and train experts in B2B sales and international market developments.

According to Engel's brochure, the company seeks trainees with university degrees in technology or business economics, a minimum of three years of professional experience, a strong knowledge of English, high social and problem-solving skills, and a willingness to travel and to live abroad.

Engel offers international sales positions at its headquarters in Austria and its offices in the U.S., China and Mexico, according to Box.

Next door to Engel's booth, Cleveland-based Flow Polymers offered opportunities to industry professionals more rooted in the Cleveland area, according to Maureen Dixon, the company's human resources manager.

The firm planned to have two or three candidates participate in recruiting efforts at each of Engel's sales regions in November, she said.

Flow Polymers had four high-level positions available at the Career Fair, Dixon said: international and domestic sales representatives, process quality engineer and compounder.

“We're not even 10 miles east of here, so we're offering lots of opportunities close by,” she said.

Another company offering plenty of opportunities near Cleveland is Integrity Technical Services Inc., based in Akron.

Integrity Technical Services is a firm that specializes in job placement in IT, technical and engineering positions in various industries including manufacturing, chemical and automotive.

Working with about 2,500 different companies, Integrity Technical Services currently offers some 150 open positions every day, according to Vice President John O'Neil.

“We've been doing this for 75 years, and we continue to grow,” he said. “We used to offer mostly temporary positions, but that's changed.”

The Career Fair comes at a great time for job seekers because the job situation for engineers is the strongest it's been in years, according to O'Neil. Less than a decade ago, the situation was very different, he said.

“Between 2007 and 2011, would you have told your children to get an engineering degree?” he said. “There was a five-to-seven-year gap in which people simply didn't come out of school with engineering degrees.

“Now, with the economy coming back, there's a shortage.”