Universal Technical Institute Holds Career Expo & Open House

UTI on Wednesday hosted a Technicians and Technology Career Expo & Open House for students interested in exploring careers as transportation, computer numerical control (CNC) machining and welding technicians.

Open houses were held at UTI campuses in Phoenix and Avondale, Arizona; Long Beach, Rancho Cucamonga and Sacramento, California; Orlando; Lisle, Illinois; Bloomfield, New Jersey; Mooresville, North Carolina; Exton, Pennsylvania; Dallas and Houston.

“Rarely has there been a better time to work in the transportation sector,” said Sherrell Smith, executive vice president for Universal Technical Institute. “Employers are hungry for trained technicians to work in these skilled trades, and the opportunities for graduates are exciting. This is a chance for people considering a UTI education to tour our state-of-the-industry labs, meet with employers and get a firsthand look at what it means to be a transportation technician today.”

The U.S. Department of Labor projects that, by 2026, there will be more than 1.2 million job openings nationally across the automotive, diesel and collision repair industries. To accommodate this demand, the transportation industry will need to fill120,000 positions on average each year.

During UTI’s Technician Career Expo & Open Houses, prospective technicians learn about these jobs, the leading-edge technologies that power modern vehicles, and the high-tech training and career opportunities available to them.

Open house attendees met local employers and learned about tuition reimbursement plans and other hiring incentives. There were also live STEM activities, demonstrations of hands-on and virtual training programs and tours of campus labs, which are outfitted by more than 30 leading manufacturers.

“Many people are unaware of the high-tech and computer-driven nature of transportation careers, and the advanced set of technical skills it takes to work on today’s vehicles,” Smith added. “Technicians today are more like digital diagnosticians, and actually spend more time in front of a laptop than they do under the hood. Every aspect of the UTI curriculum is developed in partnership with employers, so our graduates enter the workforce with the skills employers want and need.”