Worthington Industries Partnership

Earlier this week I had the chance to make a visit to Worthington Industries to learn about what their company does and how Kilbourne students can possibly have a future in their organization.  It was fascinating to see the details and intricacy of the work involved, but what I loved most of all was the immense pride and genuine love for the workplace that everyone we met demonstrated.  For example, one of my tour guides had started working there and then left and joined the military, but after his military commitment ended he returned to Worthington Industries.  One of the gentlemen who is responsible for the entire Steel building was a Kilbourne grad who had worked at other organizations and yet he talked about how none of it compared to the family feel and teamwork present at Worthington Industries.

Last year they piloted an internship program with Hilliard City Schools that they are now expanding to include Worthington and South-Western City Schools.  In this program, seniors have the chance to learn in the classroom and through hands-on experiences the skills needed to be successful in the workplace today.  This would begin in January of your senior year and then in the final quarter (after spring break) you would be able to work on the floor of one of their facilities.  In the end, the goal is that those students who have good performance reviews through the internship program will have the chance to receive an offer for full time employment after high school.  And, they also said that their starting salary would be $14.50... pretty good start for just graduating from high school.

I really liked the growth opportunities available within the company.  One of the young men who had been hired last year after completing the internship with Hilliard spoke to us and he LOVES what he is doing and said that he is fully confident he will remain at Worthington Industries for the rest of his life.  He has already focused on what he wants his next career move to be within the organization and is working hard to make sure that he is able to achieve that goal.  He talked about how some of his friends that graduated with him are currently working at restaurants or pet stores and making minimum wage and are bored in what they do.  He acknowledged that the entry level jobs are tedious, but he said he loves working with his hands, he loves the people he works with, and he never resents having to come to work.

It was interesting to realize that they work much like many hospitals do in that they have 12 hour shifts.  During a shift the employees rotate to different stations so that they don't get totally burned out on doing one task the whole time.  They talked about the plentiful opportunities for overtime and the fact that many employees like that a lot for the chance to be able to make even more money (time and a half or double time depending on how many hours are worked).  They talked about profit sharing and the bonuses that the employees receive.  But again, it wasn't the wages, but the positive environment which stood out the most to me.

So, what are they looking for?  They are looking for dedicated students who have a desire to learn something new.  They are looking for someone who is willing to be a part of a team.  Someone who will show up consistently and try.  They prefer if you are willing to ask questions to help learn.  You must be in your senior year because ideally they'd like to hire you on for summer or beyond employment.  And you have to be able to pass a drug test.

This is a really exciting new opportunity for our students.  If you are unsure of what you want to do in the future, if you are not sure you want to go straight to college, if you want to get hands on work experience at a good pay to help fund your future college goals, then this might be the perfect program for you!  There will be more chances for you to learn about the program first-hand from those who are in charge of it and those who have been through it including a question and answer session and a tour of the facility, but it would really help me if I knew that you might be interested so that I can make sure you are invited to those sessions... so please, if this sounds even a little interesting, let me know.  That way you can have the chance to learn even more about the program and see if this opportunity would be a good fit.