If you’re looking for a career choice, there’s a mobile application to help you make your decision. The Occupy a Job application is now available on any smart phone and online.

The program was a collaborative effort between Antech Systems, a software and graphic design company, and SkillTV.net and it is an online portal showcasing challenges and solutions to the maintenance crisis. The application helps you to learn about career options and compare them to your interests. For instance, are you creative? Do you enjoy solving problems? Are you self-motivated? These are all basic characteristics of people who enter skilled trade careers.

The address is http://www.antechsystems.com/ occupyjobsapp/index.html or you can do an Internet search on “Occupy a Job app.” The site gives information about careers for plumbers and pipe fitters, electricians, maintenance technicians and welders, and jobs are available worldwide.

The movement behind Occupy a Job is called United Skills of America. It strives to develop the next generation of skilled technicians through a major campaign in concert with career technical education programs, community colleges, and the Center for America. This initiative is supported by the United Association of Pipe Fitters and Welders, Robeson Community College (RCC) and maintenance technicians, like Marty Tauber, of Portland, Maine.

“This should be viewed by every high school student once a year to drive the point home that a college education is not for everyone and that there are jobs out there. It is a sad fact that students are still being told that if you want to be a success, you need to go to college and incur a huge debt,” says Tauber. He adds that schools do not put much effort on mentioning skilled trades and hopes guidance counselors will learn about the app and promote it to their students.

Robeson Community College President Charles Chrestman likes it too and feels it will reach masses of people. His institution is focusing upon the skills necessary to advance manufacturing and support local businesses.

Amy Earle, Vice President of Antech Systems, is excited to help supply a solution to the maintenance crisis and raise awareness for career opportunities people may not have considered. “So much of the news these days discusses high unemployment rates and the lack of jobs. This app and the United Skills of America movement send a different message that needs to be heard. It’s not simply targeting the younger generation at the beginning at their careers, but returning Veterans transitioning back to civilian jobs, as well as anyone who finds him – or herself – looking for a new career path. Opportunities exist and that’s great news.”

This new application will help light the fires of imagination and open minds. It will help more people understand the need for our future workers to consider learning a skill. Employees in companies today operate and manage highly sophisticated equipment. Many of their employees are hitting the retirement age, leaving jobs unfilled. Employers need to fill them with workers who have agile minds which can adapt to newer, more complex machines and processes.

I hope that readers of MaintWorld will review and provide feedback of this new application which is custom designed to help build the pipeline of skilled technicians and address the complexities of modern reliability and maintenance profession. Although labeled United Skills of America, this fun and simple app can inspire new generations around the world to help FIX-IT Forward!