More than 10,000 high school and college transportation students anticipated to attend events.
The Collision Repair Education Foundation (CREF) announced the return of its high school and college transportation (collision repair and auto service) career fair events for the upcoming spring 2022 semester. CREF is collaborating with other events such as auto shows, industry conferences, and World of Wheels events and anticipates bringing together over 10,000 students, which will prove to be a great opportunity for industry employers who continue to face an aging workforce and dire need for entry-level staff.
The Collision Repair Education announced the return of in-person career fairs in 2022. Above, attendees at a CREF Career Fair, hosted by Pro Spot International in 2017, learned about the many career opportunities available in the collision repair industry.
Ferman Auto Group Collision Director Chris Shrewsbury noted, “We have hired over 20 students at CREF’s Florida career fairs and found these to be great events to interact with local students. I encourage industry members to participate in these events so students can see and meet those who are waiting to employ them upon graduation.”
The Spring Career Fair Schedule includes:
- January 21st – Pittsburgh (PA) – Held in conjunction with Pittsburgh World of Wheels/AutoRama Student Day – 600 Students Anticipated
- February 4th – North & South Carolina – Held in conjunction with the Carolinas Collision Conference – 400 Students Anticipated
- March 4th – Oklahoma City (OK) – Held in conjunction with the Oklahoma City Auto Show – 600 Students Anticipated
- March 4th – Detroit (MI) – Held in conjunction with the Detroit World of Wheels/AutoRama Student Day – 4,500 Students Anticipated
- March 11th – Chicago (IL) – Held in conjunction with the Chicago World of Wheels/AutoRama Student Day – 1,500 Students Anticipated
- March 25th – Indianapolis (IN) – Held in conjunction with Indianapolis World of Wheels/AutoRama Student Day – 600 Students Anticipated
- April 8th – Tulsa (OK) – Held in conjunction with the Tulsa Auto Show – 500 Students Anticipated
- April 19th – Atlanta (GA) – Maxwell High School of Technology – 200 Students Anticipated
- April 22nd – Austin/ San Antonio (TX) – Held in conjunction with the Austin Auto Show – 600 Students Anticipated
- Events TBD: Tampa/Orlando (FL), Miami (FL), Columbus (OH), Dallas (TX)
To compliment the physical career fair events and ensure CREF helps connect students with employers across the country, CREF has started an electronic student resume database this fall and already has over 600 collision students contact information. Industry members interested in information about the career fairs and/or the student resume database should contact CREF Development and Marketing Coordinator Tiffany Bulak via email.