Over 200 high school and college collision students from the greater Dallas area attended a career fair facilitated by the Collision Repair Education Foundation on Wednesday, April 15th. The event was held at the Service King Collision Repair Support Center in Richardson, Texas, however in showcasing industry unity Berkshire Hathaway Automotive, Caliber Collision Centers, DentZone and Oklahoma State University all participated in the event. Students had the opportunity to distribute their resumes, tour an in-production repair facility, view product demonstrations by 3M and Safelite AutoGlass, and those that were seeking employment had the opportunity to be interviewed. Due to the overwhelming success of this event, the Collision Repair Education Foundation is planning similar types of career day events across the country to help connect high school and college collision students to industry members in need of entry-level employees.
Collision Repair Education Foundation director of development Brandon Eckenrode noted, “This career fair was a follow-up to our Cars, Careers & Celebrities event that took place in Dallas this past August and the Education Foundation helped introduce collision students from five Dallas-area schools to our August sponsors. It was great to see industry competitors come together under one roof for the betterment of the collision students and the fact that students were hired through this event is proof of its success. It is our goal to replicate this career fair in markets around the country to showcase the Education Foundation’s ability to not only provide collision school programs with support through industry donations, but also help connect students with entry-level employment opportunities within the industry.”
Trimble Tech High School (Fort Worth, Texas) Collision instructor Roger Alfaro noted, “This event gave my collision students a clear view of the fact that they are needed in this industry. They also saw that there are more types of jobs that are within the industry.”
Industry members interested in joining the Collision Repair Education Foundation’s supporters and assist high school and college collision school programs should contact Director of Development Brandon Eckenrode at (847) 463-5245 or [email protected].
