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EDITOR’S VIEWPOINT Career Development Employers are looking for the best of the best Ron Donner, Editor annual AMT career development focus I felt compelled to read on. No surprise, aviation was not on the list of six industries as either those that are — or aren’t — hiring. The industries mentioned as hiring were restaurants and bars, computer sys- tems, and fabricated met- als. The first two were no surprise, but I did stop and read again the para- graph on fabricated met- als; I’ll come back to this. Those industries on the aging through a recent Sunday newspaper I came upon an article titled “The Industries That Are — and Aren’t — Hiring.” Given I was about to write this column for our Join our Aug. 24 webinar on moving from a technical to a management role. list not hiring were tele- communications, construction, and printing. These were again no surprise but being part of a business-to-business media company I cringed a bit when I read about the printing industry. Like aviation, the media world is also changing with greater emphasis placed on the Internet, digital, and social media. Back to the fabricated metal industries, one comment stated was “Companies that cut and shape metal for cars, airplanes, and other products generally have had a rebound in jobs and orders over the past year.” OK, the correla- tion to aircraft maintenance jobs seems distant and small, but still it’s a positive sign and it has been reported that most aircraft OEMs are experiencing orders; especially those building airliners and business aircraft. This issue of AMT contains a diverse group of articles focused on hiring trends, career development, and specialized skills Aircraft Maintenance Technology is published and copyrighted 2011 by Cygnus Business Media, 1233 Janesville Ave., Fort Atkinson, WI 53538. The material presented in Aircraft Maintenance Technology is intended to complement technical information that is currently available from supplier and regulatory sources such as manufacturers and the Federal Aviation Administration. Every effort is made to assure that the information provided is accurate. However, if information presented by Aircraft Maintenance Technology is in conflict with supplier and regulatory sources, the latter shall take precedence. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage or retrieval system, without written permis- sion from the publisher. training. Bryan Maloney of Jet Professionals talks about current maintenance technician hiring trends at corporate flight departments and business aircraft MROs and OEMs. John Gamble from Snap-on Industrial describes how academia and industry partner together to provide third-party credentials for special- ized skills training. Lea Schellhorn describes the development of virtual training systems and how this technology also provides specialized skill training with a positive envi- ronmental impact. Aviation student Samantha Fowler provides her thoughts on how being part of the FAASTeam can enhance your career. A topic heard regularly these days is the need for technical employees with the right skills and potential to move into leadership roles. Traditionally many of these roles are filled from within and at some point you may be faced with making this decision. Whether moving from techni- cian to crew chief or supervisor, or manager to a senior level position they all require new or additional skills. I recall clearly taking this path at the airline and it resulted in a some- times challenging yet very rewarding journey. Earlier this year I hosted a webinar on the subject of moving from a technical to man- agement role. In this issue Charles Chandler expands on this subject by offering his per- spective on how to prepare when making this decision. Join our Aug. 24 AMT webinar when Charles, John Rahilly contributor to the AMT Management Matters feature, and myself con- tinue the discussion on this subject. 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Single issues available (prepaid only) $10.00 each. Complimentary digital Transport Canada 4 August 2011 Aircraft Maintenance Technology • www.AMTonline.com • www.AMTSociety.org subscriptions are available online at www.amtonline.com/subscribe Air cr aft Maintenance Technology (USPS 004-989; ISSN 1072-3145 print; ISSN 2150-2064 online) is published 10 times annually in January/February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, and November/December. Periodicals postage paid at Fort Atkinson, WI and additional entry offices. POSTMASTER: Please send change of address to Aircraft Maintenance Technology, P.O. Box 3257, Northbrook, IL 60065 3257. Printed in the U.S.A. Canada Post PM40063731. Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to: Aircraft Maintenance Technology, Station A, PO Box 54, Windsor, ON N9A 6J5. Volume 22, No. 8, August 2011 Ride-along enclosed