When it comes to preparing individuals to work in the automotive industry, it's essential to know the basics—but what will help someone thrive is having a wide array of skills that make them a great team member and potentially a future leader.
That's part of ASE's mission as an organization, and it's partnered with SkillsUSA to help trainees hone employability skills alongside technical training, currently playing a pivotal role in SkillsUSA's automotive offerings. To break down how the two groups are working together to strengthen automotive career paths, Brandon Hudson, deputy executive director for SkillsUSA, gives an inside look into the collaboration.
Can you share what all SkillsUSA collaborates with ASE on?
Brandon Hudson: SkillsUSA and ASE collaborate to establish the standards on which all SkillsUSA Supply Chain and Transportation Championships competitions are based. ASE is the gold standard for the automotive/transportation industry, so SkillsUSA and our technical committees use the ASE accreditation standards as the basis for our competitions.
While other standards may be integrated, the ASE standards are the gold standard of how students should be assessed for industry preparedness.
What skills do SkillsUSA and ASE focus on for preparing future employees in the automotive industry?
Hudson: SkillsUSA has established, with the help of industry partners, the SkillsUSA Framework. This Framework is the blueprint for a career-ready student and incorporates Personal Skills, Workplace Skills, and Technical Skills Grounded in Academics to ensure that students are ready for the workforce on day one.
Organizations like ASE help us do that through our technical standards and championships—not only for technical skills, but also those personal and workplace skills that make students well-rounded and prepared for their next steps.
Would you say the needs of ASE students differ in any way from other sectors you work with?
Hudson: ASE students are prepared for the workforce through their career and technical education classrooms because ASE has established rigorous and relevant standards that are industry-driven. Therefore, students and instructors have a clear direction and understanding of their performance measures and what is needed to succeed in industry. There is no guessing on what students need to know; ASE has developed exactly what students need to know.
What do you think automotive students gain the most from training with SkillsUSA and ASE?
Hudson: Automotive students gain opportunities, experiences, and the skills needed to succeed by participating in both SkillsUSA and ASE. ASE provides the technical standards needed by industry, and SkillsUSA—with support from industry partners like ASE and our manufacturer partners—provides them the ability to develop workplace and personal skills and showcase all the skills they have learned in a real-world, pressure-filled situation that mirrors what they will see when they enter the workforce.
We also provide a chance for career and technical education programs to measure their programs against other programs from across the country to learn best practices to better inform student outcomes.